The Rich Man and Lazarus, Part 2: Justifying the Disparity
Luke’s
introduction to the story of the rich man and Lazarus reads: “The Pharisees,
who were lovers of money, heard all this [Jesus’ teaching about not being able to
serve God and money—that money is a rival god] and they ridiculed him. So he
said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; for
what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God’” (Luke
16:14-15).
How
did the religious leaders justify their love for and accumulation of money? It
wasn’t that difficult. A number of Scriptures teach that material wealth is the
blessing of God and that disease and impoverishment is the result of God’s
judgment. If there were no Scriptures to support this view there would be no
prosperity gospel preachers with huge empires. Joel Osteen would not have the
largest church in America
if he did not have Scriptures he could employ to justify his theology of wealth
and material blessing. It’s in the Bible. It’s bad theology, but it’s in the
Bible.
The
rich man would have appealed to this theology to justify his lack of response.
He may have even argued that Lazarus’s condition was due to the judgment of
God, so if he tried to alleviate his poverty or bring some relief to his
suffering, he would be interfering with God’s will. (This sounds similar to the
arguments of some of the Republicans in the House of Representatives who voted
to cut money for food stamps and programs that assist the poor.)
Of
course, there is also a counter theology in the Bible that reaches its pinnacle
in the life and teachings of Jesus. We find it in the Law. For example, Deut.
15:7-8 reads: “If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community
in any of the towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do
not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should
rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it
may be.”
It’s
also pervasive in the prophets. Isaiah says: “Is not this the fast that I
chose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let
the oppressed go free . . .? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and
bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself . . .?” (58:6–7). Here are two different theologies about money
and blessing.
So
does the Bible contradict itself? Yes, it does. The Bible argues with itself on
any number of issues. No matter how “inspired” the biblical writers were, they
were flawed, sinful, finite human beings. The Bible contains bad theology and
good theology; the Bible contains good social and ethical practice as well as
bad social and ethical practice. There are texts of transformation and texts of
terror. Both slave owners and abolitionists made their cases by appealing to
Scripture.
And
not only does the Bible argue with itself, we who read the Bible bring all our
assumptions, presuppositions, beliefs, and biases into the interpretative process.
How often do we go to the Bible to prove some point about what we already
believe?
When
reading the Bible, the issue is not: Do I bring my biases with me into this
process of interpreting and applying Scripture? Of course we do. It’s not a question
of whether or not we have biases. We all have biases and we bring these with us
into the reading of the text. The question is: What are our biases? Do we read with a bias to
prove some doctrinal point or to exclude some person or group? Or do we read
Scripture with a bias for inclusion and with a vision for the common good?
We
have to choose what we will accept and reject. We have to discern and decide which
texts will have authority in our lives and the degree of authority we will
grant them. This process is more complicated and messier that simply saying, “I
believe the whole Bible is literally the Word of God.” But even those who make
such a claim do not actually practice it.
One
does not need a theology degree to be able to discern what is good theology and bad
theology. One simply needs to ask:
* Will
believing and doing this make me a more loving, compassionate, forgiving, gracious,
good, caring person?
* Will
it make me more like Jesus as he is portrayed in the Gospels?
* Will
this help me love God more and love my neighbor as myself?
* Will
this advance the common good and the well-being of all God’s children?
One
does not need to be trained in historical-critical methods of interpretation or
theological systems or church history to answer the above questions. The light
of God is within each of us. The most important thing is to be open, honest, humble,
and receptive to the Divine Voice within us and to bring with us to the sacred
text a bias toward grace.
The
more loving we are toward others (especially the disadvantaged) and the more
humble and honest we are about our own sins and faults, the less likely we are
to use Scripture to justify bad theology, oppressive social policies, and
self-serving ethical practices.
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