Why we share our wealth, Part 3

“Paul, there are a few people in the assembly here who dress really well, ride nice camels, and their homes have rooms and beds they don’t even use. They’re super nice and well versed in scriptural knowledge, but I wonder if they’ve read Christ’s teachings regarding riches. You see, there are hundreds in this city who are without shelter and food, and it seems like they, being rich, could share a lot more than their regular tithe. But I’m afraid, Paul. I don’t want to say anything, because I think they would be offended. And I am on salary here. What should I do?”
-the epistle of Timothy

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
-the epistle of Paul to Timothy

Ok, so the first one was made up. But you see my point, I hope…a reminder that rich people existed in the first century as well. And they were exhorted to give and share generously to take hold of the “life that is truly life.”

Here, in one paragraph, is my understanding of how much the gospel of Christ calls Amanda and me to give…then I will post a few verses to support it. It’s not a number, by the way, or a percentage of income. Neither of those work out so well when you have such a huge gap between the poorest of the poor and, well, us. So here it is. Ready? Until all the poor of the world are fed, clothed, sheltered and tended to, Christ calls us to give everything away except that which we need to live. And face it, we don’t really need most of the things we have to live. Again, we aren’t anywhere close to perfecting this one, but that’s what we see in the gospel and where we want to head. Now, will that time come in our lifetime? Or ever? Well, probably not. But God doesn’t call us to be successful…he calls us to be faithful (Mother Teresa).

Remember the gap I talked about between the poor and the rich? Jesus told a story about a poor widow who put in two copper coins, where the rich were throwing in large amounts. Jesus said she’d given more than all the others. “All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” So it’s not the amount. If I’m able, by being a doctor, to give large amounts, that doesn’t make me any more generous or righteous than the person who can only manage a hundred dollars here and there. I think it was Dorothy Day who said “It’s not how much you give, but how much you have left, that matters.” What if all Christians followed that rule? We need more people to give until it hurts, until they can’t give anymore.

When John the Baptist was preparing the way for the Lord, the people asked him what they should do. Among other things, he offered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” With many other words, Luke writes, he preached the Good News to them. Could that be the first practical lesson on the Gospel?

Jesus echoed it in the sermon on the mount, after telling us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. “If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Also, as recorded by John, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (I John 3)

Amanda and I are trying to take scripture for what it says and not excuse ourselves for any reason. How can we justify having two winter coats and knowing there are freezing women and men under the bridges? Fashion isn’t a good enough excuse. Not wanting our friends to see us wear the same coat all the time isn’t either.

One more scripture, and it’s been probably the most influential one for us. But you have to go look this one up…it’s too long to post. Matthew 25: 31-46.

Mother Teresa hit the nail on the head about this passage; “Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.” If we treat everyone in the entire world with the love we’d treat Jesus, or with the love that we’d treat our own brother or sister, son or daughter, we find ourselves giving till it hurts. We find ourselves unable to justify many expenses, living simply so that others may simply live (a motto of ours, but we don’t remember where we got it, sorry).

And again, without love, giving means nothing. It’s not about money or fund raising programs, it’s about loving God and loving our neighbor. If we give hundreds of thousands every year and live without one single luxury, but don’t have love, we gain nothing. Amanda and I want to constantly focus on this, striving to give purely out of love rather than legalistic requirements. We know we need to love more, and we desire to grow in that love every day. OK, I lied, one more verse.

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (I John 4) Which reminds me of my all time favorite play ever, Les Miserables. Victor Hugo wrote something similarly profound in it, sung by Jean Val-Jean in his dying breath. “To love another person is to see the face of God.” Lord, be merciful to us when we fail to love you in the least of these, and let us look at every opportunity to share and give as a chance to see the face of God.

Why we share our wealth, Part 2

Ok, so we’re rich. Now what? Let’s take a peek at some of what Jesus says to (or about) the rich.

Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matt 19, Mark 10, Luke 18…just after he told a rich ruler to sell his possessions and give everything to the poor, and to follow Jesus.)

I think that’s enough to widen our eyes and put a fire under us. Jesus lets us know that it’s very difficult for us to enter the Kingdom of God. Why? I’ll get to that. First, let’s visit some of Christ’s teachings as recorded by Dr. Luke.

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life doesn’t consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12)

Jesus continued, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Alright, I’ve heard this passage a hundred times growing up. It ends with this climax, “Seek his Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you (NKJ).” It’s a great verse. It speaks of how the Kingdom of God is so much more than possessions, or wealth. We shouldn’t be spending our time going after the things the pagan world goes after. We shouldn’t worry, we shouldn’t fear. God will provide.

I never really remember reading the next part (I’m sure I just skipped it because it only applied to the people who were too attached to their possessions, not me). “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Earlier, I asked “Why is it so hard for us rich folk to enter the Kingdom?” It’s because we will trust in our possessions, in our riches. We no longer need to depend or rely on God, because we can provide everything we can imagine for ourselves. All we have to do to build a bigger barn is withdraw some of our stash, and all we have to do to feed ourselves is to haul our SUV to our barn (or Outback). This is why this upside down Kingdom was so popular among the poor of Jesus’ society. They saw a dream in Jesus’ words of a system overturned; where the humble were lifted up, the mourners laughed, and the poor became rich.

