Tag: money

Not for profit?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Money is at one level a ‘nothing’, at another level simply a set of figures on a spreadsheet / computer screen – even the ‘gold standard’ is a little arbitrary, and ‘money’ at another level when tied to ‘mammon’, greed or outright consumerism manifests as a power. It is quite amazing that Jesus drew the line at ‘God or mammon’ and that the ‘mark of the beast’ manifests as to who can buy and sell, and with the fall of Babylon it is the merchants who are the ones who weep. A rather narrow, but extremely helpful, focus.

There is something within humanity that pushes for progress thus demonstrating great creativity, but the push for progress comes at a cost – the ‘eating the future’ path that homo sapiens has pursued.

I have a very practical eschatology, be as clear as possible, don’t speculate and try to twist Scripture to fit into any prior view (not written to us), but pray and aim toward as much of heaven on earth as possible. Hence if there is to be an antiChrist let’s minimise the effect of such a rule rather than accept it all as a universal fate. I am agnostic about a future antiChrist, but affirmative that we will always be in a battle. ‘Let your kingdom come!’

I wrote about kingdom business cannot have profit as the bottom line. I am also aware we live within this creation and a denial of this creation can take us into the unreal vision of utopia, or in theological terms over-realized eschatology. However…

  • Maximising profits is not a starting point. Don’t harvest to the edges of the fields, leave opportunity for the widow, alien and outcast to benefit (glean). Jubilee (and the Sabbath / the Sabbath year of rest) put a major limitation on how far progress can go. Care for the land and also care for those who need a new start are written in to Jubilee. The laws were social as much as they are spiritual.
  • Jesus broke the hold of mammon with respect to his own work. Giving the care of the money to a thief took care of that issue. (The planned, strategic ‘loss’ of money surely has to be part of ‘kingdom’ business?)
  • Work and money are not put together in Scripture – certainly I see Paul as pulling them apart. Work is a creational term, how do we work within this world for the benefit of creation, work is a prayer for the kingdom of God to come.
  • Resources are there to release not reward. Wages (and bonuses) are there primarily as a reward for what has been done, and what has been done to enhance the corporation, whereas a kingdom-oriented economy promotes the release of the giftings that people have.

There is a ‘b-corp’ movement that suggests a prioritising (bottom lines) of people, planet and then thirdly profit is the way to go. This approach might be improved on but if held to it is certainly something that lines up better against Scripture than placing the word ‘Christian’ in front of business with the same bottom-line remaining.

People. Not assets to get the corporation to a greater level of success (and when I write corporation we can easily see how some expressions of ‘church’ have become not a manifestation of heaven but of the world around). How to see corporations as a tool to develop all kinds of people to their potential is so necessary, and to acknowedge that some might be developed beyond the corporate setting they are in.

Planet. Not there to be exploited – and this is where ‘future eating’ manifests, with the sacrifice of the next generation for blessing now – the very spirit of Moloch. Abortion is a complex issue but certainly rampant forms of capitalism are a factor in the widespread abuse of abortion. Campaigning and praying are not enough… as always seed needs to be addressed as an eternal creational principle is of seedtime and harvest.

Profit. Not illegitimate. But profit as the only bottom line, profit that simply impoverishes others… No, no, no.

All the above might / might not be interesting and if the Lord is returning in the next (say) 50 years might prove to be a simply ‘well, whatever, here comes Jesus to bail us all out’. But if Jesus does not return int the next 50 years and we are serious about ‘longing for the day of the Lord’ we might be able to contribute to some new manifestations. I also believe we entered ‘the great unravelling’ probably with some intensity in around 2020 (my sight of this is about from 8 months ago – around 3-4 years late!) and much that has been seen as progress will emerge to have seriously diminished resources to simply continue with old models.

