The earth is the LORD’S and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it! (Psalm 24.1)
I’ve actually been reading and thinking about this subject for the last 20+ years, but I’ve never penned anything publicly about it. In that time, I have travelled quite a distance politically and economically. I ended the 1990’s and began the 2000’s as a Christian Libertarian, convinced of the goodness and Divine sanction of the Free Market and its Invisible Hand to find the best solution to all social ills. I fundamentally resonated with George W. Bush’s vision of compassionate conservatism and market based public-private partnerships to do good in the world.
Two decades later, in the midst of an interminable War on Terror which diverts trillions of dollars to the Military Industrial Complex, after a Bank Bailout that diverted trillions of dollars of public money to private coffers, after Occupy and Bernie Sanders and staggering levels of wealth inequality, as we watch public institutions and civic life desiccated and destroyed by ravenous Global Consumerism, after reading and re-reading and re-re-reading Scripture and Christian Tradition on economics and social justice, I have come to reject the naive Christian Libertarianism I embraced as a 20-something.
As you may guess by now, I am convinced that the Bible as a whole, and Jesus in particular, do not support the post-enlightenment Consumerist concept of "private" property, in which "goods are irrevocably and unaccountably owned and controlled by the libertarian freedom of atomistic individuals, without connection to a higher duty, social purpose, or larger community".
In fact, to understand Jesus’ teaching on property, we have to look at the whole trajectory of the Bible on these issues. And, in short, the Bible nowhere supports our odd and recently formed concept of “private” property. It may be used to support ownership and property in a very publicly accountable sense, with many responsibilities tied to ownership. But it does not support private ownership unaccountable to other social, ethical, or spiritual responsibilities.
This, of course, does not stop people from using the Bible to “find” such support. After all, if you want social support for an idea, the easiest route is to connect that idea with something that is viewed as a Source of Social Authority. And nothing has more authority in many people's eyes than the "Word of God" (which is usually seen as a Book, rather than the Person of Jesus Christ).
So let me lay out five main Scriptures which I used to use, and which are still used, to support the Western idea of "private" property, and why it is a distortion of these texts to use them to support our peculiar Western concept of "private" property:
Text 1: The Ten Commandments
When reading the Ten Commandments it is easy to infer the reality of ownership and property. For instance:
Deuteronomy 5.19 You shall not steal
Deuteronomy 5.21 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
You cannot steal what is not owned. Therefore there must be property. You cannot covet something unless it belongs to someone else. Therefore they must "own" that property in some sense. But in what sense does this imply "property" and "ownership"? Never mind that a strictly literal reading of this command would entail treating wives as property, alongside livestock and houses.
While there is a limited sense in which goods "belong" to a person or family implied in the Ten Commandments (and in the Torah as a whole), we tend to vastly inflate these ideas to fit our "private" idea of property. The fact is that for Hebrews, ownership of goods was NOT permanent, and WAS accountable to the larger community. You did not "own" property so much as you managed it in trust, on behalf of God, for the community and future generations. If you did not manage faithfully, you lost the right to ownership and management.
This is the pattern we find from the first chapters of the Bible. In Genesis 1 God creates humans-- male AND female-- as governors or regents or managers of the Earth on behalf of God. We are told to "multiply" and "fill" the Earth and "control" its resources. This is elaborated in Genesis 2 when this management task is further qualified by the command to care for and tend the Garden. And if we did not tend the Garden well-- avoiding the tree of knowledge of evil-- then we would LOSE management and "ownership" of the Garden. Which is precisely what happened.
This concept is further elaborated several times in Torah, stressing that disobedience to social and cultic principles would result in a loss of the land. One of many notable texts for this is:
Leviticus 18.26–29 [26] But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you [27] (for the inhabitants of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled); [28] otherwise the land will vomit you out for defiling it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. [29] For whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from their people.
Furthermore, the Torah says many times in many ways that property-- especially land-- is never the permanent possession of anyone. In fact, management of the land is supposed to revert to others on a regular basis. For instance:
Leviticus 25.13–15 [13] In the year of jubilee you shall return, every one of you, to your property. [14] When you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not cheat one another. [15] When you buy from your neighbor, you shall pay only for the number of years since the jubilee; the seller shall charge you only for the remaining crop years.
And finally, and most succinctly:
Leviticus 25.23–24 [23] The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine [i.e. it belongs to God]; with me you are but aliens and tenants. [24] Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.
Thus, the Torah presupposes NOT "private ownership" but "responsible stewardship" of goods and land. There is no such thing as owning something without concrete responsibilities to God and neighbor. If these responsibilities are not met, the stewardship is taken away and given to someone else.
