Chapter 10: Economics of Equality

Chapter 10: Economics of Equality

Entrusted Ownership

As we studied earlier, God had created the heavens and earth, and thus he owns everything in the universe. Then, what about people’s private ownership that the Bible states? It is the ownership that God grants them while people live in this world. I call it ‘an entrusted ownership,’ and Steve Elwart calls it ‘a delegated ownership.’[1] As our possessions that we seem to own are not ours, they should be used according to the real owner’s will.

What is the will of God toward his people who had been created according to his image and his likeness? God wants each one of his people to “be fruitful, increase in number, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). On their path of life some become richer whereas some others become poorer. What does God want the richer to do for the poorer?

Collection for the Poor

There are various evidences of the charitable provisions of the relief for the poor in the Old Testament (Exodus 23:10-13; Leviticus 19:9-10, 23:22; Deuteronomy 14:28-29, 15:1-11, 24:19-22). God in Exodus 23:10-11 through Moses states: “¹⁰For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; ¹¹but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild beasts may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard”; and in Deuteronomy 14:28-29: “¹⁴At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in the same year, and lay it up within your towns; ²⁹and the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.” God wants the richer to take care of the poorer by using the land and tithes.

            According to K. Nickle, “by the first century A.D. the legislation of charity for the poor had been extended to the local communities”: the people in the community were required to pay a tax for the basket collection; and the poor residents “received enough funds to provide two meals a day for the next week.”[2] This may be the origin of the basket collection of our church today.

            We can also find another earlier instance of the disciples’ sending material aid to brothers and sisters in need in Acts 11:27-30. When a severe famine took place over all the world during the reign of Claudius (v. 28), “²⁹the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea; ³⁰and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul (i.e., Paul).” So, Paul was a member of the delegation of the early church. This might be a good experience for Paul to do it again in the later incidence under his leadership.

Paul’s Collection Campaign 

Paul deals with his collection campaign for the poor saints in Jerusalem in his major four epistles, Romans 15:25-28, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, 2 Corinthians 8-9, and Galatians 2:9-10.    Some of the Jewish Christians living at Jerusalem were poverty-stricken whether they deliberately chose to live in that way or not. But Paul had a conviction that the collection for the Jerusalem saints would not only help them financially but also bring all Christian churches who participated in collection into the unity in Jesus Christ. He believed that the spiritual benefits derived from the collection campaign by the givers would far surpass the monetary value of the gift itself. Throughout this campaign, Paul probably would wish to see the reunion and reconciliation of Christians who were going in different directions under different leaderships and beliefs. Paul did not request any money for his own living to the churches that he had founded, but he did tent making to be self-sufficient. However, he was very active and enthusiastic in doing the collection campaign for the poor people in Jerusalem, sending letters and people to the local churches in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia.  

Paul’s love for his fellow Jews was not reduced as we can read in Romans 9-11 although they rejected him and gave difficulties to him. According to Acts, Paul took (at least) three missionary journeys (Acts 13:1-14:28, 15:36-18:22, & 18:23-21:14) throughout his life. The purpose of Paul’s third missionary journey was that Paul would collect money from the churches that he had founded and give it to the poor people in Jerusalem, who were suffering from a severe famine. Paul lived a rich spiritual life in the midst of material poverty and obstacles as Jesus did so.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 8-9 asked the people in the church at Corinth to complete their collection that they promised a year before and now is delayed. Paul took a good example of the people in the churches at Macedonia, who were much poorer than the people in the church at Corinth and yet were very much willing to participate in the collection campaign out of their mind of love and could complete it already although they started the collection later than the people in the church at Corinth.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 states: “¹And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ²In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. ⁵And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.” Although Paul praises the virtue (gift) of the Macedonians, he attributes their virtue to the grace of God: The Macedonian gift or generosity (8:2-5) comes from the grace of God (8:1).[3] Based on a theological use of χάρις (charis, grace or generosity) in 8:1 and an anthropological one in 8:4, C. K. Barrett suggests the two possibilities: (1) “the generosity of the Macedonians is the generosity of God himself”; or (2) “God has given grace to the Macedonians with the result of making them generous.”[4] The second one seems to serve better in the passage, but the first one is also plausible. Their generosity in 8:2 is valuable especially because they offered themselves out of their poverty and affliction. Their giving was voluntary as well as cheerful and generous even beyond their means (8:3).

Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:9 states: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Paul’s economics of equality or sharing follows the example of Jesus’ own life. Jesus Christ was rich in the kingdom of God, possessing all the universe and things in it but came down to the earth to live a poor life to make his people who were poor become rich in him. Jesus came down to us, wearing clothes of poverty, to let us who were poor in spirit or in material hear the good news and receive the light of God’s grace. Paul asked the Corinthians the same thing by which the poor saints in Jerusalem might be provided. Although our material possession may stay the same before and after we accepted Jesus Christ, we may be said to be rich, in a sense, if we can afford to give ourselves generously for others like the Macedonians in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. The Macedonians’ example in 8:1-5 can be compared with the example of Jesus Christ in 8:9. My summary of the important parallels is in the following table:  

 

The Macedonians’ Example (8:1-5)	The Example of Jesus Christ (8:9)
The grace of God (v. 1) During a severe ordeal of affliction (v. 2) They voluntarily gave (v. 3) Out of love for fellow Christians (ministry to the saints, v. 4) They gave themselves (v. 5) They became poor so that the saints in Jerusalem might become rich Salvific/gracious work[5] (salvation of the saints)	The grace (generous act) of our Lord (In) the sufferings of Christ (on the cross) (2 Corinthians 1:5) Jesus Christ voluntarily gave Out of love for all human beings (ministry to the world) Jesus Christ gave himself Jesus Christ became poor so that we might become rich Salvific/gracious work (salvation of human beings)

Note: The NRSV version is used for the table.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:12 states: “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.” Paul appealed to the Corinthians’ eagerness to complete the collection not according to what they do not have but according to what they have. When you share what you have with others, your willingness (out of the mind of love for neighbors) is very important. Furthermore, God does not want you to borrow money to help people in poverty. Your sharing with others is according to what you have, not adding debt.[6]

Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 explains about the economics of equality or fairness (ἰσότης, isotés): “¹³I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, ¹⁴but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality. ¹⁵As it is written: ‘He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack.’” What Paul asked the Corinthians is a fair balance or equality (ἰσότης, isotés) between their present abundance and the poor saints’ need.[7] This kind of material sharing of people in Achaia and Macedonia with the poor saints in Jerusalem seems to be quite fair for Paul who says: “indeed they (the Christians in Achaia and Macedonia) are in debt to them (the poor saints in Jerusalem), for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings” in Romans 15:27. The verse 14b, “so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality,” may be interpreted in two ways. First, as the poor saints in Jerusalem share their spiritual blessings with the Gentiles, so should the Gentiles share their material blessings with the saints (cf. Romans 15:27). Second, when the Gentiles share their material blessings with the Jews now, then someday later, the Jews will share their material (or spiritual) blessings with the Gentiles.[8] Then, there may be “equality” (RSV, NIV, NLT) or “a fair balance” (NRSV).

Economics of Equality

According to Paul, the economics of equality is to share our current plenty with those who are now in poverty. Then, in some other times, those who receive our plenty now will share their plenty with us who may be in poverty in the future, whatever their plenty is. Paul does not mean that you should be in debt when you help other people financially but that you are willing to share what you have now (no matter how big or small that is) with others.

The ground of Paul’s economics of equality also goes back to Exodus 16:18 (see 2 Corinthians 8:15). God told the Israelites through Moses to gather manna as much as they could eat. Some gathered more, some others gathered less (Exodus 16:16-17). Exodus 16:18 states: “But when they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; each gathered according to what he could eat.” God wants his people to possess neither too much nor too little but equality among them. Moses told the Israelites not to leave any of it till the morning, but some left the part of it and it bred worms and became foul (Exodus 16:19-20).

Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:11-12 states: “¹¹If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits? ¹²If others share this rightful claim upon you, do not we still more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.” When Paul and his coworkers taught the good news (=spiritual plenty) to people in the church at Corinth, Paul thinks that he and his coworkers have a right to be financially helped by them although Paul never claimed his right to be financially helped by the people in the church as Corinth.[9] Instead, Paul wants to ask the people in the church at Corinth to financially help the poor saints in Jerusalem as they are debtors to them. That is, the people in the church at Corinth, the Gentiles, were receivers of spiritual plenty from Jesus Christ and Paul, who were born as Jews. As the people in the church at Corinth were debtors of love of Christ and the gospel when they became Christians in the past, it seems to be obvious that they should share their material plenty with the poor Jews in Jerusalem who are suffering from the great famine now.

Paul in Romans 15:25-27 describes his third missionary journey in which he is heading for Jerusalem: “²⁵At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints. ²⁶For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem; ²⁷they were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt to them, for if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.” Again, this is the basic principle of Paul’s economics of equality.[10] Whenever you have something plenty now, you are willing to share it with others who lack it; then, whenever others who lack the one that you have now will share their plenty with you who will lack it in the future. It does not matter whatever that is – it may be material plenty (money, time, land, labor, etc.) or spiritual plenty (love, grace, gospel, etc.).

From the Old Testament to the New Testament, God wants his people to prosper, multiply, and fill the earth. Some become wealthy whereas some others become poor. God wants the richer to share their wealth with the poorer. God wants to feed each one of his people and see each one of them be satisfied and gives thanks to God with a humble mind, acknowledging that God is his/her LORD and Master.

Jesus Christ had come to us, wearing the clothes of poverty although he was rich, to make us become rich by his poverty. Jesus Christ had died on the cross, being cursed (Gal. 3:13), so that we may live eternally, being blessed. Paul in Galatians 3:13 states: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree’.” Jesus Christ fed his people – his disciples and the crowd who followed him – and taught them to share among themselves. Paul succeeded Jesus’ teaching of sharing and taught the economics of equality between the Jews and the Gentiles, between male and female, and between the masters and the slaves.

Paul in Galatians 3:26-29 emphasizes equality or oneness in Christ: “²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one (or equal) in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” Paul in Ephesians 2:14-16 states, emphasizing oneness (or equality) in Christ: “¹⁴For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.” Paul’s economics of equality is not limited only to material matters but can be expanded to every aspect of our life in Christ despite our differences in race/ethnicity, sex, class, wealth, age, etc.

John Calvin, succeeding Paul’s economics of equality, states that the rich is called to share their material wealth with the poor (a providential economic mission to fulfill) whereas the poor is called to share their spiritual wealth with the rich (a providential spiritual mission to fulfill) by God (cf. 2 Corinthians 8:14). Thus, the rich are the ministers/servants of God to the poor, and the poor are the vicars of Christ to the rich.

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[1] S. Elwart, “Biblical Principles of Economics,” Koinonia House (October 1, 2011). Retrieved from https://www.khouse.org/articles/2011/1015/

[2] K. F. Nickle, The Collection: A Study in Paul’s Strategy. Alec R. Allenson Inc., 1966, 93-94.

[3] K. P. Choi, When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong: Oikonomia Bible Interpretation Series – 2 Corinthians (in Korean). Seoul, Korea: Qumran Publishing House, 2001, 221-223.

[4] C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Harper & Row, 1973, 218.

[5] According to Foerster, “in Paul, χάρις is a central concept that most clearly expresses his understanding of the salvation event.” TDNT, vol. 9, 1974, 393.

[6] K. P. Choi, When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong: Oikonomia Bible Interpretation Series – 2 Corinthians (in Korean). Seoul, Korea: Qumran Publishing House, 2001, 234.

[7] Ibid., 235.

[8] Barrett states that Paul “appears to mean only that if in the future there is need in Corinth, the Jerusalem Christians, if they are better off, will share with their Gentile brothers” (p. 226). He seems to exclude the possibility of the first way of interpretation, but I think that it is a possible interpretation from Romans 15:27 for equality or a fair balance.

[9] K. P. Choi, Except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified: Oikonomia Bible Interpretation Series 4 – 1 Corinthians (in Korean). Seoul, Korea: Qumran Publishing House, 2000, 238.

[10] K. P. Choi, Present Your Bodies as a Living Sacrifice: Oikonomia Bible Interpretation Series 1 – Romans (in Korean). Seoul, Korea: Qumran Publishing House, 1999, 318-322.