© 2013 The Wired Word
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President Barack Obama opened his State of the Union address Tuesday night
by affirming that Americans are united by a belief "in opportunity for all
-- the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get
ahead." He pointed out that "corporate profits and stock prices have
rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average
wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled.
... too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by -- let alone
get ahead. And too many still aren't working at all."Economists at the University of Kentucky recently reported that one in seven Americans now participate in the government's $80 billion-a-year food stamp program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Other data show workers' earnings growing at the lowest rate compared to the growth of corporate profits in U.S. history.
Having a job is no longer a guarantee of self-sufficiency. Economists say "automation, globalization and outsourcing" have contributed to the shift from a preponderance of higher-paying jobs in manufacturing and high-tech sectors to fewer, often part-time positions without benefits, concentrated in lower-paying service industries. Americans have awakened to the rude reality that even higher education is not a guarantor of employment in one's chosen profession, or in any field, for that matter. Nor does it always prevent them from falling below the poverty line; about 28 percent of households receiving SNAP are headed by someone who has attended college.
Great economic disparity is found beyond the United States as well. Earlier this year the World Economic Forum (WEF) released a 60-page report called "Global Risks 2014," which predicts that social unrest related to the widening gap between the world's richest and poorest would have the greatest impact on the global economy in the next decade. Youth coming of age without adequate skills or employment opportunities are more apt to take out their frustration on governments and systems they see as unresponsive to their needs. "Disgruntlement can lead to the dissolution of the fabric of society, especially if young people feel they don't have a future," said Jennifer Blanke, the WEF's chief economist.
Gallup World also reported in January that according to their study of 131 countries, the richest 3 percent and the poorest 54 percent of residents (over half of those nations' populations) each hold 20 percent of the total collective household income.
This week, economists Barry Y. Cynamon and Steven M. Fazzari of Washington University, St. Louis, published their finding that 95 percent of American wage-earners, strapped for cash and credit and burdened by debt, can't sustain the same level of consumer spending that once drove nearly three quarters of the U.S. economy. Translation? Sluggish economic growth for the nation as well as for the individual and the family.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Climbing to Nowhere. Huffington Post
Why You Can't 'Bootstrap' Yourself Out of Poverty. Yahoo! Finance
Income Inequality Hurts Economic Growth, Researchers Say. The Washington Post
The New Face of Food Stamps: Working-Age Americans. Fox News
The Big Questions
1. What are some factors that lead to differences in income levels? Is income disparity an inevitable element in our economy, or is it avoidable? Is the work of some worth intrinsically more than that of others?
2. Is there something inherently wrong about income inequality? At what point might differences in income levels become so extreme that they could be viewed as obscene? Does it matter what led to the income inequality? Give examples of righteous or sinful ways of acquiring income that may lead to economic inequality.
3. Every financial interaction involves mutual exploitation (each person -- on both sides -- uses the transaction for profit). When does such exploitation become unjust?
4. Have you always had the same level of income throughout your life? If not, what has contributed to the variation in your income over time?
5. Why do you suppose we root for "Robin Hoods" to fleece the rich to give to the poor? Do you think Jesus would be on the side of Robin Hood, the super-rich, neither or both? Is income equalization a godly goal? Even if it is, does the attempt to achieve it justify sins of envy, covetousness and stealing? Is there an essential difference between taking from the poor to give to the rich, and taking from the rich to give to the poor?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Psalm 73:16-18, 23-25
But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. ... Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. (For context, read 73:1-25.)
The writer begins this psalm by declaring that "God is good to ... the pure in heart" (v. 1). In spite of that belief, he struggles when he sees the easy life and wealth of the wicked, whom he envies (vv. 2-5, 12, 21-22); they arrogantly boast of their ability to oppress others and misuse earth's resources for their own follies without regard to God (vv. 6-9). Is God deaf, dumb and blind to the apparent inequities that are so obvious to us (vv. 10-11)? Is it of any use to live a clean life, only to suffer every day in relative poverty (vv. 13-14)?
Questions: How do you feel about CEOs who negotiate to pay their workers the lowest wages possible while holding out for million-dollar bonuses and golden parachutes for themselves? Why is trying to understand the inequities of life "a wearisome task" (v. 16)? Why does the psalmist say this kind of talk equals being "untrue to the circle of [God's] children" (v. 15)? To what does the psalmist turn his attention to reconcile himself to the apparent unfairness of the economic disparity he sees around him? How can you guard against bitterness and envy toward those who gain wealth unjustly?
2 Samuel 12:5-7, 9-10
He said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD, ... Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? ... you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. (For context, read 12:1-17.)