Text 2: The Land Promise to Abraham
Several times in Genesis, and then later in the Hebrew Scriptures, we are told that "The Promised Land" is given irrevocably to Abraham and his descendants. This all starts in Genesis 12:
Genesis 12.1-2 [1] Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. [2] I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great..."
From this, many Consumerist "private property" advocates point out that this land was given as a promise for Abraham and his descendants, to do with as they wanted, for all time. They will point out that this Divine promise is re-emphasized over and over, in Genesis 15 and 17, and on into the conquest narratives of Moses and Joshua, even to the post-exilic restoration promises in places like Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 29. We could note that even this read is actually anti-free market, since property here is given on the basis of inheritance, not buying and selling in "free markets". But that would distract from the fact that the larger context excludes a Western concept of "private" property.
If we read the complete promise in this foundational text, we notice that while the "Promised Land" was given for a purpose and with responsibility, even from the start. Read the text in full:
Genesis 12.1–3 [1] Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. [2] I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The Promised Land, like all "property" in Scripture, is not given simply for one family to horde to themselves or dispose of as they see fit. There is a definite ethical and communal responsibility for the giving of the property: That is may be used to be a blessing to others. Divine blessings are always given in Scripture for the purpose of sharing and blessing others, and never solely for oneself. If we combine this with the insight (above) that mis-use of property and land results in loss of property and land, we get the full picture. This is why, according to the Deuteronomic History of Hebrew Scripture, the Jews were crushed and exiled from their homeland. They had mis-used what had been entrusted to their stewardship, and therefore they lost control of it.
Furthermore, the Torah makes it clear that whatever property we have is given to us by the grace and good favor of God, and not due to any merit or worthiness we may possess. Because, again, any merit or worthiness we possess is not even ours either. It is the result of God working in us and through us to manifest moral goodness and practical ability. Toward this, we find Scriptures like this Deuteronomy 6.20-25; 7.7-11; 8.11-20; 9.4–5 and Leviticus 18.24-30.
For instance, God tells his people through Moses:
Deuteronomy 7.7–8 [7] It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. [8] It was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors...
And again he warns:
Deuteronomy 8.12–14, 17-18 [12] When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, [13] and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, [14] then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery... [17] Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” [18] But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth...
And later he re-affirms that unfaithfulness to God's ways and God's gift of stewardship has dire results:
Deuteronomy 9.4–5 [4] When the LORD your God thrusts them out before you, do not say to yourself, “It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to occupy this land”; it is rather because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. [5] It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to occupy their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is dispossessing them before you...
And finally, we have a similar theme in the New Testament. All that we have, and all that we are, is because of God's grace, not our worthiness:
2 Corinthians 3.4–6 [4] Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. [5] Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, [6] who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Text 3: All the texts where God gives us stuff
Perhaps the premier example in Scripture of God giving us stuff to enjoy is found in the writings of the wise King of Ecclesiastes. In it, he says:
Ecclesiastes 5.18–19 [18] This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. [19] Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God.
Indeed, possessions are a cause for thanksgiving across Scripture (cf. Gen 39:2-4; Deut 8:18; 1Ch 29:12; 2Ch 31:21; Hos 2:8). But also possessions are not an end in themselves. They simply do not satisfy, especially when heaped up only for personal gain. This is why the same King also says things like this:
Ecclesiastes 1.2–3 [2] “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” [3] What does anyone gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1.8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
Ecclesiastes 2.10–11 [10] I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. [11] Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
And finally he ends with this:
Ecclesiastes 12.13–14 [13] Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of every human being. [14] For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the value of goods and land and property and acquisition. In fact, it is these final two lines that bring us back to the themes we have noted so far: Namely that all property comes with divine sanction, and social duty, attached to them. And we will be judged by what we do with the property we manage.
Several hundred years later, channelling the same set of thoughts, Saint Paul writes a small set of instructions about proper use of wealth in his first letter to Timothy. He says this:
1 Timothy 4.4–5 [4] For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, [5] for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
So, as a Good Parent, God enjoys giving us good gifts to enjoy and share. But this implies responsibilities to God and each other. Namely it implies seeing goods always as subordinate to our Divine duties and our Divine purpose:
1 Timothy 6.6–10, 17-19 [6] Godliness with contentment is great gain, [7] for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. [8] But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. [9] But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs... [17] As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. [18] They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, [19] thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
So, for Saint Paul, the world's goods are Good, and a gift given by God with responsibility attached. The only way goods become Bad is if we love our goods above The Good which they are given to serve. If we love our goods above the God who gave them, or we horde them to the detriment of God's children, then they become idols which slowly destroy us from the inside, and tear apart the fabric of society on the outside. This is why Saint Paul says that the LOVE of money is a root of evil. It is not money itself, because money (and the goods that money can buy) can be used to accomplish very good things to the Glory of God and the welfare of God's people. But when we love money, when we crave it, when we put profits above people: This is when money becomes demonic.
