REAL AND FAKE MONEY
How Much of Each Is Enough?

Dorothy Cutrell

For a long time I have been intrigued by the complicated nature of managing personal finances, particularly as this relates to my own generosity or stinginess in sharing my assets with others. It has seemed to me that money falls into two categories. It is a stash I use to take care of my need for food, shelter, clothing, plus other necessities such as wheels to get me where I need to go. Or it is simply numbers entered and stored in a computer somewhere that tells me how much wealth I have in reserve. I call the first kind real money and the second kind fake money.

While reading a conversation of Matthew Fox with Thomas Aquinas, a thirteenth century saint, I was startled to discover that Aquinas had a view of wealth strikingly similar to my own. He says,

Wealth is of two kinds, natural and artificial. Natural wealth, such as food, drink, clothing and shelter, supplies natural needs.. . . . Artificial wealth, such as money, does not directly serve nature, but is invented by art to help the exchange of goods.

Aquinas goes on to say that

People should consider two points with respect to external possessions. One of these is the power of acquiring and disposing. . . . The other point that concerns people with regard to external things is their use. And in respect to this, people should not hold external things for their own use but for the common benefit, so that each one should readily share material things with others in their need.

Aquinas adds that the pitfalls of needing to increase wealth at any cost. He says,

When people have as their goal the gaining of wealth they
will use any means—fraud or anything else—to this final end. . . . Those who take as their ultimate end the gaining of wealth, from this very fact, consider as good whatever they do to gain this end.

The burning question becomes, How much "fake" or "artificial" wealth do we need to assure that we will be able to meet our own natural needs? And how much of this wealth rather becomes a measure of power and prestige?

The organized church has often promoted tithing as a basis for sharing wealth. The view put forth by Aquinas seems to suggest a better way. While some among us have barely enough to meet their natural needs, others have tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in reserve. Money begets money, so that those who have more than they need get every advantage in terms of interest, credit, and more. This makes it likely that their artificial money will grow and grow. Meanwhile those with nothing in reserve risk losing what few possessions they have, and if their health fails they may die for lack of medical care.

So how are we to live in the twenty-first century with regard to the acquisition and use of possessions? For those with a substantial amount of artificial money in addition to an adequate supply of "natural" money, tithing is totally painless. For those living on the edge of financial disaster, tithing may take money badly needed for "natural" needs. Percentage giving doesn’t make a lot of sense if we really care about the common good. It’s time to take a hard look at that artificial money and decide how to share it wisely with those who have little or nothing.

Often people who live righteously (and many who don’t!) accumulate wealth. Christians who have stored up large sums of money are often diligent in giving at least some away. Those who share from large reservoirs of money often donate to colleges, seminaries, or mission boards. If we are truly concerned about those in need, this might be viewed as the "trickle down" method of helping those less fortunate than ourselves.

How can Christians with large fortunes help the poor more directly? I don’t have an answer, but some kind of foundation composed of joint owners might be able to think of a creative way to help house the homeless and feed the hungry.

Our money represents our labor, time, and thought. How can we share it wisely?

—Dorothy Cutrell lives in DeLand, Florida with her son David and two dogs. At age 83 she enjoys gardening, reading, word puzzles, and friends. In 1986 she retired from work at Mennonite Publishing House in the Provident Bookstores Division. While at MPH she served as editor of Provident Bookfinder, a bimonthly book review magazine. Before his 1999 death, she and her husband lived in Denver, Colorado as well as Scottdale, Pennsylvania.