(Continuing with selections from Gospel Red Herring: Spiritualizing the Text.)
Is it not amusing how quickly evangelical clergymen seize on something that lines their pockets? This is one place where they don’t seem to mind spiritualizing the text. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 where Moses forbids muzzling an ox from eating the grain it threshes. On purely behavioral grounds alone we could guess that if an ox knew it was allowed to eat some of the grain on the threshing floor, it would never resist the task. However, other points of Law note that animals warrant mercy, particularly when they do our hard work.
Paul is not contradicting the call for a merciful spirit. Do oxen go to Heaven? The point is not saving the animals, but learning to be generous. It’s not about the ox, but about our moral connection to God’s Creation. If you know that divine justice requires you to be kind to animals, how does that not apply to your fellow humans? The divine moral principle of kindness is what matters here. Sacrificial love is global, sweeping in all of God’s Creation. You cannot connect to God if you don’t embrace His moral character. While we are here on this plane of existence, we are part of it, and so is His moral character. Conform yourself to His character in all things. That means you don’t balk at contributing to the proper care of your church staff. If their ministry helps you grab hold of God’s promises in this world, you owe it to God to share with others or you don’t understand in the first place. The preacher shouldn’t have to pass his own hat.
