Those who demand that others grant them privileges (tenant protections) will find that those privileges rapidly become devalued over time (fewer tenancies and less discretion in enforcing tenancy laws).
Live within your means and this wont happen to you (I live on a 40+ year old motor vessel - not posh, sometimes not comfortable, but definitely within my means).
Modest living is outside the means of many good and honest people working full time. That is precisely the issue this is addressing. I pray you open your mind to see the struggles of others and adopt the radical compassion of Jesus Christ, as we are called to.
If Jesus told you to move to the countryside, cultivate the land, and preach the Gospel, but he also let you know in advance that that you would have no wife and no children - would you do it?
I'm not a bot I created this account to reply to your comment. I'm a volunteer that helped pass initiative one in Tacoma by knocking on doors. It was not hard to convince people, everyone I talked to in the stadium district had professional careers and were still struggling to afford necessities.
And yes I will follow God wherever he calls me and he often does call people to leave their earthly lives behind in service of the gospel.
Every one of his disciples did so, whether they were fisherman or tax collectors they dropped their nets, left their booths, and abandoned everything that their lives were up to that point to follow Jesus as itinerant preachers without homes travelling across the region to proclaim the arrival of the Messiah.
If you love your life more than Christ you are not worthy of him (Matthew 10:37). Following him involves sacrifice but whatever you give up will lead to you finding much greater joy in return.
God has condemned those who exploit others like landlords do today many times throughout scripture. Try reading Nehemiah 5 where Nehemiah calls out the rich for exploiting other Israelites by taking their houses fields and vineyards as collateral for their debt and charging them interest. They are condemned for their greed that forced their brothers to struggle just to survive and forced to return the property they seized and stop charging interest.
We live under similar conditions today, where real estate investors have bought up all the homes and used illegal and predatory lending schemes to swipe family homes out from under people. They've priced average people out of buying a house, and now we're stuck renting at rates that have left people struggling to get by.
Christ taught us to care for each other and the vulnerable, and we should follow the church's example of organizing together to provide for everyone's needs like they did after the holy Spirit came up on them after Pentecost (Acts 2:43-47). Passing initiatives like this is one way we're doing that and it's provided relief to many families already.
Jewish landlords were being criticized because they weren’t following the rules for lending and the rules for Jubilee. They were not being criticized for owning properties. If you want to make up a new religious practice, go ahead, but do not misrepresent what you are doing - you have zero intention of following Gods’ laws. You merely wish to follow the parts you like and disregard the rest. For example: do you intend to pass initiatives to outlaw porneia? Homosexuality - outlawed? Genital mutilation - outlawed? Fornication - outlawed? No - you’re just a sinner taking the Lord’s name in vain, that is selectively using the Lord’s words in order to obtain material gain right now. Congratulations, you’re in the company of Judas Iscariot and every other heathen who behaved as if God was just a “desires vending machine.”
I am a professional. I live in very rustic conditions. I don’t complain, although you would likely complain. I have suffered setbacks in life that have placed me in this situation. There is no point in taxing my neighbors, or depriving my neighbors of the fruits of their property (which God acknowledges they may possess) - the only solution to my material problem is to accept my meager material condition with grace and peace. The Apostles slept out of doors most of their ministry days with Jesus. They did not respond to this by suggesting to Jesus, “let’s threaten Galileans into giving us more money so that we can stay at the inns as we travel.” This whole generation is massively addicted to material wealth, believing themselves to be little gods, deserving of material salvation, “right now”. If you pursue material salvation, by arrogating to yourself the property of others, you will forfeit eternal salvation. Do NOT do this.
“When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.””
Those who demand that others grant them privileges (tenant protections) will find that those privileges rapidly become devalued over time (fewer tenancies and less discretion in enforcing tenancy laws).
Live within your means and this wont happen to you (I live on a 40+ year old motor vessel - not posh, sometimes not comfortable, but definitely within my means).
Modest living is outside the means of many good and honest people working full time. That is precisely the issue this is addressing. I pray you open your mind to see the struggles of others and adopt the radical compassion of Jesus Christ, as we are called to.
Folks, M Williams is exhibit A in the “not human” problem on substack.
If Jesus told you to move to the countryside, cultivate the land, and preach the Gospel, but he also let you know in advance that that you would have no wife and no children - would you do it?
I'm not a bot I created this account to reply to your comment. I'm a volunteer that helped pass initiative one in Tacoma by knocking on doors. It was not hard to convince people, everyone I talked to in the stadium district had professional careers and were still struggling to afford necessities.
And yes I will follow God wherever he calls me and he often does call people to leave their earthly lives behind in service of the gospel.
Every one of his disciples did so, whether they were fisherman or tax collectors they dropped their nets, left their booths, and abandoned everything that their lives were up to that point to follow Jesus as itinerant preachers without homes travelling across the region to proclaim the arrival of the Messiah.
If you love your life more than Christ you are not worthy of him (Matthew 10:37). Following him involves sacrifice but whatever you give up will lead to you finding much greater joy in return.
God has condemned those who exploit others like landlords do today many times throughout scripture. Try reading Nehemiah 5 where Nehemiah calls out the rich for exploiting other Israelites by taking their houses fields and vineyards as collateral for their debt and charging them interest. They are condemned for their greed that forced their brothers to struggle just to survive and forced to return the property they seized and stop charging interest.
We live under similar conditions today, where real estate investors have bought up all the homes and used illegal and predatory lending schemes to swipe family homes out from under people. They've priced average people out of buying a house, and now we're stuck renting at rates that have left people struggling to get by.
Christ taught us to care for each other and the vulnerable, and we should follow the church's example of organizing together to provide for everyone's needs like they did after the holy Spirit came up on them after Pentecost (Acts 2:43-47). Passing initiatives like this is one way we're doing that and it's provided relief to many families already.
Jewish landlords were being criticized because they weren’t following the rules for lending and the rules for Jubilee. They were not being criticized for owning properties. If you want to make up a new religious practice, go ahead, but do not misrepresent what you are doing - you have zero intention of following Gods’ laws. You merely wish to follow the parts you like and disregard the rest. For example: do you intend to pass initiatives to outlaw porneia? Homosexuality - outlawed? Genital mutilation - outlawed? Fornication - outlawed? No - you’re just a sinner taking the Lord’s name in vain, that is selectively using the Lord’s words in order to obtain material gain right now. Congratulations, you’re in the company of Judas Iscariot and every other heathen who behaved as if God was just a “desires vending machine.”
I am a professional. I live in very rustic conditions. I don’t complain, although you would likely complain. I have suffered setbacks in life that have placed me in this situation. There is no point in taxing my neighbors, or depriving my neighbors of the fruits of their property (which God acknowledges they may possess) - the only solution to my material problem is to accept my meager material condition with grace and peace. The Apostles slept out of doors most of their ministry days with Jesus. They did not respond to this by suggesting to Jesus, “let’s threaten Galileans into giving us more money so that we can stay at the inns as we travel.” This whole generation is massively addicted to material wealth, believing themselves to be little gods, deserving of material salvation, “right now”. If you pursue material salvation, by arrogating to yourself the property of others, you will forfeit eternal salvation. Do NOT do this.
“When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.””
Matthew 8:18-22 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.8.18-22.NIV