He furnishes an example of why this might be so.
“On issues of economics and wealth, our pulpits are and will remain silent.”
Perhaps they should be if they share his misunderstanding of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Hint: It had to do with spiritual condition and the reversal of that condition not CEO pay.
“The rich and powerful assassinated Jesus for speaking out.”
He tiptoes past saying it was the religious leaders that feared Jesus’ message. Too P.C. I guess. Note the following,
The CHIEF PRIESTS and PHARISEES said,
“If we let him alone this way, they will all put faith in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:48)
The Romans came, but not because of Jesus’ message.
“Just now it is not easy for preachers to tell their wealthiest members that they are going to hell.”
He means they hesitate to lie? It was the LOVE of money that was the root of all evil, not the money. Just being wealthy is not a sin or Solomon would have been the greatest of all sinners.
He is supposed to be a “pastor emeritus”, and he does not understand even these simple things? Amazing! and sad.
Or you could point out that the other man with a speaking part in the parable (Abraham) had also been ‘a rich man’ when he was alive. Still, despite the author’s obvious Marxist axe-grinding, it is true we have an excessive love for wealth in the country; you can just check out the “health and wealth” preachers to see that ugliness in action.
[22] But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
[23] Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[24] And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
He tiptoes past saying it was the religious leaders that feared Jesus’ message. Too P.C. I guess.
The religious leaders WERE the "rich and powerful" of the time in Judea. The Jewish political system of the time was much like that of Muslim countries today. Religion and politics were intertwined, not separate as Jesus said they should be.
The gospels make it pretty clear that the religious/political leaders of the day wanted to kill Christ for essentially political reasons. They believed he threatened their cozy collaboration with the Romans that left them in power over their fellow Jews and from which they drew their wealth. They used religious justifications for this murder to the Jews and political ones before Pilate.