In the ‘spiritual’ realm it is here. I have had a series of dreams concerning the prophetic going back 11 months – old models, protocols, contexts, manifestations are over, they have reached their sell by date. I am currently tracking that I have had similar experiences regarding healing over these past two months – old manifestations are over. I am sure there is much more to come… The unravelling is not stopping there. The abuse of democracy, the polarisations within society… I have written since 2010 about the end of the hegemony of the US dollar as the currency of exchange – I expected that to take place by 2020. I now realise that the physical manifestation follows the practice, and I suggest that there has been an increase of international payments in currencies other than the dollar, a new currency will arise displacing the dollar.

New forms of warfare are here. Not simply with conventional weapons, but through the realm of the media. Always warfare is for the space between our ears. Hence ‘fake news’ is both true and false. Calling out what is broadcast, and silencing what is broadcast.

There is a new world already here. The world of my grandparents and of their grandparents were not too dissimilar. The worlds that we inhabit and the one that 2 generations on from us are vastly different. By all means cast a vote for whoever one is considered best, but any ‘make xxx great again’ is missing the mark – certainly for us believers who long for the coming of the kingdom. We serve the God who is – so important cos I have to connect now, today; the God who was – wow that gives confidence to us; and the God who is to come – nice change of language in John as the future is not something we move towards, it comes to us… and it is coming ever more rapidly.

That coming future is not ‘hell on earth’, certainly not if we explore with heaven what can come from the throne of God. That coming future will bring (it always does) a stop to some aspects of the Babel project of the tower that reaches ever upwards. As I move toward the second half of my life(!!!) I await with great anticipation, and pray that I will not be shaken by what can be shaken.

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Thoughts that can hurt the head!!

The big subject of... money

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Money and how we respond? Kingdom economics? I only have a few thoughts on this and have no way grasped where we need to go when we think about ‘transformation’. Inequalities are obvious and I am not a non-contributor to the inequality equation (double negative really means I am a contributor, but that has too much of an ‘ouch’ in it).

‘How much is too much?’ does not seem to be a question that the Scriptures directly answers; Jesus himself (the one who said ‘blessed are the poor’) accepted the beyond-extravagant outpouring (waste?) of perfume that cost a year’s income. Let’s start then with what is written for us:

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

A few good practical reminders as to what is truly of value. Maybe if we were to simply quote texts we could add the warnings that are given to the wealthy, the deceit of riches, and the instruction to the rich young ruler to sell everything. It seems wealth is surrounded in signs indicating that there are unexploded mines in that territory so tread carefully.

Although the original sin is not as simple as a critique on what we term ‘consumerism’ the language of ‘I saw, I wanted, I consumed’ indicates that consumerism buys right into that original sin, and if we add the oft-repeated warning against trespassing boundaries in the OT, so that we take what is not ours and denies the opportunity for others to have what was theirs / their share, we can understand the critique of unjust trade, such as we read concerning the king of Tyre or throughout the book of Revelation. Not surprising that the mark of the beast concerns being allowed to buy and to sell.

[I consider that animals in creation speak of that which humanity was to name and symbolically represented organised humanity such as we read of with regard to nations. The beasts (wild animals) were those structures that were not tamed – those organised set-ups that were imperial in spirit, that simply wanted a name for their own glory, etc. Jesus, in the wilderness, brought them even to a subdued place – only possible as the three BIG temptations were resisted: the false economic, political and religious temptations.]

If consumerism in all its forms is what dehumanises, then the opposite seems to me to be contentment. On this there are numerous Scriptures suggesting that is the ‘bag’ that we need to carry all our ‘things’ in:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13).

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

This is not a natural process, Paul says he had to learn to be content. I guess that is pretty much life-long.

We are within the world; we are shaped by what is around us; we cannot be ‘pure’… our feet get dirty… but internal attitudes must be the starting point and then from there make some personal decisions. The woman with her two coins might have done so without any knowledge of what would result, but we have the story. With the story we can act by faith… I like that word ‘faith’… not with knowledge… but having sought to hear God and to make a response – maybe not the right response, but a ‘faith’ response, even a tentative faith response.

