More on Giving and Wealth

Earlier today, I laid out my views on The Blessed Life. One of my concerns was that the book undermines/ignores the voices in scripture that ask why the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper. The voices in these passages need to be honored along side those which recognize that God will also provide prosperity to those who are generous.

Upon further reflection, I'm beginning to realize that most of my concerns boil down to two questions. Both of these questions concern the way our faith community responds to Morris' message. If those questions can be answered in the affirmative, the rest of the issues are pretty insigificant to me.

Here are the questions:

1. Is there room in our faith community for (a) those who are living the "blessed life" and (b) those who have few material blessings, to honor and love one another? That is...
- Can those in the latter category honor the gifts of the former without envy?
- Can those in the former category honor the faithfulness and patience of the latter without judging them?

2. Is there also room in our faith community for the spirit to move us to give out of a desire to do justice in the world? Is there room for us to hear modern-day prophets - who may ask us to consider whether our abaudance can/should be used to serve the poor and outcast rather than ourselves? And, in connection with this issue...
- Is there a place for accountability to each other for the decisions we make with our money?
- Is there room for a serious discussion about the virtue of the spiritual disciplines of simplicity?