When Faith Does Societal Harm

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When Faith Does Societal Harm

Herb Montgomery, November 1, 2024

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Herb Montgomery, November 9, 2024

Our reading this week is from the gospel of Mark: 

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:38-44)

Our reading this week contains one of the most misunderstood stories in Mark’s gospel. There’s quite a bit to unpack here, so let’s jump right in with the political context of Jesus’ critique of the “teachers of the law.”

Political Context of Mark 12

Interpreting Jesus’ critique of the teachers of the law without its context too often leads to thinking that Jesus was against the law (Torah) itself. Jesus was not engaging in a Protestant, post-Reformation contrast of the law versus grace. That way of reading our story is anachronistic and misses Jesus’ point entirely. 

Jesus was leading a Jewish renewal movement that hoped to liberate and restore the rural village communities disintegrating because of the Roman occupation. Jesus was calling his listeners back to fidelity to the Torah’s justice in opposition to the ruling class of his day, which was colluding with Roman oppression for its own gain. 

The tension in the gospels is not between Jesus and the law, but between Jesus and Roman oppression, including the Romans’ client regional ruler Herod and high priests of the Temple State. Roman exploitation and oppression through those Rome had placed in positions of power in the Temple State was wreaking economic and social havoc on the vast majority of people living in villages of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. According to Richard Horsley, those named in the gospels such as the scribes, the Pharisees and the “teachers of the law” served in the Judean temple-state as “intellectual-legal retainers.” (Richard A. Horsley, Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine, p. xi)

This leads to some interesting political and social insights into who these “teachers of the law” were.

Teachers of the Law in Mark 12

The teachers of the law in our reading this week advised the Judean rulers of the Temple State and enjoyed political and economic favor as a result. They were those whose interpretations of the Torah provided religious justification for the unjust status quo of the Roman-appointed high priestly rulers. 

Jesus offers two critiques of these teachers in our reading: they desired status and privilege rather than the life-giving pedagogy of the Torah and they were “devouring widows’ houses,” which indicates their complicity in the economic exploitation through over-taxation taking place in the Temple-state.

The first critique, desiring the most important seats and places of honor, should be read with the backdrop of the lessons Mark’s gospel just taught in Mark 10. James and John also desired the most important seats and places of honor, and asked to sit at Jesus’ left and right hands in the kingdom. Mark 10 contrasts this request with the request of Bartimaeus, who rightly perceives Jesus’ movement and joins it. (For more, we discussed this at length in Bartimaeus and Christians of Privilege.)

Next, Jesus zeros in on the intrinsic harm the teachings of these teachers was actually doing. Their teaching made the rich powerbrokers in the Temple state richer at the expense of the most vulnerable in Jesus’ society.

Mark’s gospel critiqued this group’s teachings on the basis of the economic injustice they were causing in Mark 7:

And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)—then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” (Mark 7:9-13)

“Devoted to God” meant devoted to the Temple-State, and it didn’t trickle down to the poor, but rather into the pockets of those in positions of power who already possessed so much. It gave them even more at the expense and harm of those from whom these resources were being taken, all while they piously said lengthy prayers in public to add religious influence to their economic exploitation. Standing in the Hebrew prophetic tradition, Jesus like the prophets of old who spoke truth to power, declared that these teachers of the law would be “punished most severely.”

Our reading gives a clear example of this exploitation in one of the most misunderstood economic teachings in the gospel Mark: the story of the widow’s mites. 

The Widow’s Mites of Mark 12

Whenever I heard the story of the widow’s mites growing up in church, it was always held up as an example of the piety and fidelity we should follow. She gave so much with the little she had and we should sacrificially do the same. But nothing could be further from the point of why Mark’s gospel is actually telling this story. The widow’s mites story is not a story to applaud the widow’s dedication to giving but a story that critiques how the widow was being exploited. The widow is not an example for the poor to follow but the system that exploits her is an example for the wealthy and powerful not to follow.

“The story does not provide a pious contrast to the conduct of the scribes in the preceding section (as is the customary view); rather it provides a further illustration of the ills of official devotion. Jesus’ saying is not a penetrating insight on the measuring of gifts; it is a lament…. Jesus condemns the value system that motivates her action, and he condemns the people who conditioned her to do it.” (A. Wright, 1982, ​“The Widow’s Mite: Praise or Lament? A Matter of Context.” CBQ, 44, pp. 256ff, quoted by Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, p. 321). 

The teachings of the Temple-State have robbed this woman of her means of livelihood. Those who were to protect the vulnerable are no longer protecting widows but exploiting them and others in their social and economic position. Jesus, in disgust, departs from the temple for the final time. 

What does this mean for us today?

Do our religious teachings today cause political and social harm and death or bring healing, life, renewal, restoration, and liberation? Is our religious teaching politically and socially death-dealing or life-giving? I can’t help but think of the way certain Christians are pro-birth but oppose state programs that ensure that same child, once born, is fed, housed, educated, and raised in a home where their parents can afford to live. I can’t help but think of the life-saving healthcare for women who have either died or almost died since the loss of Roe here in the U.S., a loss that some Christians are so proud of. I can’t help but think of how our trans community and immigrants are being scapegoated right now in our political debates.  I’m not saying that Christians are the only ones engaging in such harmful misrepresentations, or that all Christians are. What I am saying is that I’m shocked that anyone, even one person, who claims to be following Jesus and his teachings is. History will not be kind to the way Evangelicalism has embraced the politics of harm. With Jesus’ critique of the teachers of the law as our backdrop, what critique might this same Jesus make of American Christians today?

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s Podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. What societal healing do you believe your faith can be channelled toward? Share and discuss with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone? 

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate. 

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.

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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

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New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 2, Episode 35: Mark 12.38-44. Lectionary B, Proper 27

Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be “just” talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week we’ll be inspired to do more than just talking.

If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out at:

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New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice. 

This week:

Season 1 Episode 30: When Faith Does Societal Harm

“Whenever I heard the story of the widow’s mites growing up in church, it was always held up as an example of the piety and fidelity we should follow. She gave so much with the little she had and we should sacrificially do the same. But nothing could be further from the point of why Mark’s gospel is actually telling this story. The widow’s mites story is not a story to applaud the widow’s dedication to giving but a story that critiques how the widow was being exploited. The widow is not an example for the poor to follow but the system that exploits her is an example for the wealthy and powerful not to follow. ‘Devoted to God’ meant devoted to the Temple-State, and it didn’t trickle down to the poor, but rather into the pockets of those in positions of power who already possessed so much. It gave them even more at the expense and harm of those from whom these resources were being taken, all while they piously said lengthy prayers in public to add religious influence to their economic exploitation. Standing in the Hebrew prophetic tradition, Jesus like the prophets of old who spoke truth to power, declared that these teachers of the law would be “punished most severely.”

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/when-faith-does-societal-harm

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Now Available on Audible!

 

Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

by Herb Montgomery, Narrated by Jeff Moon

Available now on Audible!

After two successful decades of preaching a gospel of love within the Christian faith tradition Herb felt like something was missing. He went back to the gospels and began reading them through the interpretive lenses of various marginalized communities and what he found radically changed his life forever. The teachings of the Jesus in the gospel stories express a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of those in marginalized communities. This book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, and presents a compelling argument for a more socially compassionate and just expression of Christianity. Herb’s findings in his latest book are shared in the hopes that it will dramatically impact how you practice your Christianity, too.

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