The rich, however, were so caught up with their temporary “fulfillment” that they couldn’t see the need for this kind of a Kingdom. And so are we, often. Sure, all Christians claim dependence on God and interest in the Kingdom. I do. But I guarantee that you could name something I wouldn’t want to sell so I could give the money to the poor. We have to start being less attached to our possessions. Of course, it’s one thing to say we’re not attached, and another entirely to act on it. Jesus calls us to act on it. Not just the rich ruler, mind you, he asks everyone to sell possessions and give to the poor. And he says that where our treasure is, there he’ll find our heart. (When you find time, I suggest you go meditate on this scripture.)

At this point, it would be easy to stop. We’ve established:

• Be on guard against greed
• Don’t store up for ourselves but be rich toward God
• Don’t be too attached to our possessions
• Don’t worry about our lives, our food and clothing, like the pagans do
• Sell possessions and give to the poor

Ok, fine. I can give to the poor, claim every single one of these other things and still live a luxurious life, right? Millions claim it. But what we claim about whether or not we’re attached to our possessions, about where our treasure is, and about whether or not we worry about stuff, doesn’t amount to much more than a stinky pile of crap. What matters is how we live. And that’s where we’re heading in the next post. How does all this change how we live?

Amanda and I, among many others, desire to look different than the pagans. We feel that following Jesus Christ completely will lead someone to look strange. If we buy, invest, recreate, work, give and worry exactly the same as the pagan world, how can we claim to not run after the things the pagan world does? If I my life looks identical to that of the pagan optometrist with the same salary down the block, I’ve got a problem. Jesus’ followers in the early church history were recognizable. Are we?

(Please be advised that if you answer only “we’re forgiven” to the question of how we’re different than the pagans, I will get upset. If you read a Bible that says the only area where Christians should differ from pagans is in our forgiveness, we read a different Bible. God isn’t looking for people who will simply make a statement for forgiveness and heaven-readiness…he’s looking for courageous men and women through whom He will bring heaven to earth.)

Why we share our wealth, Part 1

I’ll start this series with a simple confession. Amanda and I are rich. That’s not to brag, and it really doesn’t have much to do with our income. It has to do with the fact that we are among the top few percent of the richest people in the world. Probably most of my readers, you included, are also rich by that reasoning…check out the statistics if you’re not sure.

We have enough money to rent a small apartment, we own a car, we never have to worry about going hungry, we have several changes of clothes and shoes, we own a computer and enough furniture for our apartment, we have recreational equipment like camping gear, snorkels, and bikes…I could go on and on. The reason I think this distinction is important is that it helps us relate to certain teachings of Christ. When Jesus addresses the rich, he addresses us. It’s easy to act like we’re “middle class” and ignore those passages, as if they simply don’t apply to us. But for Amanda and me, we need to look up and tune in.

You have to decide for yourself whether or not you are rich and wealthy. Don’t compare yourself to just those around you, either. Christianity wasn’t began in the United States, and we need to have a broad world view when we consider anything related to it. We’ll give everyone a day to figure out if you are rich or not, then we’ll be back tomorrow to talk about what that means. There will be lots of scripture, so bring your Bibles. :)

The “Why” Series

We realized not too long ago that there’s not much in our blog explaining the reasoning behind living the way we do.

We recycle, we redeem food and other items out of dumpsters, we don’t buy new furniture, we try to shop only at secondhand stores, we are trying to have a smaller eco footprint, we refuse to follow the “American dream,” we don’t have cable and don’t watch a lot of TV (except for last week, as Amanda mentioned), we are peace lovers, and we try to share all our excess with our less fortunate neighbors worldwide.

We are far from where we want and need to be. We could live more simply, use less energy, and give away more. In all these things, though, we try to approach the issue not with legalism and judgment, but with creativity and fun as we seek out ways to implement our convictions into daily practices. And it is fun! Living simply hasn’t turned us into miserable, unhappy ascetics. On the other hand, we’re finding out how much joy there is in a lifestyle of “living simply so that others may simply live.” And finding alternative ways to recycle or “precycle” has been an exciting adventure, not a dull and mindless task of guilt-ridden necessity.

With all that said, we decided it would be beneficial to all parties for us to write a series of blogs on why we live the way we live. What motivates us to live simply? Consume little energy, or dumpster dive? Does it come from our peers, our rebellion, our frugality, or our disgust with the industrial / corporate world? Probably all of those things have influenced us. We’re all affected by others, by advertising, and by our upbringing. But we are going to be looking at why we do stuff, and we invite you to that discussion.

I mentioned that this discussion will (hopefully) be beneficial to all parties. It was already mentioned that we feel our archive of blogs so far hasn’t really done the best job at explaining our why behind things, so we hope to offer some explanation to our confused readers out there. The second party is us…we want to do this primarily to review and remember all of the reasons why we live differently. It’s easy to forget one’s motivation, even if it’s practically lived out on a daily basis. We want to strive to always do what we do for pure reasons, and this will force us to take a close look at our lives. In one of the most famous writings on love, the early apostle Paul said this:

“If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

Ultimately, this points to the very basic reasoning behind all of it. Everything we aspire to do in our lives comes from a world view that, by faith, claims there is a loving God who wants us to live in unity with Him. Love God, love your neighbor. Without that, we gain nothing.

Hope you’ll enjoy the series! I hope it will challenge and inspire both you and us.