We can look at what we have lost, maybe through our own stupidity, but I am not sure that a financial adviser would come to Jesus and use very complimentary words when he found out that the thief was the accountant who could act in a way that exploited the loop holes. (It might be worth pondering if those who govern nations but exploit all kinds of loop holes are the equivalent?) Can what we have lost be redeemed… not into our pockets but into true wealth?

How can we push back against the buying and selling with at least some measure of giving and receiving?

And sow where we want the world to go… Maybe we cannot do it completely, but simple questions such as do I want to put resources into some pension pot that invests into what is profitable (I guess in the current scenario, weapons and arms).

Maybe small partnerships that explore alternatives? Small never changes everything… but maybe starts a movement, and by movement I do not mean simply a practical alternative, after all Jesus did not say you cannot serve money and God, he pushed us to another level – mammon.

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A Taster

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Been a while since I have posted here. I have been writing… Just completed the fourth of a proposed six-series set of book(lets). Below is the opening paragraphs, followed by the closing paragraphs, from the third volume and a chapter entitled, ‘A necessary chapter’. This volume seeks to engage with some practical areas of society, so the first chapter was on the Arts, others are on Health and Education, Business (as Unusual) and the Media.

A chapter on the arts was a nice gentle way to highlight how any communication needs more than words to bring about change. In that chapter I said that art has often been commodified, becoming the collector’s piece, sometimes because of a deep appreciation of the art but often because of the perceived investment value. One piece bought for monetary reasons while other artists, who put their heart and soul into something (not to mention many hours), cannot make a living from their gift to society. It leads me to this chapter, a necessary one, on money, work and value.
The archaeologists report that between the 10th and the 8th century BC there were many economic changes in the land of Israel. Over those two centuries a huge discrepancy grows between the size of houses. We might view it that prosperity abounded and that this was evidence as to how God had blessed, but the 8th century prophets viewed it very differently. This is the rise of the critical voices of the prophets who connected social inequality to a faithlessness to the covenant. A poignant example is in Amos 4:1-4,

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”
The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
“The time will surely come
when you will be taken away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.
You will each go straight out
through breaches in the wall,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
Go to Bethel and sin;
go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years.

Continuing to tithe and sacrifice in the appointed way was exposed as a farce as there was no justice, no semblance of an egalitarian society. In the life of Israel the law stipulated an intentional levelling through the system of Sabbath, the seventh year Sabbath and a radical Jubilee every fiftieth year when there was a reboot to the whole of society.

Before wading in to some of these major issues a gentle proviso that I will try and pick up in a later chapter. The gentle proviso is, ‘but we have to be practical.’ Agreed! We are not looking for something that is perfect for we wait for the day ‘when the perfect comes’; we live in a fallen world and in that world we have to learn how to compromise. The compromises that we are to be involved in though are to be redemptive. Redemption does not bring us to perfection in the immediate but re-aligns us so that there is a before and an after, so that we are not left the same, and the after is better than the before. Jesus quoted the Scripture that ‘the poor you will have with you always’ (John 12:8 quoting Deut. 15: 11), and that surely is true.

However, we cannot use it as if Jesus intended us to be unmoved or inactive about inequalities. The Scripture that Jesus quoted, Deut. 15: 11 says:

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

There is a reality that there will always be those who experience poverty, and in the light of that there has to be a spirit of generosity, for such was the commandment God gave them. The wider passage exhorts us to be generous, to cancel debts, to help liberate and to truly work toward the goal of eradicating poverty.

The gospel sets out the eschatological focus, and then deals with the present in both real and redemptive terms. It does not call us to live with a utopian vision, nor does it allow us to be passive. The ekklesia is present in the world to bring about change, and we are in a world that is all-but a runaway train hellbent on destruction. The original sin of consumerism, of moving boundaries for personal gain has to be addressed. This chapter is focused on money (or maybe better put as Mammon), but it could equally address the ecological crisis which is yet another sign that we have, as a race, been consistently moving boundary markers for personal gain.

