Capitalism and The Kingdom (Part 2)
Part 1: https://steemit.com/capitalism/@matthew.raymer/capitalism-and-the-kingdom-part-1
The idea that our property is viewed by us psychologically as being an extension of ourselves; and in particular, whenever personal power is being wielded, and for one’s own ends, it is predominantly one’s ego which one is extending into one’s property; this idea of extension is very important for Jesus and his teachings. Because Jesus was utterly anti-ego, anti-extension of ourselves in a wielding of power over others; Jesus’s way is The Way of renunciation; of a surrender of self, a dissolution of ego; and a concomitant devotion of all we are to him and to following his teachings and example.
We hear from Jesus that:
“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it.
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields–along with persecutions–and in the age to come eternal life
“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and celebrate, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.…”
These saying of Jesus speak for themselves of his understating of how we are to behave and so be able to gain entrance to The Kingdom. It is clear we are not to be ever for ourselves; we are to be first and foremost for him and for the furtherance of his Kingdom.
When we lose ourselves to Jesus there is no property we might need, ask, or hope for. God will provide to us; thus Jesus’s word is based absolutely on trust; and thus is absolutely the opposite case to those hedges and precautionary protections galore that we feel we are forced to put in place under our present Capitalist economic and political confinements.
This is exactly what Jesus means when he tell you: “You will know the Truth; and the Truth will set you free”. Jesus is The Truth and his word is Truth, which sets you free of all these worries and anxieties for protecting what you call your own goods and privileges etc, and trying to extend them as one attempts to extend oneself and one’s sway.
It is totally, without a shadow clear to me that Jesus and his Way is firstly: The Way, the only way, and the definitive Way; and secondly that with its competition, its pseudo-Darwinism, it’s Pharisaical justifications of meritocracy and of ‘the weakest to the wall’, Capitalism is antiChrist, and wholly opposed to Jesus and his word and Way.
It is clear to me that as long as we have capitalism we shall have to struggle as Christians in this world against it, and our journey toward Christ will be all the harder because of the existence and all-pervasiveness of Capitalism.
Capitalism not only excuses people’s bad, evil behaviours, it encourages these, it works to obliterate Christianity, as we have seen from the outright commercial hijacks of Christian festivals and remembrances, so that in many minds no Christian thought of connection to these occasions exists any longer. When was the last time you saw a Nativity scene on a Christmas giftwrap, product packaging, or Advent Calendar?
Capitalism is antiChrist because it represents a competitive struggle for the extension of the ego; as against Christ’s holy renunciation of self and of the things of self. Thus those who succeed in Capitalism perpetuate the mindset behind it; setting bad examples for others who know no better.
A young lad from Somalia was talking about his dream to get to The West. He was saving money to risk a journey with people traffickers. All OK so far. But his dream was to ‘play for Arsenal’, a British top Premier League soccer club; and here my sympathies parted from his company. Yes by all means come to Europe and settle. Work, earn, marry, start a family, contribute, draw off; yes all these do, do ,do – but why do you want that ‘eminence’, that ‘secular’ pinnacle of the Top of the Temple from which to be ‘king of the castle’? Shame on your teachers if it is they who have so encouraged you. ‘Enough is as good as a feast.’
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
“There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
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With this line you made my day.
Thank you so much.