Who may dwell on your holy hill? Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
and speak the truth from their heart...
...who do not lend money at interest,
Psalm 15:1-2, 5a
If you use the same logic that leads the Westboro Baptist folks (along with many others) to think God hates gays, then bankers are in a lot of trouble as well. The Bible is full of prohibitions on lending money at interest. That is why this morning's psalm includes those who keep that rule as part of its list typifying those whom God loves.
A lot of modern Christians are surprised to learn that Christians weren't supposed to be bankers until fairly recently. The Protestant reformer John Calvin was largely responsible for crafting a theological justification for Christian lenders. He recognized he was permitting something the Bible prohibited, but his approval was narrow, restricted to lending that would benefit the poor. He understood the Bible's prohibition as protecting the poor from wealthy who trapped them in debts. Thus he justified lending that created capital to create businesses which in turn gave poor people more income. He saw this as fulfilling the original intent of the biblical prohibition.
Calvin's constraints on lending have been largely forgotten over the centuries. Certainly there is lending that would still meet his approval, that creates businesses or allows people to lead better lives than they might otherwise. But of course much lending is exactly the sort the Bible forbids.
The core problem with lending at interest, as well as a host of other activities, is that is views people as a resource to be exploited. Those with little are a chance for those with more to make money. Making money isn't a problem in and of itself, but viewing the other as a means to an end is.
Consider the very different sort of lending that sometimes goes on in families. A parent, grandparent, or some other family member with excess funds may well loan money to a less well-off family member. Some interest might even be charged. But rarely is the motivation to make money. The relative in need is not seen as a business opportunity but as someone needing help.
The book of Acts describes the early church as a radical community where everyone shared what they had so that no one was in need. Because everyone was made family, brothers and sisters in Christ, strangers suddenly were seen as kin, creating a strange and wonderful sort of community.
That community in Acts may be a utopian ideal, but our culture has gone to the other extreme. People are "human resources," something to be utilized to the greatest possible efficiency and productivity at as low a compensation as the market will allow. And in our hyper-competitive world, those who are not potential resources are often viewed as obstacles to be pushed aside.
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I once heard a professor describe sin as a problem that constricted and distorted us. It gives us a myopic view of the world where the needs of me and mine matter much more than those of you and yours. Fixing this requires restoring our sight and helping us see more as God does. The Old Testament's concern for the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable emerges from godly vision that does not share the world's preference for the rich and powerful.
Of course no human religion is immune to the vision problems of sin. People of faith too often imagine God only likes folk who believe what they do or follow their rules. Jesus faced much opposition from the good, religious people of his day who could not imagine God looking so lovingly on those they despised. But Jesus, very much in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets, sought to expand people's vision, to help them discover how small their view was and how big God's love is.
And that brings me back round to the problem with bankers, and coaches, and pastors, and employers, and on and on. Whenever any of us view others as resources, as means to our ends, as obstacles, as anything other than those we are called to care for and love, then we are caught up in problem that Jesus came to overcome. Fortunately, God doesn't hate bankers, or any of the rest of us. However God would like to restore our vision and help us to see others as God does.
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