money
Last night, I got to thinking about some radical ideas about how to handle money. It’s wierd having money now and having all these options of what to do with it. Should I buy a house, invest it, save for retirement, or just let it sit in savings and take my time figure all that out (which is what we’re currently doing)?
I really liked it when I didn’t have any money. Yes, just a few years ago, after making no money for over a year, I ran my account down to $0, I felt more free than ever. Of course, I had the comfort of mooching off my parents as long as I needed till I got some regular income again. I even got a free trip to Houston during that time with the Red Cross! That was the life. No money…
Now I have money…although we’re living quite simply, I feel kinda rich. Part of me thinks that if we really believe Jesus and we really want to be in community that we wouldn’t hang on to money for the future. (And we definitely wouldn’t play this game of investing at others’ expense) Why don’t we all throw it all into a common pot and trust each other so that we can live off of that money when we need it? And I’m not talking about this 10% stuff…..how about all of it! What if we had one bank account that we share with 400+ people. I know, its super-idealistic and there’s all kinds of reasons it probably wouldn’t work. But wait, do we avoid being the church cause we think it won’t work. Of course not! Its not perfect, but we still trust each other and the Spirit that guides us enough to try!
I’m pretty pumped about the way things are with our community. We do share money and we do have ways of helping those who need it. But it feels like it’s still so easy (for me, anyway) to be individualistic. It’s easy for me to isolate my money and do what I want to secure my future. Maybe it’s not all selfish, I’m saving more for my family than for myself, but still. If I have extra money right now, should I give it to someone who needs it? Or should I put it in the bank for my peace of mind?
And retirement…. I don’t really want to make my kids take care of me, (I know I don’t really want to take in my parents). But it somehow feels like saving for retirement is a “pattern of this world”.
What do you think?
