Luxury is Oppression

The more wealth exists in the world, the more oppression and poverty also grow. One cannot exist without the other. There can be no prosperity without oppression. Economics textbooks say that resources are limited, and must be distributed according to certain rules of supply and demand. Ability to obtain resources dictates how much someone can have. The scarcity or availability of certain resources determines how much they are worth. Since not everyone can have everything, we develop systems through which some people get stuff, and others don‘t.
This is a poor excuse for the oppression of many while a select few sit back and accumulate wealth. It is not the way the world should work, nor the way the world must work. If Jesus believed in capitalism, he wouldn’t have told his disciples to leave their boats, that is, their small businesses, to follow him.
Luxury creats oppression two ways. First, when we buy products produced through oppressive means. Slave labor was used to make sugar for over a hundred years. Everyone who bought slave-made sugar helped slave owners and slave traders make profit and gave them reason to continue enslaving millions. The British bought tea from China, but they wanted the tea to be cheaper so they sold the Chinese opium, addicting thousands. Everyone who bought that tea contributed to the opium trade.
These examples are from history, but the problem is still rampant today. Would you buy sugar made by slaves? Do you buy clothes made in sweatshops? Do you eat at fast food places where the cashier and the person assembling your burger only make minimum wage? Do you shop at stores like Wal-Mart, where workers aren’t allowed to form unions?
The second way luxury creates oppression is the way we divide our resources. When we buy things we don’t need, we give money to big companies that pay CEOs huge amounts of money to sit in fancy offices wearing suits that cost what some people make in a year. We feed their luxury with our own. When we spend our time at the movies or lounging around, we take volunteer time away from people who need help.
Free market capitalism says make as much money as you can, any way you can. Jesus says give, give everything you have away. The early church combined their resources. No one owned personal property. Those who entered the church with wealth became poor, but no one was in need.
Every time to take more than you need, you participate in oppression. Every penny a girl spends on extra clothes or shoes at the mall is a penny that could go to putting food in a hungry belly. Every dollar a boy spends to fix up that cool car could go to building homes for people without a place to stay. Every hamburger, milkshake, ice cream cone, could be put to better use than simply pleasing our taste buds.
We are not entitled to luxury until every mouth in the world is fed, every body clothed, every orphan given a home. Every resource--time, money, energy--spent on personal luxury is part of the cycle of oppression that fills this world. It won’t be fixed until we stop living for pleasure and start loving. Giving.
I’m not saying you should go around in rags and starve yourself. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy a treat now and then. But how much of what you have do you really need?
How much of it could truly benefit someone else?
How much would you really lose if you gave it away?
As Jesus said to the rich young man, go sell all your possessions, give your money to the poor, and then you can follow me. Many preachers say that everyone doesn’t have to do that. This lesson was for the rich young man. It is about not fixing your hope in wealth, not being too attached to material things.
I think those preachers are wrong. The truth isn’t popular, and it isn’t easy. It could get you booted out of the pulpit.
Jesus meant those words for each one of us. If you want to follow him, really follow him, you’ve got to give up your luxuries. Because Jesus was all about freedom from oppression. Luxury creates oppression. Therefore, we sould not strive for personal wealth. We strive to help others.