For a few months, I’ve been thinking about money. How does scripture approach the topic of money? I’ve been reading the book “Radical” and over and over again it talks about how to follow Jesus it means to give away all that you have, take up the cross and follow Him. Following Him is not easy.
In thinking about this, I also thought of people who go overseas. Many people go overseas, leave everything comfortable behind and go after what the Lord has commanded them to do. What has made me sad these past few months as I thought about the topic of money, is how many of these people who go overseas have limited financial support. Still more who cannot go overseas because they do not have the financial means. And it makes me sad, as I experience life overseas and see how much the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few… and those who want to come cannot. It makes me sad that people just don’t jump up to help those who have this calling.
I am ever so blessed to have so much support in so many different ways, including financially, but my heart does break for those who face difficulty in going overseas, especially when I read letters of friends asking for support.
Today I read the chapter titled “How much is enough? – American wealth and a world of poverty”, in the book “Radical”. And not only are we lacking in helping one another, the body of Christ, we are blindsided to those around us. I too am guilty.
“I am much like the rich man, and the church I lead looks a lot like him too. Every Sunday we gather in a multimillion-dollar building with millions of dollars in vehicles parked outside. We leave worship to spend thousands of dollars on lunch before returning to hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of homes. We live in luxury.
Meanwhile, the poor man is outside our gate. And he is hungry. In the time we gather for worship on a Sunday morning, almost a thousand children elsewhere die because they have no food. If it were our kids starving, they would all be gone by the time we said our closing prayer. We certainly wouldn’t ignore our kids while we sang songs and entertained ourselves, but we are content with ignoring other parents’ kids. Many of them are our spiritual brothers and sisters in developing nations. They are suffering from malnutrition, deformed bodies and brains, and preventable diseases. At most, we are throwing our scraps to them while we indulge in our pleasures here. Kind of like an extra chicken for the slaves at Christmas.
That is not what the people of God do. Regardless of what we say or sing or study on Sunday morning, rich people who neglect the poor are not the people of God.” (p. 115)
This is just one of the excerpts of the book that just wants me to ever be more like Jesus and I fail and it challenges me.
I am so rich. I look at the people around me… compared to them I’m filthy rich… I have a house, a car, food to eat at every meal, clothes for every season, shoes for any type of weather, toys galore for my daughter to play with, a nice comfortable bed to sleep on, a nice couch to watch movies on…. These are all riches that my neighbors do not have… I see people with arms or legs cut off begging for money on the side of the road. Children in rags with a can begging for money… I see shacks side by side for blocks with tin as their roof… and I do nothing.
I’ve said this before, but seriously saying some prayer doesn’t do it. Saying the prayer and thinking you got your ticket and could live the life you want… Read Romans if you think that way… especially chapters 5 and 6. Faith without works… Doesn’t mean that our salvation comes by works, but if you have faith,…
Yesterday I did a study with my girls here and we studied James 2. We had such a deep great conversation about this. But this is how we discussed it and I know this illustration has been made before, but…
When I started liking P, when I starting loving him, I wanted to do anything in the world for him, likewise, I feel that is the same with our love for Christ. When we confess our faith to Him and are so in love with Him, our actions would be different… the work we do would be different. It would be radical. So why is it that I have so much trouble, even though I am so madly in love with him, to live this radical life? Why is the church lacking in living this radical life?
I challenge you all to read the book. It will put into perspective all that you have already read in Scripture. But beware… you may come out of the other side of the book a radical person.
Please pray for me as I long for my focus to be outside of myself… that I may see the needs of the people around me… feed those who are hungry and clothes those who do not have. Sell all I possess and follow hard after Christ if that is what He wants from me or use all I have for those around me. The Lord has my back in providing for me and He’s used many of you to do exactly that. How I praise God for that.
Read the Book.
