Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Financial Capital, Relational Capital
- Financial Capital: Financial capital is that which the world pursues with all of its heart. However, from God’s perspective it is the lowest of the five capitals. As with all capitals, it absolutely has value. But it can be traded for capitals that have much greater value.
- Relational Capital: Relational capital is that which we have between one another. This capital is secondary only to spiritual capital. It is a capital that binds people together and allows us to help one another out. It is our relational capital that drives community.
The story of Ruth and Boaz is a great love story filled with
humble attraction. Clearly Boaz and Ruth
find a spiritual companion in each other.
But we can save that for the coming days. Today, I want to focus on Boaz and his
maturity.
Look at what Boaz literally does here in this chapter. Boaz is a land-owner. He has plenty of grain, but that grain is
also his livelihood. Surely Boaz can
sell the excess grain and turn a profit.
But instead of being greedy, Boaz allows Ruth to take some of his
financial capital for free. Boaz
recognizes that with respect to the capitals, financial capital is the lowest
one on the totem pole.
So what does Boaz receive in return? Boaz receives relational capital with
Naomi. Naomi blesses Boaz. Naomi does not have much, but she gives Boaz
what she can. Boaz parts with financial
capital and instead gains relational capital.
His standing in the community rises.
Boaz also receives relational capital with Ruth. He turns her eye towards him. He gains her favor and loyalty. He finds someone who values relational capital
as much as he does. Boaz is an incredible
model of true prioritization. Boaz knows
that in the great scheme of things, financial capital is of far less
significance than relational capital.
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