………

The age to come, the one we are preparing for, and the one that we are preparing the materials for, will not be an age when there will be segregation along financial lines. Yet this age has increasingly sown into that financial divide. In closing this chapter, one that had to be written, let me simply ask how we should best sow into that glorious future. If I am privileged to own my own house should I pursue an even bigger stake in bricks and mortar? Should I look to store up more for myself with a pension scheme that will only increase the money distortions of society? Should I look to leave money to my descendants so that they might have the potential of moving further up the scale than I was able to?

Hard questions? Or looking at the reality that there is an age to come and how should we live in that light of that?

What remains clear is the concept of simply encouraging believers to rise to the top 3% of the mountain of influence without any critique of the existence of the ‘mountain’, could indeed release an influence, but the influence might not be an influence for the kingdom. The mountain remaining is not a signpost of the age to come.

We do not live in a perfect world and we await the age to come. While living in the in-between time, while we inhabit this imperfect world, we have to make compromises, yet we cannot simply compromise while refusing to look at the issues that pollute our world. Mammon and consumerism have been here since the beginning, but will not be here at the end. We live in between those two points. If we allow ourselves to be dragged back then, for sure, we are not of those who are contributing to the transformation of this world, and the preparation of the next.

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A re-set coming?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

I made the mistake this morning of reading an aspect of what is taking place in the midst of this crisis. Tough when you have to look facts in the eye.

I read how the world’s richest person is some $5.5bn richer today than he was at the beginning of the year. We all know his company as being the supplier of books and all good things, while many of his employees will tell stories of their appalling work conditions. He also made a nice ‘generous’ donation into the current crisis. Money is only money but the Scriptures are so strong on their critique of the accumulation of the ‘m’ word.

The Sabbath re-set was in-built to the way of life. Weekly, 7-yearly and 50th year Sabbaths, although not always implemented were set in place to help facilitate a healthy society. Translating that from an ancient agrarian economy to our Western society would indeed be very challenging and shocking. A 50 year jubilee would probably come out as a 2 year cycle. Scripture is ‘stupidly’ radical.

I was glad to read the article though as it leaves me with the ongoing challenge of how do we contribute to change. We are at such a turning point in history (co-inciding with the ‘fourth turning’ in the cycles of four) and being a follower of Jesus holding to a view that our little lives have to point to a new world (and therefore a new world economy) and that how we live is the leverage point for the big picture. Yes, the ‘in’ but not ‘of’ the world scenario.

There are other articles that can be read that are using the ‘re-set’ word, that the next few weeks will hold the key to what kind of world comes through the other side of the crisis (and maybe we should be using the word ‘crises’ as this is not a health crisis alone, and not simply a financial one but something that is bringing to a sharp focus the crises of the past years – immigration, borders, globalisation vs. nationalism, ecological… and something hidden deep within it all a machoistic / misogynist culture that fights against the humanisation of one and all – hence something deeply demonic).

So many things in the balance – maybe the balanced see-saw is here now? My strong suspicion is post-this-crisis (there is a ‘post-‘?) there will be two worlds emerging. A few who make a 5.5bn increase in profits, and a majority who question where true justice is to be found. I maybe cannot make a difference to the 5.5bn group – though one of the strongest words I heard from the Lord a few weeks after moving to Spain was the challenge of learning how to ensure that world changed (a long story…) – I can though make a decision as to my direction. I just hope I am not too compromised.

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Breaking news…

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Stock market crisis over the impending threat.

Hyped by the media or for real? We are told the stock market is reeling due to the crisis that could be a pandemic. It is what we don’t really know that is the issue. How many are fleeing war; how much extortion is there that is behind how many of those created in the image of God who are dying – in the Mediterranean and beyond. We can close borders but the stock market is rocking because we just don’t know how many people are dying and how big a threat it all is.

