Our church is currently working through a study called,
Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity. Barry is leading our Sunday School class and the Wednesday night class. We're always so pressed for time in Sunday School that we never finish the lesson, so several people have talked to Barry after class and struggled with the message. Our class is mostly college graduates, so there are multiple families that are pretty "well-off." The message is not give-away-everything-and-live-in-poverty, but is live within your means (or below) so you are able to live life more fully for God without the stress and sin that can accompany wealth.
So, as I'm sitting at the computer tonight vigilantly uploading pictures to blog, and I'm reading my book,
The Good and Beautiful Community. The chapter I'm on happens to speak directly on being generous with not only your money, but your time, talents, and resources as well. I think the author, James Bryan Smith, does a great job of explaining the Enough principle and uses biblical references for support! Here is a very condensed version of the financial section...
False Narrative:
"
God helps those who help themselves."
It is from an Edition of
Poor Richard's Almanac, written by Ben Franklin in 1757. Franklin was not a Christian, but a deist. This judgmental narrative is a bulwark against generosity, a sturdy protection against the need to help those who are in need.
True Narrative:
God helps those who cannot help themselves.
God does help those who are able help themselves, but God also helps those who cannot help themselves. The Gospels are a Who's Who or helpless, broken, despised people, yet God helps them.
False Narrative:
If I give it away, then I have less.
True Narrative:
If we all share, we all have enough.
When the children of Israel wandered toward the Promised Land, they had no food. God provided food for them in the form of manna. God commanded them to take only enough for their own sustenance, and no more. They were told to measure how much to eat by using a measuring device, called an omer.
The Omer Principle shows that there is enough for everyone- but only when we take our fair share. Hunger experts tell us that there is enough food on the planet to end world hunger, but some consume more than they need. One night I was up late and watched an infomercial for a weight-loss program. For only $150 a month, I was told, I could lose a pound a day- only $5 a day. I switched channels and saw a relief organization commercial showing children with bloated stomachs, and was told that for $3 a day I could prevent a child from dying of hunger. The irony was not lost on me.
Of course, the Omer Principle is not meant to be mandatory or forced (as in communism). But when people arrive at the omer-like decisions (Gee, maybe if I didn't buy this I could give more to that) by the leading of the Spirit, much good comes. God designed a world where there is enough for everyone, as long as we take only what we need.
False Narrative:What I have is mine to use for my own pleasure. (Entitlement Narrative)
If I start with the notion that what I have is mine, that I somehow earned it or deserve it, then I am entitled to use it any way I want. It falls under my discretion; I get to choose when, how and how much I give.
True Narrative:What I have is God's to use for his glory.
Nothing I have is mine- it is all a gift from God. Therefore I must ask, "How shall I use the gifts you have given me?" This fundamental shift affects all of our daily decisions.
Generosity is an attitude, and inward disposition, that spawns acts of self-sacrifice, which is how God acts toward us.
A Theology of EnoughThe idealization of poverty is one of the most dangerous illusions of Christians in the contemporary world. Stewardship- which requires possessions and includes giving- is the true spiritual disciple in relation to wealth...
In general, being poor is one of the poorest ways to help the poor.
A gospel of abundance is found only in the kingdom of God, where somehow we have what we need when we need it.
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I wish I could go through all of that passage and count how many times the word "enough" is used. It is hard sometimes to sit back and think, I have enough. We buy our dream house, then think, well- we could use a nicer kitchen. We buy a new car, then think, well- we really could use a little more cargo space. It seems like every month there is a new way to move up the ladder. Think of how freeing and relaxing would it be to realize, I have enough. I understand that things get difficult and sometimes God feels distant in your struggles, but I encourage you to stop and think, I have enough.
