Jesus taught a new economy, one where all needs are met when its citizens live by kingdom standards.
Matthew 6:25-34 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.
Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that if we strive to love God and others that no one will ever be in need?
Note: "Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." I think this is the most important verse in this teaching and probably the most misunderstood. Most people think this means that if they have the right list of rules to follow and follow them carefully, that they will never starve or go without clothes. But the Pharasees were so good at following the law and, yet, Jesus blasted them for not being followers of God. The kind of righteousness that is of the Kingdom of God is not a list of rules to be followed or a list of rules to make others follow. Instead it is an all out crazy love for God and others. So one might interpret this to say "Strive to love God and others and the world's needs will be met." This is God's economy: It is in loving God and others that there is always enough for everyone. We don't really need to pray that God will provide enough for everyone. God already has. We need to pray that we will love God and others so much that we will spread our abundance to others.
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