Wealth in the Directed Middle

I have a question, what do you do with your money? Unequivocally, I am richer than 95+% of the people in the world. In America, I'm probably in the top 40%. I listened to an awesome speech about the wealth and power America has, and I know I'm AVERAGE, so that includes me. What is my responsibility to the world? Look at King Solomon, built a palace that required its own zip code. Then you have a couple who are struck down because they didn't share their wealth. From a Christian perspective, I think 2 Timothy wraps it up for me... "God gave you things to enjoy" How much joy should you have? If you spend $1000 on a new TV, you could have also floated a Bolivian for a year (ref. Mat 26:6-13). I know it's a guilt trip, but if it didn't make you feel that way, would you be a communal part of humanity or just here for yourself? Consider this, if "you" were living off of air dropped rice and wheat and get super excited about the prospect of catching a fish or killing a wild animal for meat, wouldn't "you" be pissed if you took a tour of your house? What did you do to make that money? Let's put it this way, you are AVERAGE. Yes, you may excel at sales, health care, management, etc., but as I said last week, it's just a gift and consequence that you're here instead of "there".

So, I have three questions for you to help me wrestle with this idea and that from the last few entries.

1) Where's the line?

For example, is it non-sense to refuse to eat that extra 1000 calories that could support a young child somewhere? I mean that in the broad sense, that is, if you didn't buy as much food, the prices would come down and they would be cheaper to send to places without such easy access to food. Maybe if we all did that, world hunger would at least have some of the pangs taken away. If you think that's too abstract, ask yourself is it too much to turn off the water when you're brushing your teeth, though it may only save a few gallons? Probably not for the latter, but they both save you money and should have a similar world impact. Obviously, since you cut a couple calories or turned the spigot off for a bit isn't going to single handedly change the global economy, but the situation is like voting... it only works when the masses participate.

Let's consider the other end of the spectrum; similar to the biblical examples given. Imagine you received a billion dollars via any means, (e.g., investing, real estate, multiple lotteries) and built yourself a 64,000 square foot summer home which cost $250 million. Now, say you felt like Mr. Buffet one day and gave away $750 million to charities. Was that a good moral decision?

Now for the middle, where most of us are (average for US). What's your responsibility? Do you shirk every level of gifting and leave it to the Buffet's, or feel guilty by not going all in. Do you use the mystical 10% as "I'm doing my part"? But you know as well as I do that giving 10% on a $125k income is much easier that doing the same on a $35k income due to the minimum cost of living.

2) Is the line different for different people? If it is laid on some people's heart to live meagerly and give everything above destitution and others to live in middle to upper middle class opulence and give some nominal easy-to-do dollar amount, can both be acceptable behavior? What if those two people share the same bank account?

3) Lastly, and in the same thread, is it okay to strive for more? If you work to have a bigger home, nicer car, more land, fatter retirement account, how much should you work? How far is too far, how little is too little?


Is the line the same for everyone? Does God make us specifically different so we have to deal with each other and create cosmic balance? Is there really suppose to be one way we should all be? Should we instead be complacent in our little niche however God directs us, but how does that fit with a bleeding heart toward the have-nots?

This is where the last few blogs have led to, be sure to pipe up.