Religion

Religion can tend to be an odd and influential player in looking at the subject of money. Money can be left out of some of the essential teachings and doctrines and is also quietly recognized as fundamentally important and connected to any type of theistic framework. Most faith traditions have not made the connection that economic principles and law transcend humanity or our different approaches to money and the economy. There are potentially a dozen reasons across different faith traditions to account for this and I am not sure they have been helpful.

Religion and faith traditions have an important role in providing foundational belief systems about the world, about people and about the nature of reality. Despite some of the issues faced within these, we cannot escape the idea that we all are fundamentally trying to understand the world, each other and ultimate reality. The major faith traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam enter nicely into the paradigm and most of humanity generally fits into one of the three. 

Having such a foundational and important place in world view formation, religious traditions must be looked at if we are going to explore any sort of socially important topic. Money is no exception, though, often neglected.

In studying ancient Israel in grad school it was clear that their understanding of ‘natural law’ matters was clear and paramount to the establishment of a nation. Much of western Christianity loses sight of this emphasis and subsequent movements only become further and further removed over time. 

After World War II came a shift in the nature of American Religiosity and the way church operated. There is no doubt that the economy of church in America followed the same course of the entire American economy. Religious interpretation and expression always takes on the contextual environment that it is operating in. Despite efforts to keep ‘pure’ forms, it will never operate outside of the practitioners and the influence of their particular time and place in the world.

Having been raised within the American Evangelical Christian tradition I got to see first hand the shift and was an active participant in several growing churches in different parts of the US. The idea of a mega church did not exist prior to the 1970’s and today they are everywhere. Local smaller churches were quickly being replaced by massive highly organized and heavily resourced churches. This also was combined with the new form of televangelist, celebrity pastors and preachers, all following the same economic growth and technological advancement to grow and increase their particular ministry or church. Mobility and preference church goer meant that churches no longer could rely on having one pastor that served the local community, they had to market, brand, program, and compete for attendees and compete for their money.

It is here that religion makes the shift away from the individual in particular because a new priority has come in. I call this the ‘functional movement’ away from individuals. The functional movement is the result of the entrance of a multi-million dollar ‘middle-man’ into the equation of religious life. That middle-man is the organization and operation of the new world of religious life. It requires a significant amount of organization and resources to run a multi-million dollar church. I know, I used to run operations for one. Facilities costs for some are north of $5 million a year. Salaries, benefits, equipment, and so on. Some budgets hit tens of millions, in other larger cases, we are talking about $100 million operations, and much good has come from this new religious life. The operation is now needed to accomplish the religious mission and calling. Work with individuals in particular is now a subset or branch of the operation. Distance and passivity are two unfortunate byproducts of this new way. In doing so, the ever-so-subtle shift occurred in the economy of the church as it moved from a mechanism of distribution to one of accumulation.

The second aspect of the movement away from people is what I call the ‘teaching movement.’ This is a natural movement towards teaching what is known and understood and to teach what is comfortable for the listener. The message can be challenging to the hearer, but it also must fit the level of challenge that is expected. This combination almost completely eliminates money from being a topic and that is why there is almost no religious framework around money. It is not understood so it is not taught. It is not comfortable to speak about and so it is not talked about. In skimming my library of theology books, nothing is said about money aside from the common recognition that Jesus talked more about money than anything else. Furthermore, there is often the incongruent message that money is evil and deplorable and it is needed to make the year end budget.

There is a continued influence of the Enlightenment period of human history on the world of Western Christian thought. The subtle and slow shift towards knowledge and teaching holding the primary place in this type of religious life was birthed out of the Enlightenment ideal that knowledge is everything, the battle of ideas is chief among battles and that is where humanity is won towards a perspective. The movement further and further towards the right ideas being the highest reality has lingered and damaged the religious world. Where it is most pronounced is in the movement away from true ethics, ethics in practice and ethics as the primary outworking of the religious realm. Being has been replaced by knowing and that never works out well for individuals or society.

