Greed | Churches' Alternative to Pay Day Lending

I had my last Sunday at the Small Church Collaborative in Ashburnham, MA and Rindge NH yesterday. It is bittersweet--they are both wonderful churches and I am sorry to leave them. And I am excited for my new role as Coordinator of Community Life at Episcopal Divinity School. I have two weeks off and then get started on August 11.

-Liz

Follow the Money

I've been limiting my discussions to what I see as Christian concerns--care of our neighbors. So protection of trans and other queer people, immigrants, and poor people. This is clearly where Christianity has something to say.

But Christianity also has something to say about how we handle excess wealth. Next Sunday’s lectionary includes the man who stores his excess wealth, only to die (Luke 12:13-21) and the admonition to not trust riches to save us (Psalm 49:1-12). In Colossians 3:1-11 we are encouraged to set our minds on “things that are above” instead of on earthly desires.

I am interested in Paul’s aside that greed is idolatry. The greek here is pleonexia which is greed, covetousness, or avarice. That is it is wanting what is not yours.

In the first century there was a general view that all excess wealth was the result of taking money away from others. The idea was that resources are limited in supply, and if you have more than you need, that means you got it from, or kept it from, someone else.

Like the man with excess crops in his barn, it was not bad to accumulate wealth from hard work or a good yield in your fields, but you were not to keep more than you need. Excess is not to be stored but to be spent, thus distributing resources to artisans and other workers in the community. Thus those with plenty hosted meals, extravagant parties, and contributed to building projects.

The phrase “follow the money” is used for political actions that seem unexpected. We wonder why a decision is made; the appropriate research is to find out who will make money from the decision.

I care a great deal about what is an appropriate use of money that I personally have, and my book When Did We See You? A Lenten Reflection will come out in time for Lent 2026. But what about what other people’s choices about money? What about politicians, and people working for them. As a Christian can I judge?

The answer, I think, is that I can’t judge individuals choices, but I can judge government choices. And I can create a picture of what God wants to the world to look like.

And God, I am certain, is interested in the common good. God wants a world where no one is hungry, and wants us to find ways to move wealth from those who have more than they need to those who have less than they need. There is enough for everyone, but only if those with excess share that excess.

And so we use Paul’s words in Colossians to take a stand against low tax rates for the wealthy, against reducing Medicaid and food stamps. Our picture of God’s rule is one where it is not easy to store you wealth rather than to spend it or to give it away. We believe that all the resources are God’s resources, and God’s resources are meant to be distributed among all of God’s people.

How does it feel to talk about redistribution of wealth in your church? How are you handling care of the poor? Reply to this email to let me know what's happening. ​
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The Black Clergy Collaborative in Memphis TN offers small loans as an alternative to payday lending centers. This is funded by donations from people and churches that have excess to share.

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The Smithsonian Folkways albums are collections of music in the United States. Woody Guthrie's song If you aint got the do-re-mi is about how hard it is to get money unless you already have money.

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