So here I am, trying desperately to get some worthwhile thoughts gathered and shared before the baby wakes up from nap. I don't think I'm going to make it, but I'll give it my best shot. I've been thinking a lot about giving, lately. Specifically, I've been thinking about how I can change my lifestyle to reflect the fact that what I have is really God's, and that He gave it to me to be used for His Kingdom on earth.
Isn't it funny that the first question any group of Christians wants to answer when they begin to seriously discuss giving is always "When can I stop?" "How much is enough?" "Surely God doesn't want me to give up all my material possessions, so where do I draw the line?" Then we start coming up with all the reasons why only certain people deserve to be the recipients of our magnanimity, remind ourselves how much more frugally we already live than most, and conclude with a resolution to put a little extra in the plate on Sunday.
Of course, if you go to Brook Hollow, you already know where I'm going with this. I can just hear you now saying "Aha, Penny's finally catching up on reading Radical." Even if you aren't engaged in our study of Radical, by David Platt, if you know the Bible at all, you know that the problem with our way of thinking is that Jesus repeatedly commands people to give up everything they have and follow Him. The New Testament is full of evidence that Christ's first followers thought nothing of selling their valuables in order to meet the needs of others. Can we really be so sure that God wants us to have all the stuff to which we cling so fiercely?
Here's where I'm at right now. It's less about relinquishing things than about relinquishing control of those things. God may want you to move to a smaller house and give away what you save on the mortgage payment. On the other hand, He may want you to keep the house so that you can show hospitality to His children. Either way, the point is that the house isn't yours to be used for your purposes according to your whims. Everything I have, whether it's my material possessions, my relationships, or the air I breathe and the sun that shines, belongs to my heavenly Father, and so do I, and so do all the needy and broken people of the world. If He says to give it away, I should give it. If He says to keep it, I should do so with the attitude of one holding something in trust for another, still asking the question "How can this possession be used to serve God today?"
By the way, giving isn't the same as surrendering. I think we all know of times when someone feels that because they contribute a great deal to an organization, they are entitled to run it! As long as we continue to cling to our right to "have a say in how our money is spent," the heart-work of surrender isn't done, and the command is only half obeyed.
Obviously, knowing what God is calling us to do with His gifts isn't as easy as 1-2-3. However, I'm watching Lora learn to count right now, and it seems that 1-2-3 probably didn't come easily to me at one point in my life! What changed? I used counting every day until I figured it out. Learning to discern God's direction is a process too. It requires us to pay attention to our circumstances, opportunities, and the still, small voice of God. It requires asking not just before every purchase, but before every action, "God, is this part of Your purpose?" Don't forget that sometimes God's purpose is simply that His children might rejoice! But even when He gives us gifts so that we might delight in Him, that delight is not for us to hoard, but to share.
All of this has to do with something Chesna has been teaching about right now, the idea of needing to "remain in the Vine" (see John 15:4-5) as the only viable means of accomplishing anything Christ asks of us. I had meant to do some writing today about how our giving is kept on track when we remain in the Vine. Unfortunately, this post is already oppressively long, and I think Lora is about to wake up. I guess that just means that today is part 1 of a 2 part series. More thoughts on this to come in the future.
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