Tell me who owns you, baby…

The following paragraph is an excerpt from Ben Witherington’s most recent book that I am now reading. I would be posting my review once I have finished it but suffice to say it is an important addition to the multitude of Christian and - more specifically - Evangelical books on the Biblical teachings on money. While most other books with similar intentions are based on a superficial interpretation of the Bible and scant knowledge of systematic (or biblical) theology, and are often more indebted to their authors’ cultural background, here Ben Witherington III applies his expertise in New testament studies and biblical theology and attempts to read the relevant texts with a view of their original cultural setting and the way they were possibly understood by the original intended audience. I highly recommend this short but important book!

“In modern Western culture we place a high value on work, which is fine, but one of the philosophical assumptions that can come with such values is that we assume that we own what we earn or buy. From a biblical point of view this is extremely problematic. There isn't any necessary correlation between hard work and ownership. Think, for example, of all the hard work that went into building the pyramids in Egypt. Most of the workers were slaves, and they had no delusions that because they built the pyramids they owned the pyramids. No, they believed that both the pyramids and they themselves belonged to Pharaoh! In this sense (excepting of course that Pharaoh is not God), they had a more biblical worldview of work than most of us do. Our hard work may be well rewarded or not. It may produce prosperity or not. But until we see all that we receive, whether by earning it or receiving it without work, as a gift from God, a gift we should use knowing who the true owner of the gift is, we will not be thinking biblically about such matters.”

From Ben Witherington III, “Jesus and Money: A Guide for Times of Financial Crisis” (Brazos Press, 2010), p. 19


* The title comes from a song (“Who Owns You”) by the American rock group White Heart.