24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share.
As Abram has been obedient in keeping his commitment to the Lord he follows a very important principle. He speaks for himself and doesn’t deprive someone else of their earned share. They have together fought and rescued these people from certain disaster and servitude. Abram has made and kept his promise not to become wealthy at another’s expense. He gives up only what is his to surrender. The rightful earnings of the other three are not his to yield. They earned it and only they can give it up. We see this playing out in the current wealth redistribution taking place in the United States. And this is personal to me. Our President is wealthy and had the opportunity to place his words into action by using his personal wealth to help the poor and disadvantaged. But his percentage of giving as a wealthy man was below most poor church goers. He speaks the words of caring about the poor, but his actions betray his heart. He cares about appearance, nothing more. He is now using his power to do what he was unwilling to do personally. He is attempting to force people to give up their earned share and give it to those who didn’t earn it. He personally was not responsible with his wealth, and now he is trying to force others to do what he was unwilling to do personally. For me, this is the height of hypocrisy. Abram had the integrity that great leaders need. He only gave what he himself had the right to give. I want you to know that I do not condone the selfish, sinful greed that Capitalism fosters. It is a great sin. But sin must be dealt with personally, not corporately. Jesus’ death and resurrection dealt with our sins corporately. His death righted all wrongs. But we must personally walk that out in our own lives. We must be responsible with our wealth. Although government has a role, we as citizens must take personal responsibility for meeting our obligations and not allow the government or any other organization to act on our behalf. We are responsible and we must act. The United States Government will not be standing before the Lord on Judgment Day, we will. So our personal actions must have the same level of integrity as Abram. We must not give what is not ours to give. And we must give what is ours as an outworking of our commitment to the Lord.
The Arnold Journey 