We All Want the Good Life . . . But at What Cost?

We all want the good life, but at what cost? . . . In preparation for a preachers’ study group, I’ve been working my way through Luke 16:19-31, commonly known as the parable of “The Rich Man and Lazarus.” 

It is an intriguing, humbling, and convicting story on a number of levels. As I was thinking through the parable, I remembered Robert Farrar Capon’s book, The Parables of Grace, in which he works through this parable. Before I get to a quote from Capon’s book, consider this.

The thing that strikes me first is that this parable is about the attitude of the rich and successful toward their own lifestyle and their view that they are life’s “winners.” The larger context of Luke 16 begins with another of Jesus’ parables - the parable of “The Unrighteous Steward.” It begins much the same way as that of the “Rich Man and Lazarus,” to wit, Luke 16:1 reads: Now He [Jesus] was also saying to the disciples [and to the Pharisees who were listening in -- check out Luke 15:1], “There was a certain rich man . . .” The parable at hand begins the same way: “Now there was a certain rich man . . .” (Luke 16:19). 

The reality is that I am a rich man. . . . No, I’m no Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. But I am an American and by my standard of living, I am one of the richest people on earth. . . . And, so are you, by the way. . . . The poorest among us (as Americans) are among the richest people on the planet. There is no getting around that. 

This gets to the Capon quote. He writes:

As I have observed a number of times now, if the world could have been saved by successful living, ti would have been tidied up long ago. Certainly, the successful livers of this world have always been ready enough to stuff life’s losers into the garbage can of history. Their program for turning earth back into Eden has consistently been to shun the sick, to lock the poor in ghettos, to disenfranchise those whose skin was the wrong color, and to exterminate those whose religion is inconvenient. Nor have they been laggard in furthering that program. On the whole, they have been not only zealous but efficient: witness, to name only a handful of instances, the AIDS crisis, the South Bronx, the apartheid policy in South Arica, and the death camps under Hitler. (Robert Farrar Capon, The Parables of Grace, Eerdmans, 1988, 154).

Stunning words, I think. And, I stand convicted. Oh, it’s not that I’m a Hitler (and I’m sure we could think of more recent examples). It’s that, like these powerful, successful, rich examples, I can completely ignore Lazarus outside my door. I sadly confess that I am really good at it. . . . Oh, how I stand in need of the mercy and grace of God! . . . 

Just a few days ago I had a truth pointed out to me that has haunted me, and I confess, I have been mentally deliberating how I might ignore the truth of the issue. Over at the blog: rageagainsttheminivan.com, a blog I was completely oblivious to, there was this October 6, 2011 post entitled, “Here, Let Me Ruin Halloween for You.” (I strongly recommend that you read it. Find it at: http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2011/09/here-let-me-ruin-halloween-for-you.html. 

The blog raised my awareness to the fact that along the Ivory Coast and other African countries there are an estimated 284,000 children working -- many if not most as slaves -- in dangerous conditions, to provide rich Americans like me with our need for chocolate! . . . For chocolate, for goodness sake! . . . 

In the words of the blogger: “Many of them have been taken from their families, or sold as servants.  U.S. chocolate manufacturers have claimed they are not responsible for the conditions on cocoa plantations since they don't own them.  This includes Hershey, Mars, Nestle, and the US division of Cadbury . . . who collectively represent pretty much every snack-size candy bar that will be available in stores this Halloween.” (Emphasis hers). 

I shall now assume the name “Dives,” (the name given to the rich man in the parable). 

Ok, Dives, do you see that poor child outside your door? . . . Look carefully, she is the one who was sold as a little girl. She is the girl,  younger than your daughter who is consigned to carry bags of cocoa weighing more than she does. She will never go to school. She works for nothing but what food she can get. She’s a slave. She’s a slave being worked to death to provide . . . Hershey’s kisses for you. 

The blogger goes on: 

“The connection between most major candy bar manufacturers and child slavery is one of the world’s best kept secrets. It has been going on for years, but I only learned about it last year.  The US government is currently being sued by the International Labor Rights Fund for failing to enforce laws prohibiting the import of products made with child labor, and the chocolate industry has blown by numerous deadlines set by Congress for regulating.  A few major chocolate companies have done a great job in the last year with some smoke-and-mirror campaigns . . . either offering an obscure fair-trade chocolate bar or making a show of giving to charities that support farmers. But these actions do not change the fact that they don’t want to be accountable for human rights abuses of children.” (Emphasis mine).

Ok, so I just found out about it myself. . . . So, . . . now what? . . . We all want the “chocolate covered” good life, . . . but at what cost? . . . It cost Dives his soul. . . . I’m just pointing that out.