Text 4: Jesus' "Parable of the Talents"
In Matthew 25.14-30, Jesus tells us his parable about how "The Master" (i.e. God) entrusts each of his "servants" (i.e. humans) with a different amount of "talents". In the original usage, "talent" was a quantity of money. But as this text was preached and taught over centuries, the meaning has expanded to include individual gifts and abilities, as well as the property and goods which each of us have access to. In particular, this text is applied by a Consumerist reading to justify wealth inequality, because it clearly says that God gives different people different amounts of "property" to "own":
Matthew 25.14–15 [14] For it is as if a man [i.e. the Master], going on a journey, summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them; [15] to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
In the Consumerist read, the Master has gone away and left those "most capable" in charge of the most property, for us to do with as we please. This read, in turn, is used to justify why some have more and some have less. Those who have more deserve it because God has judged them more worthy than the rest. But, again, if we stop there we miss Jesus' main point: We are responsible to God for how we use our property, however much we may have.
And, while the text does say that the talents went to "each according to his ability", this does not actually equate to some being more "worthy" than others. It is not that servants with more capacity for management were worth more as humans, while those with less capacity were worth less as humans (as is commonly assumed in our culture which treats wealth as a sign of Divine Favor). This is shown because the Master praises each on the basis of his own ability, without comparing him to other servants. A servant who creates abundance with a small amount is given the same praise as a servant who creates abundance with a large amount:
"Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy." [verse 21 and 23]
A better read of this text would focus on the fact that it is not the servant's ABILITY that matters so much as the servant's RESPONSIBILITY. As Peter Parker's uncle once said: With great power comes great responsibility. Those who have been given more have a proportionately greater responsibility to create abundance with the resources they have been given. Jesus even states this principle directly in Luke's Gospel:
Luke 12.42-48 The Lord Jesus answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? [43] It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. [44] Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions... [48] From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Jesus also makes the same point from the opposite starting point, focusing on unfaithfulness and irresponsibility:
Luke 16.10-13 And whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. [11] So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? [12] And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
So, leaving aside the question of WHY certain people get more and certain people get less, we can look at the world and see the FACT that certain people do get more while others get less. The question becomes: What are those with "more" supposed to do with their "more"? What are those with "less" supposed to do with their "less"? The answer, at least in this parable, is to use their talents to create more abundance and more resources. At the end of the parable, the servants are rewarded or disciplined for how they used or failed to use their talents. And it is precisely the servant who hordes his wealth and fails to use it in a social purpose who is disciplined the worst:
Matthew 25.24–29 [24] Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; [25] so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.’ [26] His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? [27] Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? [28] Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. [29] For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
So, spending talents to create abundance brings reward and praise. Hoarding talents to protect oneself brings discipline and condemnation. This coheres with the rest of Jesus' Gospel teaching on wealth, where wealth and property are always used for the purpose of serving and helping others. From the Good Samaritan who uses his property to heal a stranger, to the widow who gives her last two coins for God's service: Wealth is always given with communal responsibility. This is shown most pointedly when Jesus is speaking about what to do with property in the case of injustice:
Matthew 5.40–42 [40] If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; [41] and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. [42] Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.
In the end, the use of our property is not governed by our own desires, but by a radical self-sacrificial love which helps people even when it is uncomfortable. This is exemplified by Jesus' own life, which is summed up by Saint Paul in economic terms this way: "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." [2 Corinthians 8.9].
So, for Jesus, our property may be ENTRUSTED to us by God, but it is not OWNED by us. It is on loan from God to be used for the purposes God intended. And that purpose is to share joy and healing and health with as many as possible. Or, to use the terms of Jesus' own prayer, to make sure that all of God's children have the "daily bread" they need to survive and thrive.
