Equality

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

EQUALITY

2 Cor 8:13-15

13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."  

NIV

Paul is quoting from the time of gathering manna in the wilderness and that everyone gathered according to their need, or the number of people in their tent. What we have to ask here, is does this sound a bit like God is advocating communism? This equality issue surely sounds a little like communism although even within that system there are the rich and the poor, those who are powerful and those who are powered. No system administered by men can ever bring equality. But God is giving us an insight here through these words written by Paul as to how the Kingdom of God looks. We know that God administers equality upon all mankind. He sent his son to die for everyone’s sin. God does not show favoritism. Yet here we are seeing we should be operating within the Kingdom of God in a way that is not commonly thought of. Can we ever remember believers coming close functioning like this? It would seem this concept of equality sort of “flies in the face” of our system of capitalism. We surely have a great deal of inequality within the church. It seems that everyone is out for themselves, perhaps giving a little here and there in order to make themselves feel good, or out of a sense guilt, or perhaps thinking themselves obedient. But there is still those who are extremely wealthy while others are completely impoverish. There are those who have more than enough and thus invest it in the world’s financial system in order try to have more, while others are barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. What we see in the church is surely not the equality that is spoken of here. We see those who have plenty keeping their plenty while those who do not have plenty living accumulating debt just trying to live, perhaps beyond their means in an endeavor to be equal with those with plenty. SO how do we deal with this? How do we go about experiencing the equality that is spoken of here? How do we determine who is the giver and who is the receiver? Do we look to some third world country and say they have little while we all here in America have plenty? Then why don’t we give enough so they can live as we do? So why then don’t we share enough of our money so they can own homes and cars? Do we say that if we make one hundred thousand a year here, it is equal to them making one hundred dollars a year in their society and thus we have equality? Something is wrong. We may never get this resolved. But maybe we are alright. Maybe that giving to missions every so often is fine, and fits the bill of equality. After all we should not be hard pressed so others would be relieved. Yet what remains is this word equality.