Jesus never ordered his disciples to sell everything they owned and give it to the poor. In fact, he only gave that directive to one deluded young man. On a different occasion, a typically corrupt tax collector named Zaccheus was celebrated when his new-found faith prompted him to sell half of his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. So the early monks and friars were mistaken when they assumed that poverty is innately virtuous. There must be at least as many corrupt poor people as there are corrupt rich folks.
Francis of Assisi was so committed to poverty and so fearful of the corrupting powers of money that he would not allow his followers even to touch coins. When a brother inadvertently touched some small change in moving it to a window ledge, an apology was not nearly enough. Francis forced him to get down on all fours, pick up each coin with his mouth, crawl across the yard to the livestock pens, and deposit the money onto a heap of donkey dung!
But Jesus Christ never told us not to touch money, or own it, or spend it. We know that the Lord himself and his followers carried money around with them. Otherwise they would not have required a Treasurer, and Judas would have had nothing to steal! It's acceptable for people of faith to earn money and even enjoy some of the benefits of the money we've earned. Rather, Christ teaches us that we must not treasure it, we must not allow it to rule our lives, and we must seek God's Kingdom first! (Matthew 6: 19,24,33)
Living Kingdom-First makes two demands on our lives in regard to money and wealth. I'd express those requirements this way: Live more simply and give more away.
It's no wonder these ideas are part of what I call the Lost Gospel. To make your home in the United States is to live and breathe in an environment of unrelenting materialism. Television commercials, radio jingles, magazine ads, roadside billboards and even signs on buses urge us to buy, to acquire, to taste, to experience, to accumulate, to spend! Reclaiming the Gospel truths about money will require a lot of faith and diligence for saints in the 21st Century marketplace.
So we decided to begin our Boot Camp at Providence during the run-up to Christmas. We're going to be intentional about spending less and giving more; refusing to chase after the World in their lust to buy the largest possible number of presents for friends who don't really need anything! We've resolved to give presents that are more simple, more spiritual, more eternal. We are committed to shop less but share more. It's not a battle we will win in three months- far from it! But it's a lifetime discipline we will begin to learn.
Someone has quipped, "We live by the golden rule: those who have the gold make the rules." The Bible says it differently- He who makes the gold rules. And that's why some of us have lost our religion. We have walked away from the god of the world's largest religion: Mammon. We have picked up a cross and taken the narrow path to the vastly bigger God of Heaven. And we have no regrets. So this Christmas, let's be sure we worship the real God, not the more popular one.
Selah.
No comments:
Post a Comment