The famous Gospel passage of St Matthew 20:1-16, where the landowner pays everyone the same wage irrespective of how long he works, can be confusing. It is also a passage an employer could quote to workers when they talk about pay differentials, not that anyone would entertain such an argument today. Like all Gospel passages, various interpretations can be put on it. You can argue that it means the goods of the world are in God's hands and it is up to Him how they should be distributed. You can also argue that Jesus is bending over backwards in support of the less privileged.
Inside all of us there is the idea that what we own we hold. There is also a prevailing philosophy in our society that once we earn something it is ours at all costs. Some right-wing ideologies push private enterprise to the limit and argue that the wealthy are wealthy because they have earned it and the poor deserve what they get. Such a view has a certain attraction about it, but it is also a particularly cruel way of thinking.
We all have different qualities and abilities. There will always be the fortunate and the unfortunate. There are varying degrees of intelligence, so it is only natural that there will be different levels of achievement. It would be a boring world if it were otherwise.
But each of us, irrespective of colour or sex, whether a citizen of the first, second or third world, has been made in the image and likeness of God. And everyone deserves the dignity which that implies. There are enough resources in the world to allow everyone a fair share of the cake. But because of our own greed and selfishness, the weak and the poor suffer extraordinary pain and deprivation.
It is so easy to say one group of people is lazy or dirty. It was a label that the Irish carried around the world for a long time. If people are mistreated, degraded, forever told they are no good, then in the end they adopt those characteristics. Putting labels on people is a form of racism.
It is a far more constructive exercise to ask why people behave as they do. If people are impoverished, there is always a reason for it. And it is the task of the Christian to do whatever she or he can to alleviate the conditions of the poor and the less well-off. Very often people are poor and enslaved not through their own fault, but because of generations of exploitation by the very people who are now complaining about them.
Maybe in that text in St Matthew's Gospel Jesus is teaching us the importance of looking after the less well-off. If it involves some drastic measures, so be it. In the Christian vocabulary it can never be a question of the survival of the fittest, rather a concern and care for all human beings.
We are children of God. The Incarnation has raised us to new heights. We don't all have the same gifts and qualities, but our ultimate potential is to be in union with God. Nothing can come in the way of that; indeed, every Christian should be focused on making sure that the environment is fitting and appropriate to enable all God's children to reach fulfilment. It makes good Christian sense to have to go the extra mile for the less advantaged.
Right now our society is experiencing good economic times. It would be an absurdity to leave anyone behind. The passage in St Matthew's Gospel is a sure proof of that. M.C.