2 Corinthians 8:1-15
One of the things I have long believed is that comparison is
the root of sin. Whether it is me looking at other people and wishing to have
something they have, or the imagined expectations we levy on ourselves, nothing
turns us so in on ourselves (and at the same time away from God) as the act of
comparing.
This takes
many forms. You might have less and see somebody with more, leading you to covet
what they have. You might even resent them for having it. You start to make
comparisons: Surely, you work as hard as them; surely, you deserve what they
have. Soon, you feel justified in feeling everything from jealousy to contempt
to rage. It is comparison that allows us to feel like we are within our rights
to feel this way.
It also
works the other way: You have more and see people with less. You begin to
compare and judge them. They must be poor because… they’re lazy… they’re
entitled… they’re not as smart as me. Surely, you deserve what you have. You
become prideful, resentful, or just plain greedy. This is true of wealth but
also of the way we make friends, and how we see our own physical appearance,
and our relationships, and our jobs, and you name it. We compare ourselves more
than even realize.
The actual
act of comparing is not bad in itself. I’m short, he’s tall; I’m white, he’s
black. These are simple observations. The question is both about our prejudices
and society’s preferences, which is to say that certain characteristics have
been engrained positively or negatively into the fabric of society. This can be
useful when society values character traits like kindness and humility, but it
is downright dangerous when society also values characteristics that are simply
part of a person’s identity.
It’s a
question of equality. In 2 Corinthians, we learn that God values this equal
footing and that those who have much are expected to give much. This shouldn’t
really be a surprise, since Jesus lifted up this concept of equality throughout
his time on earth, and more often that not, Jesus did this by talking about
wealth. In fact, throughout the Gospels, Jesus talked about few things more
than wealth and money.
One of the most straightforward
examples of this takes place when Jesus is watching people give donations at
the temple. Out of the crowd, there appears an extremely poor woman with a
couple of pennies to place in the till. This doesn’t pass without notice, even
though others are giving much more. It is she who Jesus lifts up as the example
of generous giving, because she gives not out of her riches but out of her
poverty. Jesus flips the script and considers the poorest woman to be the
richest, because she is not captive to her wealth to limit her benevolence. She
is the only one capable of giving it all away.
This is the
kind of upheaval that Jesus preaches all the time. Even before he was born,
there was Mary singing her Magnificat, proclaiming that not only has God put
down the mighty from their thrones and uplifted the lowly, but also God has
filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty! (Luke 1:52-53)
It’s not that God hates wealth; it’s that wealth is not what we think it is.
So, in another place, when the rich
man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus
tells him, “Go, sell all your possession!” The possessions have gotten in the
way of his faith—they have become his god, since he has trusted in them to give
his life meaning. He has made the comparison and determined the best life is one
full of things—a calculation that many of us make—and, yet, he finds himself
unfulfilled.
It is so
established that more money is good for us that most of us never even step back
and consider whether this is true. For all the things that we are able to buy,
there comes a point where we know that no things can satisfy. Faced with this
reality, those who have wealth often turn toward using their wealth for power.
They compare themselves with the rest of the world, treating life like a game
to be won, and so they transition from looking for security to looking for
power. But all of it starts with comparison.
This
mentality is also why there is so much shame around perceived failures to make
money. Folks who see themselves as rich but who fall on hard times (often with
little fault of their own) tend to struggle with their identity thereafter. The
moment we see ourselves as deserving wealth is the moment we are lost. If we
define ourselves by the comparisons we make and the expectations we set, we can
only disappoint. God wants for us something better. God wants us defined not by
how much we have but by how fully we give it away. And that is something more
available to the poor than the rich, to the humble than the proud. Like the
poor woman who throws in her two pennies, the real question is how fully are we
giving?
This is
about money, for sure; but it’s also about time and energy and commitment. How
much are we giving ourselves for the sake of our family, our friends, our
church, and our community? What are we doing with ourselves?
It’s not
about what we have but about what we are doing with it. This is the key to
ending the comparisons, because when you give freely, you aren’t concerned with
what others are doing. The other side of this—the thing that’s surprising to
many folks—is that when they give, people actually end up discovering some
meaning in the gifts. We were created not to compare our worth based on how
much we have but to find fulfillment in freely giving it away. This is what we
call joy. Joy is not happiness; it’s not receiving—it is giving! We were
created for joy! So, at Jesus’ birth, we sing “Joy to the World,” because God sent
his Son into the world as a gift.
That’s what
all this is. Everything is a gift, and comparison robs us of that awareness
that we are children of grace, whose only credits to enter heaven come from a Savior
who died for us. So, let the comparisons go! Instead, rest in the mercy of God
who frees us to give freely in turn—to be the poor woman, to strive for true
equality, and to spread the good news that we are saved not because of the comparisons
we make but because of the God who chooses us nonetheless.