Thursday, January 6, 2011
money.god.responsibilities.
I was engaged in a conversation this morning about money. I seem to have had many of these conversations lately. It also seems to be very unsettling. All these conversations seem to come down to "what does the Bible say about it" response. Well, that is fine, but if we aren't doing a majority of what the bible says, why should money be different? I mean, if we're honest about it, what Christ really asks of me, I am not doing. I SHOULD be, but in all reality, I am not. Why? Truthfully, I am afraid too. I cannot bring myself to want to live as a radical of life as Christ told us to live. Giving up all of mine and Sara's possessions seems unreasonable. I do not trust that others in my life will buy into the community aspect that is so prevalent in the Bible to help and fulfill our basic needs on a regular basis. Sure we can supply most needs, but if we're giving our money and possessions away to those who "really" need it, that will most likely leave us in need and I do not trust that those needs will be met. Should this be different? Yes, of course. Do I think God can do crazy radical things to help us, yes, will God? Who knows? So what is meant by giving all your possessions to those in need? Should we give until we are completely reliant upon God? Is it our responsibility to use the gifts and resources(jobs, money) God has given us or helped us to obtain in a reasonable manner? What is responsible? Should I help all my friends out of debt and disregard my own debt? You tell me?
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I think that something that Paul said yesterday @ Woodridge - Medina might resonate...
ReplyDeleteWe are called to be good stewards & called to love people/communities very differently than "the world" does, but we are not necessarily supposed to use this logic to test God. I took this to mean that we should rely on God...His grace is sufficient for up & His provision will meet our needs (not necessairy our wants or how we might currently define our needs, but what we really need). Giving up "everything" doesn't mean putting your family on the street, but taking steps to cut the ties to worldly things (possessions, expenses, etc) in favor of Kingdom.
You should post this to the Generosity blog as well. I think that there are more who would be interested in getting a similar dialogue going there too.
Lance Patrick
l.p@fuqua.duke.edu
Andy... tough questions... and honest reflections, I like that about you. I am not going to claim to know too much about this but my friend Shaine Claiborne has a book that he co-wrote called the Economy of Love. I think our city group is going to do it for our next study... going to be challenging to say the least. I have recently been thinking about how being generous starts with knowing what I can be generous with... in other words having a budget so I can actually know where I am at month to month... not easy but worth it. But you bring up a good point, I sort of want to do it with my community but how do I know my community will participate in this leap of faith?
ReplyDeleteI hear you Lance, but what about the people that do rely on God but are starving to death because they don't have food. They are doing "everything" right. all they have is hope and faith and they are dying. Food is not reaching them.
ReplyDeleteI think one of most interesting thing you said was when you named the fact that you simply don't trust others around you to be willing to be as radically faithful as you sense that you need to be. You fear that if you find yourself in need, you won't be cared for; this leads you to be more protective of your resources than you'd like to be, or perhaps feel called to be. Woah; what a honest and courageous thing to say. What a challenge to your community!
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