The purpose of the religious realm is to do things like equip and develop people. Connect people to the greater or higher reality. It can provide a way of understanding the world and how we are to be within it. It is also to be there in times of need and relieve the anxieties faced by humanity. Yet, we have consistently flown past the realm of money and spent essentially 0% of time on something 95% of people say is their biggest anxiety. This has always seemed disproportionate and unfortunate to me and is part of the backing away that the religious sphere has had in relation to money.

Religion has and always will be part of the social fabric of the world no matter what worldview you may hold. Many have said that religion will be dead soon making way for something else like science, reason or whatever substitute philosophy can take its place. But it is not that simple nor has religion given up any ground or been done away with.

The influence that religion has is quite remarkable for it seeks to provide followers several needed attributes. First, a community built for acceptance, expression and growth of the individual. Second, The general aim is one of humility, maturity and good citizenship on one level for the good of the world. Third, existential purpose, meaning and connectivity to ultimate reality. How well each is accomplished by the religious traditions of the world will probably always be up for discussion. What cannot be debated is that the foundations of worldviews always have this recipe of individuals in community doing what is good and with ultimate purpose. That has always been powerful and will continue to be the influence religions and worldviews carry.

With such a strong influence on life, the religious sphere has a profound function in the development of people and far beyond that which most of those practicing these faiths even realize. That influence must become regrounded back in the ethical and return to the utterly practical aspects of life. Two of the old hallmarks of the Christian traditions were the establishment of hospitals and orphanages. Most hospitals carry some Catholic or Protestant name somewhere in the title or in the origin. Similarly, the same was true of orphan care prior to more state involvement and other legislative changes that have removed some religiously connected places from having any further involvement in that work.

Caring for the sick and the orphan would be a welcome return for many of the religious traditions. This would require the humility needed to move outward rather than inward and shift financial resources in large ways towards these efforts.

Beyond that, There just aren’t that many good religious views on money.

There may not actually be any!

Within my tradition, there is one extreme that is representative of the classic televangelist with a simple message of health and wealth with the climax being the more you give, the more you will be blessed. Giving is a wonderful phenomenon and does wonders for the psyche but it doesn’t always have a 1:1 correlation with building material wealth - as is often what is presented.

Another side takes the opposite approach but still holds to the belief that giving is good. This side takes certain biblical accounts and reworks them into a ‘money is evil’ or ‘money is a god’ framework that is equally unhelpful and leaves the average attendee with no practical relationship with this thing that is so absolutely necessary for daily life. However, when it comes to year end giving or ‘tithes and offerings,’ money jumps from the realm of ‘the root of all evil’ into something holy.

Currently, the majority of people in the US name money as their number one source of anxiety. Money issues remain top of the list (tied with infidelity) as the leading cause of divorce. That being the case - the number one thing - dare I say the only thing - religious institutions should center on until reversed is money. However, the only time money is brought up is the annual message on giving, or when the church budget is in need or the occasional sermon on the unnamed poor.

The other thing that is common is to entirely outsource this to a guru and program that is close enough or utilizes their faith language in a way and promises a type of peace by following their program.

Faith communities must begin talking about money from the perspective of economic philosophy and financial advisors as well as developing a world view that makes money an ally and part of the natural order of the world. I argue that no one needs any more guilt and shame around money. In my experience as an advisor - we all have plenty of that already! We need help!

What is needed is something in addition to understanding long standing financial practices. We need a positive  relationship with money. In order to that within our context, we require our world view leaders to include a sort of monetary policy in their convictions and communications. 

This would be one of sacrifices that can be made. It is a humility to give time to that which may not be as comfortable and well known. For the homily or sermon or teaching to give way for focus on money in its practical uses would begin to break down part of the taboo nature of talking about personal finances and be part of the curative process. Anxiety, guilt and shame seem to have no restorative properties when allowed to linger, grow and not be relieved. The reduction of those 3 sits at the heart of religious faith and practice and yet, turn a blind eye to the leading cause (money) in our current day.

From where I sit, the religious sphere continues to have tremendous influence upon us and I do not see that ever going away. Within that realm, much is wanting and much can be done to influence something at the heart of every religious tradition - remedy poverty and care for those in need. That is not only a particular tradition’s concern but it is a human concern. 

Money is the great power and possibility behind ideas, world views, ethics and the basics of daily life.