A parish has no business playing the stock market. That money in the stock market could be housing people and feeding them. Where your treasure is there is your heart said Our Lord. Our Lord did not have a place to lay his head, so what does lovely homes have anything to do with a Christian Life? Churches do not need endowments who do you trust; an accountant or The Lord to provide? The Greek Church in Tacoma is in a very rough part of town now, and it looks like a fortress, what a shame! They have not reached out to their crime ridden neighborhood at all.
The Greek Passion a novel by Nikos Kazantakis speaks to the issue of wealthy parishes vs poor ones, it is an absolute masterpiece. One of the best Christian novels ever written IMHO.
It is interesting to note that healers among the Saints in Orthodoxy always are followed by the title the Unmercenary! They were not doctors for money, but for the good of their brothers and sisters. A Christian Doctor who followed the Didache would do his healing in public health clinics, the same with lawyers.
How many resturants feed those with no money? If I make a choice to earn money by playing the market, my choices can and do cause people to lose their livelihood. Is that what the Kingdom of God is about? Making millions so we can build monuments called churches? Or is it making sure every one has food and shelter and clothes, that folks can earn a living? We are called as Christians to live the life that shows where our heart is. My patron saint Nilus of Sora forbid his monks to even beg for bread, saying the Lord provides. He was a lone voice crying in the wilderness of a materialist Russian Church. The monasteries owned serfs! St Nilus was against such things as monasteries owning serfs or huge tracks of land. Because he knew that when that happened the Gospel lost its power, instead of being liberators the Church owned slaves!
Our Lord named one demon, Mammon or Money. He said you can not serve God and Mammon.
Jeff the Finn
The Greek Passion a novel by Nikos Kazantakis speaks to the issue of wealthy parishes vs poor ones, it is an absolute masterpiece. One of the best Christian novels ever written IMHO.
It is interesting to note that healers among the Saints in Orthodoxy always are followed by the title the Unmercenary! They were not doctors for money, but for the good of their brothers and sisters. A Christian Doctor who followed the Didache would do his healing in public health clinics, the same with lawyers.
How many resturants feed those with no money? If I make a choice to earn money by playing the market, my choices can and do cause people to lose their livelihood. Is that what the Kingdom of God is about? Making millions so we can build monuments called churches? Or is it making sure every one has food and shelter and clothes, that folks can earn a living? We are called as Christians to live the life that shows where our heart is. My patron saint Nilus of Sora forbid his monks to even beg for bread, saying the Lord provides. He was a lone voice crying in the wilderness of a materialist Russian Church. The monasteries owned serfs! St Nilus was against such things as monasteries owning serfs or huge tracks of land. Because he knew that when that happened the Gospel lost its power, instead of being liberators the Church owned slaves!
Our Lord named one demon, Mammon or Money. He said you can not serve God and Mammon.
Jeff the Finn
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