In fact, it is a grave danger and a form of idolatry to put one's trust in wealth and property, as if they belonged solely to us or could satisfy us at a deep level. Jesus warns us:
Matthew 6.19–21 [19] Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. [20] But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
And again:
Matthew 6.24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
And finally, lest we continue to put our trust in our property and our ability to be self-sufficient without connection to a larger community, Jesus tells the parable of the foolish owner in Luke 12.13-21. After building his own private estate, the foolish owner says:
Luke 12.19–21 [19] I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ [20] But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ [21] So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Text 5: Acts says we have the right to use our property as we see fit
There is a curious text in the book of Acts, in which the members of the early Christian community are selling property to provide for the poor and vulnerable in their midst. In the middle of this narrative we are told:
Acts 5.1–4 [1] But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, [2] and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. [3] But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? [4] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”
This text is seized on by "private" property advocates as proof of the right of the individual to own and dispose of property as they see fit. The key text here is "While [your property] remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?" This is not as ringing of an endorsement as it might seem at first, because in the next paragraph both Ananias and Sapphira are struck down dead by the Holy Spirit for their lie, and the community carries their lifeless corpses out to bury them.
Property advocates say their only crime here was lying. And they are right. But lying about WHAT exactly? They lied because they knew their property ownership had rightful implications in the community, and they were afraid of being seen as greedy by the community, precisely because they were failing to use their property in accord with what we have discussed thus far. They lied specifically: They lied about property and their God-given responsibility to manage that property as a blessing to others. As a result the property was taken away from them by death, and others were given use of that property.
After all, it is a grave rhetorical mistake to use Acts as a justification for private property. This is because it is precisely the book of Acts that contains the most explicit mentions of early Christians following the teachings of Jesus by living a communal, collective lifestyle. For instance:
Acts 2.44–45 [44] All who believed were together and had all things in common; [45] they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
And again:
Acts 4.32–35 [32] Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. [33] With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. [34] There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. [35] They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
It was directly after this second passage that we find the story of Ananias and Sapphira above. So, at least for the book of Acts, truly following Jesus meant that some early Christian communities lived in proto-socialist communities. Using modern language to describe these communities, we might say that goods and property were explicitly owned by the collective, not by individuals or even families, and used according to radical democratic principles we might sum up as "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need".
Now, it is clear that in other places in the New Testament, the Apostles did assume a more traditional view of ownership as property under the control of a single family. This seems presupposed in Paul's letter to Timothy (above), as well as places such as 1Corinthians chapters 8-9. So, not all early Christians lived as proto-socialists. But some did. And even those that did not were still accountable for using their wealth in ways that benefitted others, not just themselves. For instance Saint John writes:
1 John 3.16–17 [16] We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. [17] How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
And Saint James also writes to his community:
James 2.14–17 [14] What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have faith but have no deeds? Can such faith save them? [15] Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. [16] If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? [17] In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
This is accompanied by James' scathing critique of how the rich are exploiting the poor, and how the rich are answerable to the Community for how they use their wealth, and they will be judged by God [cf. James ch. 2, 4, 5]. James' critique of "income inequality" is notable for several reasons: First, nowhere in his letter does he presume that being a Christian necessarily meant living a proto-socialist collective lifestyle. But, secondly, he does presume that wealth always comes with public accountability. And third, this public accountability does remind us of the story recorded in three Gospels in which Jesus warns that "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" [cf. Matthew 19.23-30; Mark 10.23-31; Luke 18.24-30].
Thus, while there is such a thing as "property" in Scripture, there is no such thing as "private property". Everything we have, and all we "own", is not really ours. It is on loan from God, and we are accountable to God, and to the community, for how we use that property to promote the full flourishing of those around us. This is why, at the end of the day, Scripture doesn't talk about faithful property owners, but rather faithful stewards of the property that is on loan from God:
1 Corinthians 4.2 It is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
According to Saint Paul, who wrote this, what does a faithful steward do? She uses all of her resources and wealth to "build up" others into full human flourishing. In fact, the concept of "building up" is key to what Paul thinks of as the purpose for property, wealth, talents, and abilities. All of these gifts are to be used, not for ourselves alone, but to "build up" others around us [cf. Paul's use of the term "build up" in Rom 14.19; 15.2; 1Cor 3.9; 14.3, 5, 12, 26; 2Cor 5.1; 10.8; 12.19; 13.10; Eph 2.21; 4.12, 16, 29].
As such, we are enjoined to use the property entrusted to us to build a life of virtue and Love, which honors God, and builds up those around us. And with this, we will end with Saint Paul's ultimate account of our responsibility before God for how we use the blessings God has entrusted to us:
1 Corinthians 3.10–15 [10] By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. [11] For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, [13] their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. [14] If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. [15] If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
After all of that, it seems only right to end with prayer. Let us pray for the Right Use of God's Gifts, from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, page 827:
Almighty God, whose loving hand has given us all that we possess: Grant us grace that we may honor you with all that we possess and all that we own. Help us remember the account which we must one day give, and become faithful stewards of your gracious gifts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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