(This was a 'blog' assignment for my Biblical Theology course)
Shaking Off My Graduation Robe:
I begin with this simple
recognition: I am more wealthy that
98.5% of the world.[1] I know this.
I have never missed a meal due to lack of finances. I have never had a creditor force me to sell anything to pay off a debt. Through the eyes of the world, I am wealthy.
And yet, it is not uncommon
for me to wake up in the morning feeling the weight of the debt I live
under. I will be paying off my student
debt – loans accrued to go to private Christian schools – until literally a few
years before I retire. I am not
complaining, simply stating fact. My
wife and I chose to go to these schools. We chose to get loans instead of
paying for each class as we could afford it.
We do not regret the choices we made to incur these debts. Yet we look at the projected amount to be
repaid – after all the interest – and we still swallow hard!
Because of the burden of this
debt with interest, I live in one of the poorer neighborhoods in my city. I live "in the hood." The house across the street had a drugs and
weapons raid that lead to 7 arrests. The
house next to that had the rear door kicked in during a middle-of-the-day
robbery. A mentally disabled man was
sent to the ICU because he was beaten by a group of men at the park three
houses away from where I live. The house
kitty-corner had a man fired from his job due to selling pornography (and
stolen skateboards) out of the company van.
When people in my town think of my neighborhood, they think of the
poor. They think of poverty.
So the question begs to be
asked: Am I wealthy? Or do I live in poverty?
In Nehemiah 5:1-13, some men
and women came to the prophet explaining how they were being exploited by their
own Jewish relatives. They had mortgaged
their fields, their vineyards and their homes.
They had even sold their daughters (5:5) to make enough money to put
food on their table. They had become
slaves of a different kind – even after
God had brought them safely out of bondage in Egypt.
This infuriated Nehemiah. "Then I pressed further,
'What you are doing is not right!'" (5:9).
"You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes
to them this very day. And repay the
interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil"
(5:11).
Do you see what was taking
place? Followers of Yahweh, borrowing
from followers of Yahweh, who were charging interest and making a fortune.
Between my wife and I, we
have three private Christian school educations that we are paying back (my GFES M.Div. degree has been paid for by denominational grants and by my employer!). We
– followers of Christ – borrowing to attend "Christian" institutes of
higher education, paying a fortune in interest.
Hear me again: I am not
complaining!! But the question still
begs to be asked: Am I wealthy? Or do I live in poverty?
Some of this boils down to a
Scriptural view of wealth. In the Old
Testament, the abundance of material possessions, property, and cash was seen
as God's blessings.[2] But Jesus redefined what we should be seeking
after – stating we should seek the Kingdom first.[3]
I do not have a lot
materially speaking, which could be seen as God with-holding His blessings from
me. But, due to my lack of material
wealth, I am forced to seek the Kingdom first.
So do I live in poverty? I say an emphatic "No!!!" I live beyond wealthy. Due to my school debt and the future interest
paid to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (or at least to the educational
systems run by my fellow believers), I get to daily see Jesus on the faces of
the poor, broken, sick, and helpless.
And that is simply looking out my front window. Because of my monetary "poverty," I
am wealthy in Spirit.
When the Jewish wealthy who
had been charging the interest promised to repay all that they had made,
Nehemiah shook out the folds of his robe, stating: "If you fail to keep
your promise, may God shake you like this from your homes and from your
property" (5:13). It was a
beautiful piece of visible imagery.
I walk across the stage in
less than one week, in my graduates' robe.
At some point that day, I plan to shake the folds. And I plan to ask God to shake me like that
if I ever claim that my school debt (with interest) has placed me in
poverty. On the contrary – it has made
me wealthy!
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