After David's adulterous affair with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah on the field of battle, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him. Nathan told him a story about a rich man who stole a poor man's only ewe lamb who was like a daughter to him, in order to fix a meal for a guest. David pronounced judgment upon the rich man, not realizing that in so doing, he was condemning himself. In spite of the many blessings (including multiple wives) God had showered upon him, David still took the one precious thing that belonged to a poor man: his only wife. The consequences of his actions were devastating and impacted his entire family and the nation.
Questions: Is there something about extraordinary wealth that causes individuals to believe and act as if they are above the law? What does Nathan's parable have to do with inequity? What fault did David find in the rich man in the story? What fault did God find with David? What specific "word of the Lord" had David despised? What is the relationship between David's actions toward Uriah and David's attitude toward God at that time?
Amos 5:11-12, 14-15
Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. ... Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate. (For context, read 5:11-15, 21-24.)
In ancient Israel, people seeking justice came to the city gate where judges held court. The prophet Amos says the people are sorely mistaken if they think that God, who is just, will accept their sacrifices, religious rituals and celebratory worship services even while they defraud the poor of justice and amass huge fortunes for themselves.
Questions: How might this severe indictment apply to the church? Does your congregation favor the rich? Are wealthy donors treated with kid gloves, or challenged from the pulpit by Jesus' words about wealth? What are modern equivalents of "pushing aside the needy in the gate" and "establishing justice in the gate"? How does your congregation advocate for the poor? How can you "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream" (v. 24)?
Luke 16:13-15
[Jesus said,] "... You cannot serve God and wealth." The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God." (For context, read 16:13-15, 19-31.)
Right after this exchange with the Pharisees, Jesus tells the parable of a rich man, dressed in purple and fine linen, who feasted sumptuously every day, and Lazarus, a poor, sick man who lay in agony at his gate and who would have been happy to eat the scraps falling from the rich man's banquet table.
Both men died, and the tables were turned. Lazarus was carried up to heaven, while the rich man suffered in hell. When he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to relieve his torment, Abraham replied, "Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony" (v. 25). In other words, "the last will be first, and the first will be last" (Matthew 20:16). Then the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers about the judgment. (Even in hell, he had the gall to think he was entitled to be served by one he had despised on earth.) Abraham's response is that they should listen to Moses and the prophets; implied is "and repent."
Questions: What did the rich man prize that God viewed as an abomination? How do you suppose the rich man "justified himself in the sight of others"? Who is lying at the gate of your own house, sick, hungry and poor, whom you have ignored? Have you excused yourself for feasting while your neighbor suffers? What specific warnings from Moses and the prophets might Jesus have been thinking about that the rich man in the parable and the Pharisees who loved money needed to heed? Might we need to heed them too?
Ruth 2:15-17
When [Ruth] got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, "Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her." So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. (For context, read 2:1-19.)
Ruth, a poor widow, accompanied her widowed mother-in-law Naomi from Moab back to Israel, where she (Ruth) begged for the chance to work in the field to provide for their needs. According to Deuteronomy 24:21, those who reaped a harvest from their land were not to glean again, but were to leave the leftovers "for the alien, the orphan and the widow." So Ruth was not technically employed, but she had the right to work in the field so she and Naomi could survive. She found favor in the sight of a rich relative, Boaz, who was impressed by her strong work ethic, courage and compassion for Naomi. He gave his servants instructions to help Ruth gather enough to live on.
Questions: How is Boaz a useful model for the rich today in the way he related to the working poor? How is Ruth a useful model for people living on the edge of poverty today? What economic structures in our nation might impede efforts to lift up those in need and unable to help themselves? What economic structures might be established in our own country that might parallel Deuteronomy 24:21 to lift up aliens, orphans and widows?
For Further Discussion
1. Read 1 Timothy 5:17-18. If some workers are "worthy of double honor," and "the laborer deserves to be paid," what does this suggest about what constitutes "a fair wage," and is that figure different for different people? Why or why not? Who determines what is "a fair wage"? How much money is enough money? How much is too much money for one person to have?
2. Read Matthew 20:1-16. Is this parable relevant to the discussion about what constitutes "a fair wage"? If so, in what way? If not, what is the point of the parable?
3. Why do some Christians insist that it is impossible, unnecessary, impractical or even unchristian to seek income equality?
Responding to the News
This might be a good time to reflect on the Christian Post article "What Does the Bible Say About Income Inequality?" and its implications for the church and our society.
Closing Prayer
(based on Proverbs 30:7-9 and Matthew 6:11)
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