June
Economy: Money and Wealth
Week 1. Volunteer Personal Development
Material and Tradition Elements for this Block.
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Mark 10:17-27
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World on Fire by Sarah McLachlan
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDmPcSWE0WU&ob=av2e)
The Miniature Earth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA6MhyK60iI&feature=related
Prayer of Confession liturgy
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The only thing that consoles us for our miseries is distraction, yet that is the greatest of
our wretchednesses. Because that is what mainly prevents us from thinking about
ourselves and leads us imperceptibly to damnation. Without it we should be bored, and
boredom would force us to search for a firmer way out, but distraction entertains us
and leads us imperceptibly to death. —Blaise Pascali
For the most part, then, in thinking about what a good life is, about what their own welllived lives should look like, when it comes specifically to buying, owning, and consuming,
emerging adults [18-23’s] did not think very expansively or critically or creatively. Nearly
all focus on a certain version of the standard middle- or upper-middle-class dream that
is centered not only on family but also on financial security and material comfort and
consumption.—Christian Smith in Lost in Transition : The Dark Side of Emerging
Adulthoodii
Again I tell you, 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.’—Matthew 19:24
Objectives.
This lesson plan is designed to help participants wrestle with concepts of consumption, wealth,
and economic justice.
 Participants will examine their own personal stories of money and their understanding
of wealth.
 Participants will question the current economic construct of consumption.
 Participants will engage in moral and scriptural reasoning to gain a more clear
understanding of God’s economics.
Background for Facilitator.
The facilitator needs to have previewed both videos on YouTube, read through scripture, and
the other materials.
For this session, please plan to spend 75-90 minutes together.
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Materials You Will Need.
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Computer to watch YouTube
Bible
Pencils/pens
Journals
Copies of prayer liturgy (see below)
Presentation of the Material. 8-10 mins
Introduce the topic of this lesson as a conversation and dialogue about consumption, wealth,
and economic justice. Read the three quotes listed at the top and then move immediately into
watching the Sarah McLachlan video and the Miniature Earth video. (links above)
Gut Response. 5 mins
Have participants pair up and address these questions:
1. What is your initial response to the videos?
2. What did you learn from the videos and what will you take away from them?
Engagement of the Material: Group Activity. 60 mins.
PART 1. PERSONAL STORY
Have the participants break off individually and let them find a comfortable space. Tell them
that this is the time in which they’ll try to remember their first encounters with money and what
they learned about money from their families. This would be an ideal time for writing in their
journals or on sheets of paper. Let them know that they’ll be sharing (as much as they feel
comfortable) with a partner. Here are the questions:
1. What do you remember your parents/family teaching you about money, saving, and
giving money away?
2. Did you grow up with a sense of abundance or scarcity?
3. What do you wish your parents/family, the church, or school had taught you about
money?
4. What sort of moral dimension was taught to you about wealth or economic justice?
After about ten minutes, have them pair up and share their responses with a partner for about
five minutes before moving into part 2.
PART 2. ENGAGING THE CULTURE
This and part 3 are meant to be facilitated conversations. It is the hope to encourage and teach
and even push (a little) the participants to reflect and think about the moral dimensions of
money, wealth, and consumption. Using a facilitated conversation with the right starting point
and guiding questions (á la the Socratic method) will encourage deeper reflection, moral
reasoning, and future orientated praxis. If the conversation is deep and meaningful don’t feel
the need to abruptly interject to move onto the next section or question. Move them gently.
The facilitator should be encouraging of conversation, respectful of silences, and ready with
their own thought provoking questions.
2
[Read or paraphrase this to the group:]
Making a good living is not only about earning an income. When understood in moral and
theological terms, it is the practice of using one’s economic values, choices, and behaviors to
shape a life focused on those goods that really do matter. Making a good living does not require
removing oneself from the economic market (as if that were even possible). Rather, it calls us to
engage in economic life critically, thoughtfully, and prayerfully by making choices that allow us
both to develop our own capabilities and to further justice, peace, and well-being in God’s
world.1
Ask the following question and be prepared to answer it yourself to start the ball rolling. Allow
about 8-10 minutes for this question.
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What does it mean to you to make a good living?
Read or paraphrase:
Even if we try to pursue the simple life, go TV-free, or spend less on Christmas gifts, ads and the
desires they seek to stir still pursue us. In this context, it is difficult to think clearly about what
we truly need and what we merely desire.
“One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions,” Jesus teaches (Luke 12:15).
Instead, true abundance has to do with being “rich toward God.” (Luke 12:21) A Nobel Prize
winner in economics, Amartya Sen, provides a better vocabulary for thinking about economic
goods. Rather than emphasizing income, Sen wants us to look for what he calls human
capabilities. Capabilities name the truly important things people are able to do and be.2
Ask the following questions. As the facilitator, be prepared to answer the questions yourself and
be ready to push back some in order to help the participants wrestle with the question of
consumption. Here is what Sen talks about concerning Capabilities: “For example, are we
nourished and healthy? Do we have decent housing? Are we able to participate in the cultural
life of our community? Are we engaged in political and civic life? Are we well educated? Can we
practice our religion? Do we have friends? Being able to say yes these questions means we have
attained important capabilities.3” Interject the previous questions to probe more deeply the
answers the participants may give. This is about 10-15 minutes.
