Multiplying wealth by dividing it... A recipe for disaster? Or another rich guy trying to keep the poor down?

We've been having a lot of strikes in South Africa in the last few months - municipal workers, the construction industry, today our national telephone operator and a whole host of other persons have chosen to engage in labour action in order to negotiate a better deal for themselves.

I have watched this with great interest. I understand, to some extent at least, the plight of poor workers in South Africa since I have lived and worked in South Africa's townships (the areas in which our greatest poverty is located among the people who live there). Earning enough money to feed one's children and one's self, to pay necessary bills like medical bills, and of course to afford to have a house and perhaps even some small luxuries (like meat and more than one set of clothes)... These are the dreams of the low income working classes.

When I go home to my 3 bedroom house and park my car next to my wife's car, switch on my television and eat a hearty evening meal, I can understand why persons want more of what I have!

However, the converse is also quite true - having studied economics in the last while I have come to understand how having scales of remuneration act as both a catalyst for growth and development, and a reward for those who have the opportunities to excel and take those opportunities to heart (of course the sad reality is that some have the ability to excel but not the opportunity, whilst others are given great opportunity but do not use it to the fullest extent. Both are equally sad!) Of course there are many people who earn far too much money! And then there are those who should earn more!

But, in the current economic crisis I am acutely aware of the struggles that so many persons are going through. A close friend of mine referred a member of his congregation to me to see if I could find him some work. I will do my best, but I am also aware that this year, for the first time in our company's 26 year history we are retrenching some of our workforce. We have taken a cut in salary to minimize the number of persons that will have to go, and in some instances families who have two incomes have agreed that one of the income generators will go without work so that another family that only has a single income can retain that income (I had one of our employees come and share that she and her husband had agreed that she should give up her job so that another secretary in our company who is a single mother can keep hers)... My goodness, it breaks my heart!!!!

So, I have these conflicting emotions! I know that labour action is necessary because it helps workers who have almost no voice against big companies to engage in a collective bargaining process in order to secure better wages. But, I also know that the end result of unreasonable demands is the demise of some companies who are only just managing to keep their heads above water! In so doing, instead of more people having smaller slices of the cake, the cake is taken off the menu...

I'm not entirely sure what the answer is? I do know that the way of Christ is a way of justice! I do know that in God's economy there is enough for everyone (the oikonume which is the root Greek word from which our English word comes, oikos meaning household and nomos meaning to manage or oversee). But, how do we make that happen?

A friend sent me the quote below by Adrian Rogers:

"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." Adrian Rogers, 1931

Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 – November 15, 2005), was an American pastor, conservative, author, and a three-term president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979-1980 and 1986-1988).

As I read this I asked myself - can this be true? Are these the only options (the rich, like myself,
remain rich while so many remain poor - or we share the world's resources and the rich loose their motivation
to work and the poor grow in a sense of entitlement)?

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Comments

[Tom Smith]

Hi Deon,

I think we have a wonderful opportunity in this country where rich and poor can become connected in relationships where the households become integrated. Out of this all kinds of things can grow - the motivation will then be real people and love.

Personally I struggle with abstract theories (not that they are not helpful). Jesus' incarnational living still motivates me to strive to build relationships across racial and economic divides. I think this is one of the most urgent tasks of the church in South Africa.

[Anonymous]

We all need more Christs love; wisdom and nature to truly make difference in the world.
All I pray is that everyday, I can make a small difference by loving as Christ loved, giving as Christ gave and forgiving as Christ forgave.

The question which government do we trust in...If it is this worldly one. We have a problem!

[Wes Widner]

The Bible is rife with the idea the Dr Adrian Rodgers spoke about in the sermon the quote above comes from (incidentally, that quote wasn't the main thrust of the sermon, but it was a fun departure nontheless).

2 Thessalonians is a great example of where Paul warns against being idol (and expecting to mooch off of others) and re-visits the OT principle that you get what you work for.

I'm not advocating for a propserity view, but I think the basic principals of work = pay are sound and time tested and in that respect I would argue that the answer to your question of whether those are the only options we are left with is "yes".

That may sound harsh, but we are not called to be economic equalizers, but content in what we have. Yes, we should help our neighbors by giving out of our wealth generously (note, that is our individual responsibility, not our goverments') but we ought not to beat ourselves up over the irrational dispensation of goods and wealth.

After all, this isn't heaven.

[Rock in the Grass (Pete Grasso]

John Wesley’s income was £30 a year; he lived on £28 and gave away £2. The following year his income increased to £60 – he still lived on £28 and gave away £32. The third year is income increased to £90 – of which he gave £62 away. In this ration he proceeded during the rest of his life, and in the course of fifty years it has been estimated that he gave away between £20,000 and £30,000 – much of this from the sale of his writings. He said that if he died with more than ten pounds to his name the world would call him a thief and a robber

[Herman Groenewald]

Are we good custodians of the “wealth” we have, of what God has provided. Look at out world and the destruction of nature, environment, waste, the polluted air we breathe. What we sow we reap! God gave each of us two hands and many do not use it where they come from and now the hands are holding out to others, and yes there are many contributing factors. Jesus did say we will always have the poor with us. He also said to take care of the widows and orphans.
Each need to do his or her part and consult God in the process. But how well do we listen, even when we know the good we should do.
A better connected hearing world listening to the heavenly voice may bring some answers to many and relief to millions of others.
Maybe I simplify but just think about it.

[Herman Groenewald]

Eccles. 4:9-12, Two people are better than one because together they have a good reward for their hard work. If one falls, the other can help his friend get up. But how tragic it is for the one who is all alone when he falls. There is no one to help him get up. Again, if two people lie down together, they can keep warm, but how can one person keep warm? Though one person may be overpowered by another, two people can resist one opponent. A triple-braided rope is not easily broken.

Among the many reasons assignable for the sad decay of true Christianity, perhaps the neglecting to assemble ourselves together, in religious societies, may not be one of the least. That I may therefore do my endeavor towards promoting so excellent a means of piety…….. the necessity and benefits of society in general, and of religious society in particular. From Sermon 8 of George Whitfield

[Steve Hayes]

I heard a radio programme the other day where a criminologist was researching crime and what motivated criminals.

And his finding was that posverty does not cause crime. Immediately after WWII, when there was great povery and hardship in London, the crime rate dropped.

What causes crime, he discovered, was the disparity between the rich and the poor.