Thursday, January 12, 2012

Retirement, Not Intended for Christians

Retirement is for the middle-class. Poor people need to work or they do not eat. Rich people don't retire. Look at Warren Buffet. He has so much money he gives most of it away. Of course, he probably sets his own hours.



Retirement is a new idea. 150 years ago, almost no one thought of retiring. The idea of retirement has only been around for about 60 years.



For most of its history, retirement wasn't popular with older people. Retirement was never intended to help older people; it was intended to get rid of them.



Throughout most of history there was birth, a very brief childhood, work, and death. In other words: no retirement. Work was inseparable from life. If you lived, you worked. People worked as long as they could because not working was viewed as unseemly. If you stopped working, you were probably dead or broken beyond repair.



Today Christians hoard money for that time when they will not work. Today Christians look around they see a world of need surrounding them and say: "what you would have gained from me is reserved for the time when I will not have to work." Today Christians sound very much like the Pharisees Matthew tells us about and we can read in chapter 15.



Today, Christians believe God blesses them so they can buy oversize houses, drive expensive cars, enjoy lavish vacations, and not work.

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