"I was in the parking lot at work and debating whether to roll my windows up or not b/c it was super hot outside, but i had my GPS and ipod in the car, and my wallet, i rolled the windows up anyways but thought to myself "i wish people who broke into cars would say 'dont worry about going to the church parking lot to break into any of those cars, those christians just give all their money away so there wont be anything to take'."
"This comes from all the talk i had done about the homeless and how i wish i could just let people crash at my house. but then you think "well what if they steal something from me and take off in the middle of the night", and the answer is that it wasn't yours to claim in the first place, god calls us to give everything away. its so easy to understand but so hard to live. but i guess that's life and why there are so few that actually make it to heaven."
I responded:
Maybe it hurts a bit when i walk out of the service and I'm hit with pamphlets and posters of a million dollar, 5-year-plan, that the church is proposing, and followed by Lexus', beamers, and suburbans pulling fishing boats out of the parking lot...seems to be one be ironic situation huh?
Then again, I guess Shane Claiborne (author of a great book titled The Irresistible Revolution) does lean a lot further to the "liberal" interpretation of scripture (nothing wrong there). As he and many other consistently refer to Luke as the "Give-to-the-needy-manual" maybe they forget that the book was made possible by what most historians believe to be a very wealthy (today's millions) government official - Theophilus, who funded Luke as he journeyed, interviewed, and wrote the historical account of Jesus (Luke) and the first church (Acts). It seems there's need for both in our society.
It's all a paradox. Jesus made himself the least, yet he was the greatest. We are called to give away everything to become rich (in Christ). Thinking about it, and definitely trying to explain it is tough. ....and in the end, I think you are very right.
We should be giving away our money, our time, our couch, our bed, our car, lending to people because these things ultimately belong to God and we are called to steward them accordingly. The quote came from a book I'm reading 'Rescuing Ambition'. He mentions this: "Contentment comes as we satisfy the fierce ambition to move higher by reaching lower. We're filled as we choose to empty." ...'Christian contentment, is the direct fruit of having no higher ambition than to belong to the Lord and to be totally at His disposal in the place He appoints, at the time He chooses, with the provision He is pleased to make.' "
I mean, think of Jesus, He showed us that humble service is the highest place of rank. Low = High has never made sense to the world...sometimes it doesn't make sense to me, but it's right. We have an invaluable advantage today, knowing that our worth, value, and importance is not wrapped in what we wear, own, or aspire to become, but our worth is wrapped in the blood of Christ. In this we are given the freedom to be detached and no longer enslaved to the things of this world (Our t.v., money, car, etc...) and that is why, I think, we should be able to give those things away...
Then again, I guess Shane Claiborne (author of a great book titled The Irresistible Revolution) does lean a lot further to the "liberal" interpretation of scripture (nothing wrong there). As he and many other consistently refer to Luke as the "Give-to-the-needy-manual" maybe they forget that the book was made possible by what most historians believe to be a very wealthy (today's millions) government official - Theophilus, who funded Luke as he journeyed, interviewed, and wrote the historical account of Jesus (Luke) and the first church (Acts). It seems there's need for both in our society.
It's all a paradox. Jesus made himself the least, yet he was the greatest. We are called to give away everything to become rich (in Christ). Thinking about it, and definitely trying to explain it is tough. ....and in the end, I think you are very right.
We should be giving away our money, our time, our couch, our bed, our car, lending to people because these things ultimately belong to God and we are called to steward them accordingly. The quote came from a book I'm reading 'Rescuing Ambition'. He mentions this: "Contentment comes as we satisfy the fierce ambition to move higher by reaching lower. We're filled as we choose to empty." ...'Christian contentment, is the direct fruit of having no higher ambition than to belong to the Lord and to be totally at His disposal in the place He appoints, at the time He chooses, with the provision He is pleased to make.' "
I mean, think of Jesus, He showed us that humble service is the highest place of rank. Low = High has never made sense to the world...sometimes it doesn't make sense to me, but it's right. We have an invaluable advantage today, knowing that our worth, value, and importance is not wrapped in what we wear, own, or aspire to become, but our worth is wrapped in the blood of Christ. In this we are given the freedom to be detached and no longer enslaved to the things of this world (Our t.v., money, car, etc...) and that is why, I think, we should be able to give those things away...
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