1 Timothy 6:6-10
Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into this world so we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
In the state of Washington, one of the biggest news stories is the list of those who are lining up for and against initiative I-1098, which would create a 5 percent tax rate on annual income exceeding $200,000. Among those who are helping to bankroll its defeat are Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, and Jeffrey Bezos, founder of Amazon. No big surprise there, I suppose. These guys are billionaires and stand to fork over more of their income to the government should this initiative pass. No one relishes paying taxes. Why should they?
More interesting are those backing the initiative. It is well known that Bill Gates Sr. helped write the initiative, and just the other day it was publicized that Bill Gates Jr., the world's richest man, supports it. He stands to lose a nice chunk of change if it passes.
How do you feel about the initiative? Should the rich pay more than the rest of us to help our fiscally beleaguered state?
Have you ever had the sense that your desire for money has plunged you into ruin and destruction?
According to the Oxford Annotated Bible, the word gain can have the meaning of a false security of riches. Just because people have become billionaires does not mean that they are willing to relinquish their control over the money they have “worked so hard “ to acquire, as in giving a lot of their money away. I think it has to do with control. Not that they have the desire to use their wealth to create havoc and evil in the world, but their wealth could be their 'security blanket.' As for William Gates, Sr. and Bill Gates, Jr. and Warren Buffet, they seem to be following, more or less, 1Timothy 17-18, which says, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,...They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share,....”
ReplyDeleteOf course, a wealthy person does not always exude generosity and true humility when being philanthropic, as in the founder of Facebook, who contributed $100 million to the school district of Newark, New Jersey. The so-called gift had a list of conditions attached to it. It seems that the founder of Facebook could not help but control how the gift will be spent. I don't think that is truly a gift.
It would be equitable for the rich to pay their fair share of the taxes, because they have benefited more from the opportunities in this country. As a result, the appropriate response would be to pay it back in a way that benefits the most in need. Taxes is just one way to have compassion for those in need of assistance from the federal government.
I think it is very easy to become so obsessed with money because we are always bombarded by the media's message that we need more of it to be happy. I can see how if some people don't have very much, they start getting depressed and life gets really hard. And sometimes when some people get too much money they get depressed and life gets frustrating. The latter might seek illegal ways to numb their feelings to life. So it seems like either way, too little money or too much money, it can lead to ruin and destruction.