Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 44:2 (NA 1993)
Article: Stewardship And Almsgiving: Luke’s Theology Of Wealth
Author: Kyoung-Jin Kim

---

TynBul 44:2 (1993) p. 383

Stewardship And Almsgiving:
Luke’s Theology Of Wealth1

Kyoung-Jin Kim

This thesis starts with questions concerning Luke’s idea of the relationship between wealth and discipleship. I began this thesis in the light of several previous studies in the area of the theme of wealth and poverty in Luke’s theology over the last three decades. I found them unsatisfactory in solving the problems we have in Luke-Acts, which are derived from an attempt to relate wealth to discipleship in Luke’s theology: (i) Does Luke have in mind two types of disciples? (ii) Is a total surrender of possessions required of all or just the Twelve? What might Luke mean by such a total surrender? (iii) In describing the relationship of wealth and discipleship, is the ‘discipleship’ motif sufficient, or are there other terms/motifs to help us understand Luke? iv) Does Luke have any specific emphasis in the practical considerations of how wealth is to be employed?

Previous attempts are found to have failed to reconcile the matter of wealth and poverty with the theme of discipleship in Luke’s theology. This failure motivates us to investigate a new paradigm, that is, stewardship. The following are the conclusions of our exploration.

With regard to the Sitz im Leben of Luke-Acts, it emerges that Luke’s community would have been located in an urban setting steeped in Hellenistic culture somewhere in the Roman East around the end of the first century A.D. Its members would have been Gentiles in terms of their ethnic background and, in terms of their socio-economical status, both rich and poor, representing the extremes of the spectrum of contemporary society.

In the third chapter, I investigate, the theme of discipleship in Mark’s Gospel. Since Mark was a main source for Luke, Mark’s view of the disciples and discipleship needs to be compared with that of Luke. My conclusions are that, facing

TynBul 44:2 (1993) p. 384

a lingering threat of persecution in his community, Mark urged the Christian friends in his community to follow Jesus their Lord even to the point of death. Jesus is portrayed as a prime example of faithful discipleship, while the failure of the disciples is treated as an example to avoid. In accordance with this idea of discipleship, the disciples in Mark are seen as a limited number of followers of Jesus, and to have failed to comprehend Jesus’ teaching and instruction in spite of his preferential treatment towards them. In line with this concept of discipleship, in Mark the disciples are required to leave their wealth literally (Mk. 1:18, 20<...

visitor : : uid: ()