OK… made all that up. Sadly made it up. The markets are reeling not because of how many are dying but because the coronavirus does not respect wealth, and does not respect how we can ‘make’ money. There are so many more deaths that have occurred these past years to those who have desperately come to seek some measure of freedom, than is likely to come to the globe as a result of this current threat. Yes… money makes the world go round… round and round the old mulberrry bush.

I had a round-robin letter from our Spanish bank about a week ago. ‘No need to panic there will be no significant economic downturn’. I like to read between the lines – you have no need to panic because we are doing all the panicking that is needed. We have no clue where this will go, but please do not panic otherwise we are in trouble.

Having arrived home last night at the sweet hour of midnight, I only had time to send the bank adviser a piece of personal advice this morning – and I am so sure she was just waiting for my incredible wisdom. No worries, we all know money is ‘una mierda’. So I wrote a short little piece on her wall ‘Things are not stable… they will bottom out but the real crisis is not immediate but will increase in the autumn… We’ll drop in to see you in a couple of weeks… Yours ever so lovingly…. Martin’.

It is my bit of fun for the day. Here I am pontificating about the global economic scene, without any real understanding… maybe she was justified in using the ‘f’ word and ask me to leave the premises (with some humour) a while back. She has her job to do, and I told her anyone wanting to grow a business would employ her – she can sell the proverbial ice blocks to those living in Siberia in the deepest, darkest winter.

She has her job to do… and the rest of us have our convictions to live by, and to try to hold on to the legitimate money bag, the bag of contentment. Not always easy, and so hard for so many in the world. But for the rest of us the 5% who pull in three figures a month we do need to try to remain centred.

For any follower of this blog I have been saying for the past few years that come 2020 we will hit another financial crisis. I see 2020 – 22 as two years of great instability. But even that is a western, middle class perspective. And the past decades? They were full of instability to countless non-western, non-middle class people.

We will see at every level the façades opening again. My dream exposed how we – body of Christ – can just shut them all up. How about this time – cos I asked for volunteers last time but had none – ask for a major rebalancing of the economic world. For our fictitious wealth to go down so that we can see a shift. Maybe that will keep the façades open and see a shift. I do consider we missed so much in 08.

So no apologies for the fake breaking news. The crisis is not here because of the coronavirus, it is here and always has been because of mammon / Babylon. Time to see again the New Jerusalem that John saw. There are investments we make that have a great and guaranteed return. They come in the form of a cup of cold water given in his name.

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Owning everything and…

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Prophetic Perspectives

Paul states that he as an apostle was:

poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything (2 Cor 6:10).

Quite an apostolic worldview. He is not Mr. Successful but certainly he cannot be accused of a poverty mind-set. There is an incredible re-valuation taking place. How can one be poor yet make many rich? How can one have nothing yet possess everything? There is not a book on finance that can give that answer, and however it outworked practically it must have begun as a way of seeing.

I have a good friend who is an extraordinary example. He does not have a poverty mindset and so many assume he is wealthy. He has a remarkable gift to see money transferred from one place to another without profiting personally and many times the money never comes via his bank account. The money shifts and there is often an assumption he has great resources (he does but not simply ‘natural’ resources, he knows how to connect with heaven’s resources). He is not rich but makes many rich.

I have been wrestling with these Scriptures over the past 10 years and am probably not much further on today than 10 years ago in understanding them. I am also interested in turning them on their head. I can be critical of the top 1%, but am almost certainly in the top 5% globally in terms of wealth. The top 1% are filthy rich and oppressors, the top 5% are OK!! If Paul owned nothing but possessed everything, what about those like me who owns ‘everything’ (OK not quite…)? I think the challenge for some of us who are ‘rich’ and own ‘everything’ is to do so in a way that we possesses nothing. That of course was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had (Acts 4:32).

