(February 27, 2018 at 6:06 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(February 27, 2018 at 5:31 pm)wallym Wrote: When you read the ole camel through the eye of a needle bit, and Jesus is all 'give up all your stuff, and follow me', do you think he really meant 'Give 15% and go to church on sundays for an hour"? Or do you think that was a necessary interpretation by the church, because taking him at his word would result in a church with about 8 people?
Is having excess while others are dying from having none not being evil based on geographical distance? If your neighbor was starving to death, and you had more than enough food, it'd be evil not to help them, I assume? But if it's a kid in Africa, same situation, people can rationalize themselves as neutral or even good in the same situation.
I'd hate to have a conscience and have to grapple with that.
To put the camel saying it into context, Jesus was talking about being rich. And "going through the eye of a needle" was a pain, but not impossible. People had to do it all the time.
I'm not saying greed isn't a major sin, because it is. But I don't think any of this means it's sinful to not give away all of our money, especially when we have to take care of our own needs and that of our families/children's. According to the bible, we should all give *at least* 10% once our own basic needs are met. If you're rich and buying useless stuff, or otherwise hoarding excessive amounts of money, you do have the moral obligation to give more.
If your neighbor is starving and you have extra food, of course you are morally obligated to help. And I imagine any decent person would. As for hungry people in other parts of the world, same rule applies, except you'd need to give through charities in that case, rather than directly.
If Jesus had told the rich guy "Donate 10% of your wealth and follow me!" The rich guy would have done it in a heartbeat. That would have been easy. It'd certainly be very doable.
To me, based on what I know about Jesus, I think he'd be more of the take just what you need, and then the rest goes to helping your fellow man. If actual Jesus were following you asking you to justify all your purchases, that would suck a lot, right? "No no Jesus, this tile pattern is much prettier than the cheaper linoleum alternative. Much prettier than a mosquito net is important for that malaria plagued village in africa." "I'm too tired to make dinner Jesus, that's why we're going out to eat for a price that could feed 10 homeless folks."
Put bluntly, it's borderline murder by omission.
