Wealth, Poverty, and Capitalism

Reclaiming the Garden

In this episode, we break down what we were taught about money, the economy, and socioeconomic status in the churches we grew up in. Even if we were not explicitly taught the “prosperity gospel” à la televangelists (that if you be the best Christian you can be and donate a lot of money to the church, God will make you rich, and poor people are “just lazy and don’t have God’s favor”), we were still taught that capitalism was Good and socialism was Scary, that the government shouldn’t take the church’s role of caring for the poor. We were still taught an individualistic view that people could have financial abundance if they put in the work, completely ignoring the many systemic barriers that keep marginalized communities from acquiring financial security. We also discussed the consumerist culture present in evangelicalism with its church coffee shops and concert style worship.

But God’s vision of economic justice, and justice in general, is the exact opposite of that, and the culture in which the Scriptures were written was collectivist. The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are FILLED with calls to care for our neighbors, to not hoard things when we already have enough. Jesus says the poor are blessed, because the poor are the closest to God–God is not partial to a political party, but God is on the side of the poor and oppressed, always. And that has implications that we (Anna and I grew up well-off) have to wrestle with and make sure we are truly living out God’s call to justice and wholeness for all.

Resources:

John Oliver on Televangelists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg

The channel Anna mentioned that has done several videos on MLMs, including what Girl Defined is currently peddling: https://www.youtube.com/c/SAVYLEISER/videos

For more information on the Year of Jubilee, read the relevant excerpts in Leviticus and/or this Wikipedia page: https://www.youtube.com/c/SAVYLEISER/videos (the book of Deuteronomy also has cool stuff about caring for the poor and those in need)

For more info about the socioeconomic stuff going on in Revelation, listen to our Bible Dyke Deep Dive on it or read The Rapture Exposed by Barbara Rossing.

Examples of prophets getting mad about economic injustice: Isaiah 58 and Amos 5.

New Testament texts discussed: James, 1 and 2 Corinthians (and any of Paul’s letters where he entreats the community to care for poorer churches/people in need), Acts 2, many things that Jesus did in the Gospels but one we forgot to mention: Matthew 19:24, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Also April didn’t bring this up but if you want to read a memoir about someone wrestling with the implications the prosperity gospel had on her life, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler is great.

April’s new newsletter, Butterflies in the Wilderness: https://aprilthewriter.substack.com/

We have merch! Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee or mug here: https://reclaiming-the-garden.creator-spring.com/

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!