How feeble sometimes our attempts to live in a different economy. But I am encouraged that small feeble attempts are where everything begins. We have taken some steps with our friends (neighbours) where they have opportunity to ‘possess’ what we ‘own’. Now whenever the husband sees something of ours he (in good humour) says – ‘this then is for me too?’ And the answer has to be ‘yes’.

A short post as I am pretty ignorant on the outworking of the Scriptures and the turned on their head versions.

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Which bag for my money?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Personal Perspectives

Christmas time is here. I am sure there will be many presents given and received. Maybe someone will receive a present of a new wallet / purse to keep all their worldly wealth in. Apparently Scripture seems to be offering two options this Christmas. One that was modelled way back in time set in a garden, and the other proposed by none other than a self confessed ‘chief of sinners’ and called as an apostle.

The two bags are consumerism and contentment.

I have suggested that the original sin is that of consumerism. The garden gives us a very generous setting – eat of all the trees, except for one. Only one tree forbidden! That is minimal restriction, indicating that whatever restrictions we embrace when responding to the call to follow Jesus, the reality is that there is enormous freedom within that call. The language of:

  • I saw
  • I desired
  • I took

is the language of consumerism, and when set in the context of generosity is appalling, yet this is so common. When one has nothing it is understandable that someone should look and desire and seek to take, but when someone has so much there is that drive to obtain the one thing one does not have. I really need… Really need what? A bigger house, a newer car? We need?

The issue with the advertising world is that it suggests a lack that can only be filled with obtaining of something that we do not have. It comes close to robbing us of our dignity and identity only to sell it back at the price of the product. Consumerism does not open the door to growth because it works on the negative value of discontentment. In the garden there was the possibility of great growth provided we were willing to set contentment boundaries. So to the second money wallet / purse.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Phil. 4:11-13).

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

Contentment is not easy, and certainly comparison often leading to jealousy does not serve us well. Poverty is not seen as a blessing in Scripture, but to confuse financial prosperity with a sign of God’s blessing is likewise to miss the mark. Passivity is not to be equated to contentment, but thankfulness is probably the best and nearest companion to true contentment.

Contentment is the polar opposite to the consumerist spirit of this age. Maybe this Christmas I might just try one more time to look at the gift contentment might be to my soul.

And as I leave this post, I step back in amazement, realising that I was almost reflective in what I wrote.

Happy Christmas one and all!

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Art – what is it worth?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Prophetic Perspectives

A few years ago I prophesied that ‘when we learn how to value art, the housing market will be re-valued’. I have re-visited that word many times with perplexity. Many artists struggle to make a living; many of the high, high end earners will buy up art as an investment. The ‘art market’ is all over the place. The investment of time, effort and soul that some put in for little return is so wrong; storing art away from public view simply as a means for personal security is also so wrong…

What is the value of art? (And rightly by extension I include ‘the arts’.)

My perplexity I now realise (I got this insight by reading Deb Chapman’s comment on the last post) is that I have been thinking in monetary terms. As we know the vast percentage of money does not exist. 97% in most western economies does not exist, hence it is only confidence and debt that keeps the economy at the levels we find them. I should never have been trying to work out what the word meant money-wise. Driving as we do in our San Lorenzo (died 258AD in Rome) whose gift was to force a revaluation I should never have been trapped into the way of thinking I was in over art.

The value of art

It has to be given its rightful place. It is one of the means to connect heaven to earth. It touches the imagination (and therefore can also be perverted to connect hell and earth) so that speech can be made that releases heaven to earth. God made the trees and saw that they were good… If for a moment I overstate things. God saw what he had made and it impacted him. That is art. We are not talking about a rational function but of an inner transformation through a visual / auditory / kinesthetic experience. How do we value that?

