“But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you…But he [Jesus] did mean that we ought to entertain the poor and disadvantaged ( who cannot reciprocate) at least as often—and perhaps a lot more often—than we entertain friends, relatives, and ‘successful’ folk. Have you ever known a Christian who took Jesus that seriously?” (57)

“Discerning of that one body is totally incompatible with feasting without sharing in costly ways with other members of the body who are hungry” (83)

“And if there is among them a man that is poor and needy, and they have not an abundance of necessaries, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food.” (85)

”...we have failed to comprehend the concept that the church worldwide is one body…Would we go on building lavishly furnished expensive church buildings if members of our own congregations were starving?” (87)

“The fact that, in accordance with God’s order, the life of every individual, even of the poorest, is of greater value than all material things – this fact represents an insurmountable stumbling block to all economic deveolpments which make profits for the few out of human misery” (93)

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25, p.93) [Substitute ‘American’ for ‘rich’ and see how the verse feels… :)]

“Not only do possessions tempt us to forsake God, but the pursuit of wealth often results in war and neglect of the poor. ‘What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you?...You sdesire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war’ (James 4:1-2). A quick glance through world history confirms this tragic truth.” (94)

“Christians today are not at all surprised that Paul urged the Corinthians to excommunicate a church member living with his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5:1-5). But we quietly overlook the fact that Paul, in the same paragraph, also urged them not to associate or even eat meals with those who claim to be Christians but are guilty of greed.” (96)

“More biblical texts warn of God’s punishment of those who neglect or oppress the poor than tell us that material abundance results from obedience. The two statements, however, are not contradictory. Both are true. It is the biblical balance that we need.” (99)

“On biblical grounds, therefore, one can be sure that prosperity in the context of injustice results from oppression rather than obedience and that it is not a sign of righteousness.” (99)

“Either Jesus and his kingdom matter so much that we are ready to sacrifice everything else, including our possessions, ore we are not serious about Jesus.” (103)

“If we are members of a priveleged group that profits from structural evil, and if we have at least some understanding of the evil yet fail to do what God wants us to do to change things, we stand guilty before God. Social evil is just as displeasing to God as personal evil. And it is more subtle…Persons sin by participating in evil systems when they understand, at least to some degree, that the system displeases God but fail to act responsibly to change things.” (112)

[referring to the story of the rich young ruler] “Jesus, then, is not commanding us to sell all our possessions; he is only demanding total submission to himself. This interpretation is both unquestionably true and obviously inadequate. To say no more is to miss the fact that possessions are the most common idol for rich Christians today.” (185)

“Probably the single most important decision on family expenses is where you decide to live.” (188)

“Resist buying things just because we can afford them. The amount we earn has nothing to do with what we need.” (192).

“We are not committed to a simple lifestyle. We have only one absolute loyalty, and that is to Jesus and his kindgom. But the head of this kingdom is the God of the poor! And hundreds of millions of his poor are starving. An age of hunger and poverty summons affluent people to a lower standard of living. But vague assent to this truth will not protect us from the daily seductions of Madison Avenue.” (202)

“If we truly believe that all people are created equal, then our foreign policy must be redesigned to promote the interests of all people and not just the wealthy elites in developing countries or our own multinational corporations.” (225)