Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Do Things Like Income Inequality and Tax Reforms Really Matter to God?

Do Things Like Income Inequality and Tax Reforms Really Matter to God?

Last updated on: October 17, 2017 at 7:43 am by Tim Suttle

Do Things Like Income Inequality and Tax Reforms Really Matter to God? 2017-10-17T07:43:10-06:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

During the Civil War both sides of the conflict were convinced that God was on their side. Both saw their cause as righteous. Both prayed to God for vindication.

Time and history have shown God was on the side of the North, and not simply because they won the war. God was on the side of the North because of slavery. God will not stand idly by while whole races of human beings are not properly valued.

We might want to call this a question of social justice, and I think that we would be right. But what does that mean?

In his book, Justice, Abraham Joshua Heschel says that the Jewish take is that God doesn’t really care about justice. Heschel writes,

“God’s concern for justice grows out of His compassion for man. The prophets do not speak of a divine relationship to an absolute principle or idea, called justice. They are intoxicated with the awareness of God’s relationship to His people and to all men.”

God doesn’t love justice. God loves people. God’s heart is not attached to an ideal of justice. God’s heart is attached to you and me and to creation. God’s desire for justice flows out of God’s love for humankind. God doesn’t care about justice so much as God cares about people.

Income inequality

…is the name we give to the fact that the richest people in our society have rigged the system so that all of the economic gains we make as a society go into their pockets. The middle class and the working poor haven’t had a real share in the economic growth of the past thirty five years. The economy no longer works for average people, and God cares about this because God cares about all people.

God is not impartial on this issue of income inequality. One of the most hopeful messages of the prophets is the claim that God will not sit idly by and watch the rich take advantage of the poor.

We always think that God is on our side. But the bible seems pretty intent to teach us that God is on the side of the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized. God is serious about economic injustice, but evangelicals seem blind to God’s concerns. This is not a small problem. This is, perhaps, the main reason our society is in such a precarious state right now.

For example: Evangelicals spend a ton of time arguing about homosexuality, which is mentioned only seven times in scriptures. At the same time, evangelicals seem relatively unconcerned with economic injustice and the right use of money, when there are more than 250 verses on the proper use of our wealth, and more than 300 verses about our responsibility to care for the poor in the bible. Do you see the disconnect?

Why are we like this? It just seems wrong to me. It’s like we’ve lost the ability to care about what God cares about and only have the ability to care about what the politicians tell (manipulate) us to care about.

Maybe we don’t share God’s concern for the poor because we don’t know how to love each other and value one another properly.

Tax Reform

Tax reform, for me, is more a matter of grace than of justice.

Kathleen Falsani once wrote, “Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. And grace is getting what you absolutely don’t deserve.” I love this quote because it reminds me that I don’t want justice, not really. God help me if I ever get what I truly deserve. What I want is mercy. I want to avoid dealing with my own shortcomings. But what God gives me is even better than mercy. God gives me grace… forgiveness and restoration that I really don’t deserve.

God’s grace comes free, but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus everything, and it also puts me on the hook to extend the same grace I’ve received to the other people in my life.

I don’t really care about a “just” tax system. I’d like a graceful tax system. I don’t care if the rich “deserve” to enjoy their own wealth. God help us from getting what we really deserve. (We also need to learn to tell the truth about who the rich have screwed, and what they have done to the planet on their way to becoming billionaires).

I want to care about what God cares about. I want to extend grace to others the same way God extends grace to me. I think God cares much more about our becoming a more graceful people, than about our becoming a more affluent people.

As a Christian I am bound to extend grace (even financially) to others because God has shown grace to me. What does a graceful tax system look like? I think it’s one where the wealthy, especially the uber-rich–the top 1% of our society–are asked to share generously of their wealth. They are asked to grace the poor. They are required stop hiding money in tax shelters and off-shore bank accounts.

The price the uber-rich should be required to pay for their wealth is that they should have to use that wealth for the betterment of society, especially the poor, instead of living lives of decadent wealth and luxury.

That’s why I care about things like income inequality and tax reform. God has been so graceful with me that I am simply obliged to extend that grace to others. Income inequality is a problem in our society because God cares about the plight of the poor and the working people. God cares about tax policy because God doesn’t want to see middle and lower class people struggling while the uber-rich own a dozen homes and stockpile their money.

Justice

Abraham Joshua Heschel

income inequality

Kathleen Falsani

tax reform

Previous Post

October 3, 2017

Top 25 Tom Petty Songs of All Time

Next Post

October 19, 2017 Stanley Hauerwas: A Prayer for Our Enemies As We Are All Learning How to Hate

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the Israelites eat in the wilderness?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Corn Manna Fish Bread