Art challenges how we value everything. This is the challenge San Lorenzo presented to the emperor when he presented him with the blind, sick and poor. ‘These are God’s riches’, he said! The emperor had him killed… but he being dead still speaks. Jesus said that no prophet can die outside of Jerusalem, but he fulfilled that. From his time on the place of death is Rome / Babylon / the empire, the place that says we value things and you will not buy nor sell unless you bow to our value system.

Art is subversive. In art we learn how a new economy that is not based on trade, but on giving and receiving.

Now is the time. Yes the winds are adverse but there is a breath of the Spirit behind the arts right now. So vital as we are coming to another economic crisis. The last one was patched over when the body of Christ (the ‘authority carriers’ for the future) opted for an alignment with the familiar, lacking imagination for a different future. When we can only imagine change through getting to the top we have failed to imagine. Art can help us imagine change through the subversion of service and love. We owe you a huge debt, you artists.

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Ephesus – a big shift

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Strategic Prayer

I am very grateful for my evangelical roots, coming to faith when I was 16 and experiencing the reality of a ‘personal’ relationship with God. Likewise the impact of the charismatic expression of Christianity, healings, miracles, speaking in tongues and all that goes along with that… absolutely life-changing. Backgrounds are important and I know many of my peers have sought to re-position themselves with regard to those two definitions, as labels cannot ultimately define and certainly should not restrict us. My own trajectory has taken me, not so much to move on from them (post-) but to realise that they sit within a bigger landscape. That landscape being that of stewardship of this creation both to point toward the new creation and to draw that new creation ever closer. The body of Christ, is here to bear witness to that new creation and to create space that humanity can fill as less-than-perfect, yet real stewards of, that new creation.

Ephesus was one of the largest cities of Roman Asia Minor, probably pushing toward 200,000 inhabitants. It was wealthy and as per many cities was religious. Temples abounded but the pride of place went to the Temple of Artemis, it being one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The claim was that Artemis’ image had fallen from the sky and therefore the city had a unique relationship as steward of her presence. (This could be simple myth, or perhaps a meteorite had fallen in that vicinity.) Paul’s time in Ephesus was remarkable and I think incredibly instructive. There are a set of elements that are presented in the biblical texts there that are quite incredible. It is quite hard to know were to start and how to list them, but I will try and follow how Luke records them:

  • He found some believers there whose understanding was limited, but they soon became disciples of Jesus in a much fuller way. They seem to become the core of who Paul worked with, taking them with him when he left the synagogue as his focus.
  • Artemis was worshipped throughout Aisa Minor and Paul set up his base in the hall of Tyrannus. Of course what he taught and spoke of we all interpret through our own lenses. An early version of Alpha courses? A fully fledged Sunday meeting with band in place? I don’t think so!! The result though was manifold, one aspect Luke notes is that what he was proclaiming was heard throughout Asia Minor. Throughout her former domain!
  • This can only indicate that the rule of Artemis was seriously challenged, witnessed to by the insistent cry of the populace reacting to Paul’s message: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians’.
  • Not only was her rule challenged but it was seriously weakened and curtailed. Not only was the message heard but also miracles likewise took place throughout what we might call was formerly her territory. Handkerchiefs were carried to those sick, healings and deliverances occurred. Such was the clear impact that even Jewish exorcists employed the phrase ‘by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims’.
  • Occult books were burned, Ephesus being a centre for witchcraft and magic.
  • The economics of the city were challenged and threatened.
  • The hierarchy of government was deeply touched.

There is something there for all of us. Spiritual warfare – bind and loose those powers, go challenge those demons! Public proclamation; miracles, healing and deliverances. Ephesus certainly sets the bar high for us charismatics… But there is much more. for me too much takes place for Paul’s activity to be simply an ancient version of much of our activities today, none of which I am knocking, simply suggesting that God is raising the bar enormously for us. (I think he raised the bar way high when we consider the cross and the resurrection…)

My plan then is to take some of the above themes and try and develop them over a number of posts.

