King Jesus' Economic Plans (Part 2)

If we’re thinking of a counter-cultural existence, there isn’t a bigger topic to discuss than money and possessions. Especially for everyone who has the Internet. This machine has created a culture that requires instant access to everything. This is a counterfeit attitude at greater leisure, when everyone knows that the greatest leisure comes from taking things slowly. This machine has made news, opinion and opinion, fact.

Then we immerse ourselves in the person of Jesus. Who was he? If we take the idea that someone is the sum of the company they keep, Jesus is one mixed up kid. His multiple personalities include: terrorist, tax collector (as hated as ticket inspectors or traffic wardens or tax collectors today), local businessman, builder, lepor (or someone suffering from swine flu to be boxed up indefinitely while GPs feign cleanliness by asking you to use alcohol rub before using heir biros), beggar/hobo, general unsavoury character, etc.

As mainstream rabbis go, of which Jesus wasn’t, you were supposed to pick apprentices with the most potential. That usually meant that they had already made great progress and were looking for the next level. Jesus took this to an extreme, where ‘most potential’ meant ‘least visible progress in life thus far’. And this is where economic thouht from Jesus really pulls things apart in comparison to today’s theorists.

Do not take financial advice from Jesus.

If we’re talking about investment (and I am) and you put that together with all of Jesus’ teachings you get a pretty strange mix. Effectively, Jesus’ theory was:
‘Take the most worthless product, downtrodden and forgotten about, hated and rejected and pour your very self into it until you are at your very end. Then leave.

At some point around 6 weeks after you’ve left, there will be some great stuff going on that will last forever. But it will take a long time.

Well worth it, though.’

Last week I mentioned 3 aspects of The Economy According to Jesus which included ministry to the poor.

This is one of the most talked about virtues in today’s society, but it’s for someone else. The charities do it. My neighbour does it. That weird hippy does it. I don’t. I don’t want to get my hands dirty. It is one of the fundamental practices of any given church. Or should be. And it’s all for negative profit. The investment is the same as with Jesus. Give everything you have to see them lifted out of their own filth. And you hardly even get a good feeling about yourself because you’re exhausted.

But that’s Jesus’ second principle. Or fourth. After caring for the poor, cancelling debt, and getting regular rest, you invest in the worthless for a reward that’s either non existant, or invisible for a hefty amount of time.

Let me know how it goes!