In our Friday morning free store conversation we talked about the story that Jesus told about a rich man and his dishonest manager. The gist of the story is that this rich guy discovers that his property manager is embezzling money. We started by talking about how people that have a lot of stuff actually depend on other peope to manage it for them. We had a bit of fun when we started asking around the circle if we could make a list of everything that we owned. Rick admitted that he couldn't even make a list of everything he had in his bedroom. And we all laughed when he talked about having drawers full of stuff that he didn't even know he had.
We also talked about how much energy people put into protecting the stuff they have. Like the rich man in the story we all cling to the property that we have like it was a lifeline. Rick told us about a man that he knew that used to say, "I'm rich and nobody's gonna make me poor" which gave us a good laugh. Somehow we were all able to identify with this attachment to possessions that can be so exagerrated in very rich people.
When we got back in the story we discovered that when the dishonest man was caught stealing that put him in a real bad spot. He basically admitted that he had a pretty cushy job with the rich guy but didn't like the idea of having to look for other means of support. Basically he didn't want to have to get a job that required too much physical work and he was too proud to beg. This gave us a bit of a laugh and led us into a discussion about some of the worst jobs we have had. George said he used to pick tobacco which was very hot and hard work. He said that sometimes snakes would hide around the base of the plants as well as spiders. Rick told us about his nephew that went to work on the farm and after the first day collapsed on the bed at the end of the day and slept right through until morning. He was impressed when the kid got up and went to work the next day and worked on the farm the whole summer. Someone else talked about digging ditches when he was fifteen years old and deciding right then that he would go to college.
We also talked a bit about how it can be humiliating to beg or even to ask for help. We decided that it was mostly pride that kept us from asking for help even when we needed it. Interesting that many of our friends actually resort to begging as a means to support themselves. Our friend Billy used to sit at the free store table and write on his cardboard sign "Homeless, Hungry, Please Help." Then he would wink when he left and say, "I'm goin ta use my credit card."
We discovered that the dishonest manager came up with a very creative solution to his problem. He called all of the people that owed the rich man money and had each of them reduce their bill by about fifty percent. We got a bit of a laugh out of this and smiled at the man's ingenuity. George said that guy was like Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor but that it was still wrong. The thing that really struck us was that the rich man actually commended the dishonest steward. He basically said that the guy was smart for using his money to make friends. And since Jesus told the story we felt that he was also commending the man for his use of money to make friends.
Someone told the story about a friend he knew named Dave that sold his small general store and bought a van and motorcyle and now travelled around the country and spent time with friends everywhere he went. Dave used to say, "Man you own too much to be free." We talked some about how it might seem like a good thing to be wealthy and have a lot of stuff but it all comes with a price. We might like the big house but that house comes with a big mortgage which requires a big paycheck which means the owner has to keep his big paying job even if he hates it.
In conclusion we talked about how the best use of money is to spend it on the people around us. We can get so preoccupied with our possessions that we can easily forget that it is really our relationships in life that matter most.
No comments:
Post a Comment