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Wealth or Money?

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by Martin Scott
Posted in Prophetic Perspectives

‘Money makes the world go round’… and round… and round… or so it seems. Pensioners were out in force this past weekend in most of the cities of Spain protesting. The government has used money from the pension fund on at least 3 occasions to bail out financial institutions, and other businesses the government wished to favour. A while back a woman working in the political scene in Madrid told us that anyone 55 and under should have no expectation of a pension at retirement, the money will be gone. Never enough money in the pot, until it seems it can be found for something more important than those who need it!

A few years back we heard an African preacher (Langton Gatsi) push hard on the difference between creational wealth and money. Money can be here today and gone tomorrow, creational wealth continues. The stock markets can ‘miraculously’ lose money one day and gain it another. This is why in most Western nations the amount of money that is real is about 3%. 97% does not even exist, and by that is not meant that only 3% is in the form of currency, something deeper is implied. 97% are figures on a spreadsheet. A run on the banks would be disastrous, and not surprising when the system survives through debt. Without debt the western economic system collapses.

‘Can’t buy and can’t sell’. So the beast says. Trading with money.

However, there has to be a pragmatism. Jesus even said as much with

I tell you, make friends for yourselves by your use of dishonest wealth, so that, when it fails, they will welcome you to eternal dwellings (Luke 16:9).

We live in a fallen (dirty?) world, and only at the extreme end does there come the call to ‘come of her’. So assuming we engage, there is an inevitability of our ‘feet’ becoming dirty and needing to be washed. Dirty feet seems to be unavoidable, but what must be avoided is having a dirty heart on these matters.

Here then are a few bullet point thoughts:

  • wealth cannot be defined by money. Wealth consists in who we are, wisdom, insight, humility.
  • the counterbalance to ‘buy and sell’ has to be ‘give and receive’. Gift is not blind charity but rooted in grace and mercy it will manifest generosity without any guarantee of return, but is given to make possible a person moving toward their destiny. Trade is based on the so-called ‘bottom line’; gift to release destiny.
  • If we can learn the ‘give and receive’ and seek to implement this maybe we can also ‘buy and sell’ without the numerical mark?

A few days ago I re-posted the material on Judas where I consider there is a strong element of Mammon running throughout that narrative. Jesus was not conquered at any level by Mammon, and the strategic victory takes place in the wilderness where he refuses the offer of ‘the kingdoms of this world’. Then on a daily basis the presence of Judas was where that battle continued. Never once did Jesus put money before Judas, always people took precedence over money. I suggest that en route to breaking the hegemony of religion the refusal to submit to Mammon was a necessary step. Money is neutral but the system locks money up under the spirit of Mammon, the result is the reward of some (but not their release) and an increasing captivity of a majority.

I consider that Jesus conquered the spirit of Mammon decisively. This gave him authority to break open the religious spirit that is so often twinned with Mammon. The Temple in Jerusalem, now had fallen to the extent of being a den of robbers. This did not mean that people could not meet God there, for God can show up in the most dark of places. Even Judas seems to unknowingly act out that severing of the tie between Mammon and religion by throwing the money back in the Temple! It is not his act that makes the break, that is done at the cross but his act is a powerful sign of what has been done at the cross. The lie of Empire continues (make Rome great and the world will be blessed) while the real flow is ever to the centre. Religion of all kinds, theist, polytheist or non-theist, can be seconded to the Imperial power to promote the well-being and continual existence of the Imperial powers. Indeed I suggest religion becomes more important to the Imperial powers at two phases: at a time when there is a push for even greater level of greatness or when there is the fear of losing control.

All three have something in common. They draw a line of who is in / who is acceptable. The language is different but the effect is the same.

Jesus, nor Paul in the ‘secular’ outworking of the Gospel allowed faith to become the support for the status quo, but considered that faith was there to challenge the world order as is. Surely that approach continues to be the call to those of faith?

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