| GOVERNMENTS in most Western societies are increasingly offering generous inducements to the workforce in the hope that men and women will contribute voluntarily to their retirement savings. Their motivation is to shift the burden of providing for the aged from the public purse to private pockets.
Contributions to superannuation are usually invested in national infrastructure projects that stimulate the economy, and enhance the collective quality of life. Surely there is nothing wrong with such a policy, assuming that the community remains willing to help those who, for whatever reason, cannot provide for themselves either today or some distant tomorrow.
In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 12, a man wants Jesus to intervene in a family dispute: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus essentially rebuffs the request by pointing out that no one had appointed him to be a judge or an arbiter between them. He explains that an individual must take responsibility for his or her own moral choices, and that he or she must make their own ethical decisions. This is wise counsel.
Jesus then proclaims a general principle with a very wide application: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of their possessions.”
To illustrate the point, Jesus tells the crowd a story about a man who became very wealthy. The man said to himself: “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12.19).
But in the next verse, God says: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
These are hard words. Do they mean that we should not set aside money for our retirement? By no means. There was an expectation in Jewish society that parents would secure their children’s future by leaving them a legacy, in the same way that the parents had themselves received a legacy from their ancestors. The family and its posterity mattered more than individual pleasures.
We are left, then, with three principles to ponder. First, we are all part of a family, a community bound together by kinship, which is entitled to a share in whatever we do not need. Accumulated savings and material assets do not exist to fund an excessive lifestyle in old age. They belong, in part, to subsequent generations.
Second, we should appreciate the benefits of financial security in our retirement. By being grateful, a vision of God’s kindness might inspire us to share this blessing. This might take the form of a bequest to a local charity, in thanksgiving to the community within which the finance was generated.
Third, self-funded retirees have a great capacity for social service. Many retired people say: “I am busier now than when I was in paid employment.” To me, this suggests that a civil society is maintained by unpaid altruistic acts.
In increasingly affluent societies, steadily rising levels of personal consumption are of growing concern because they cannot be sustained. Apart from the corrosive effects of greed, attitudes to personal wealth have a direct bearing on public well-being. If the focus remains on “today”, rather than “tomorrow”, the emphasis will be on present demands rather than future possibilities.
Contributing to a fund for retirement is a potential blessing to others. If we want to imitate a God who shares freely today, and makes generous provision for tomorrow, superannuation could become a spiritual discipline.
The Rt Revd Professor Tom Frame is Director of St Mark’s National Theological Centre in Canberra. |
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