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How much is too much? How much money is enough to live on?
What are the truly important things that people should be able to do and be?
Group Reflection.
PART 3. ENGAGING THE SCRIPTURE: MARK 10:17-27
1
Bass, Dorothy C. & Susan R. Briehl, eds. On Our Way: Christian Practices for Living a Whole Life
(Nashville, TN: Upper Room Press) 2010. p. 117-132
2
Ibid p. 122-4
3
Ibid p. 122
3
Be prepared to transition from the part two as seamlessly as possible. Read or paraphrase this
to the group:
This is the time to engage a piece of scripture that has no definite answers or conclusions. Over
the millennia people have argued that the text does not apply to them, but rather only to the rich
young man in the story. Others say that the rich young man was serving the master of wealth
and that’s what he needed to let go. Indeed this is a radical passage and it requires thoughtful
consideration and the realization that Jesus’ demands are difficult (particularly as Americans).
In the large group have two people read the passage: one time for comprehension and the
second time as the participants to look for details they may have missed the first time. Like part
2, this is a time for facilitated conversation with the scripture as the starting point and the
subsequent questions as the guided questions.
MARK 10:17-27
The Rich Man
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good
Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No
one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not
commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud;
Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give
the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he
heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have
wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But
Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus
looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are
possible.’
Questions:
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If we are to follow Jesus more closely are we to give up our possessions, sell them, and
give the money to the poor? What are the implications of taking a vow of poverty like
this?
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Read the Christian Smith quote from above again and ask these questions:
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Do you agree with Smith’s observations that “Nearly all [18-23’s] focus on a
certain version of the standard middle- or upper-middle-class dream that is
centered not only on family but also on financial security and material comfort
and consumption.”? What are your peers like?
How do we act to construct something different for our lives having been
instructed through scriptures like Mark 10?
How would our communities, churches, schools, etc. be different if instead of
modeling a life of consumption we modeled a life of service?
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The Tradition & Prayer.
Call to Confession
Instructions: Have the confessional liturgy copied so that everyone will have access to reading
and following along. Also, ask for a volunteer to be the leader in reading the liturgy.
[Read or paraphrase this.]
In some traditions it is common to confess our sins, e.g. what we have done wrong or how we
may hurt others. This confession sometimes takes place when we pray privately, sometimes
during worship, or maybe it takes place with a priest.
Right now we’ll do a brief one together as way of moving us forward in cultivating a more
economically just world for all.
Leader: Holy God, hear us as we confess our sins first silently and then together. Let us pray…
(pray for 30 seconds silently). Let us pray together…
All: Merciful God, we know that you love us and that you call us to fullness of life, but around
us and within us we see the brokenness of the world and of our ways. Our successes leave us
empty; our progress does not satisfy. Our prosperous land is not the promised land of our
longing. Forgive our willful neglect of your word, our insensitivity to the needs of others, and
our failure to feed the spirit that is within us; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: It’s a good thing to hear and know that in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven of our sins!
Passing of the Peace
Leader: As Christ has forgiven us, so let us forgive one another saying: The peace of Christ be
with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Let us share with one another that peace! [hugs and handshakes may now be shared.]
[Feel free to hand out the article The Rising Age Gap in Economic Well-Being (see below) as a
short fact filled thought provoking article that may stimulate insights this month.]
** additional resource materials/web links**
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The Rising Age Gap in Economic Well-Being (brief Pew Research Center article)
Bass, Dorothy C. & Susan R. Briehl, eds. On Our Way: Christian Practices for Living a
Whole Life. Nashville, TN: Upper Room Press 2010. Chapter 8 (p.117-132)
Schrock-Shenk, Dave. Basic Trek: Venture into a World of Enough. Scottdale, PA: Herald
Press. 2002.
Census Shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income: Associate Press as quoted in The
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Memo on December 15th, 2011.
The Abandoned Generation: Creating Jobs and Opportunities for Young Adults
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Research from the Pew Research Center:
The Rising Age Gap in Economic WellBeing
The Old Prosper Relative to the Young
November 7, 2011
Older adults have made dramatic gains relative to younger adults in their economic well
being during the past quarter century, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis
of data from two key U.S. Census sources.
Trends in household wealth reveal the pattern most vividly. In 2009, the median net
worth (all assets minus all debts) of households headed by an adult ages 65 or older was
42% more than that of their same-aged counterparts in 1984. By contrast, the net worth of
a typical household headed by an adult under the age of 35 in 2009 was 68% less than
that of their same-aged counterparts in 1984.
As a result of these divergent trends, in 2009 the typical household headed by the older
adult had $170,494 in net worth, compared with just $3,662 for the typical household
headed by the younger adult. People generally accumulate wealth as they age, so it is not
unusual to find large age-based gaps on this measure. However, the current gap is
unprecedented. In 1984, the age-based wealth gap had been 10:1. By 2009, it had
ballooned to 47:1.iii
i
Davidson, Hilary; Smith, Christian; Christoffersen, Kari; Herzog, Patricia Snell (2011-08-04). Lost in
Transition : The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood (p. 70). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
ii
iii
Ibid p. 99-100
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2124/age-gap-silent-generation-millennials-wealth-gap
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