Give it away

I've come to a point in my life where I think it is important to work on my writing skills so I thought maybe I would start to share with my friends and family some of my thoughts. I may decide to do this monthly, weekly or it could become a daily thing, I’m not sure yet. Some of the content may be original and some I may borrow from other places.

Here we go…

I had a conversation this past week with some of my forum buddies that really sparked this idea of sending my thoughts out to my friends and family. It basically began with a simple link to a video, please take a moment and watch:

12_yr_old_breadwinner

What follows are some of the thoughts that I had after watching this video:

What are we, self-proclaimed followers of Christ, to do about this? Should we view things like this just so that we can be more appreciative of all that we have or to remind ourselves about how lucky we are to be who we are and live where we do? Are we meant to go and sell everything we have and move to Cambodia? Maybe we can find an internet site where we can donate one dollar a month and maybe they'll let us set it up to be automatically drafted so that "We never really miss it." I've had some of these same questions and more since reading Shane Claiborne's book: The Irresistible Revolution. It's really made me examine the way I'm living against how I believe Christ intended for us to live. Unfortunately, I still don't have all the answers. I don't believe we are all called to sell all that we have, but I do believe that there may be some of us who have been called to do that. I know that God wants good things (including material items) for us but at what cost and at what point does it become excessive. Where and when are the limits? Are there any limits, after all aren't all thing possible with God? My wife and I want a new home so that we can invite others in and fellowship (small groups, new believers, family & LAN parties) and also provide a nice home for children (either natural or adopted). At the same time I see a video of a 12 year old child who works 12+ hours a day to provide for his families daily needs. I've lived pay check to pay check before but these families are on the doorstep of starvation, disease and death. I just don't feel good in my spirit watching a video like this and saying "Thank you God that you've blessed me more than these!"

So, what are we to do? Maybe we all should be like the disciples and strip down to the bare essentials. Quit our jobs and hit the evangelism road and live off of the people and churches we preach to.

Just for a minute, entertain this thought.... What if this is the case? What if we are living our lives in a way that God maybe never intended? I think about this a lot, especially here at work. I tell myself that I can be a servant of God in the workplace and that I can have a job in the secular community while still working in full time ministry but... can I really? It's tough! I hate working! Not working here but working in general. I don't want to do this anymore. I want to be serving the Lord by talking to people, getting to know them, letting them hear my story, telling them how faithful God is when it comes to answering his promises (like Psalms 34:9 or 37:4). I tell myself that I can still work for the Lord while doing this (engineering) from 8-5 but why am I really here. To be truly honest... BECAUSE I HAVE BILLS TO PAY! Why do I have bills to pay? because I'm constantly buying stuff. Why am I buying stuff? because it makes me feel better about myself. Why do I need to feel better about myself? because I hate my job and it makes me depressed! (some exaggeration here but you get the point). It can all become a vicious cycle and before you know it, you're mindlessly walking through the day just to get to the end so you can do it all over again tomorrow! I would love to live like the disciples except for the fact that I might have to leave my wife at home alone, or my kids (if I had any), then there are the my horses and cats, (I miss my dog btw) my church, my house, my friends, my softball, my wiffleball and my basketball. Don’t forget my xbox 360 and my HDTV plus satellite topped off with my Dolby stereo surround sound!

Matthew 28:19 says "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"

Sometimes… just sometimes…. It’s hard for me to swallow. There’s an awful lot of “my” in those last couple sentences. Is this really what God intended for life to be like?

All that said... am I going to sell all my stuff and move to Cambodia to care for the poor.... not right now but I have to continue to ask myself these questions and think these thoughts so that IF God calls me to do that, then I will be ready.

I think a friend of mine said it best:
Quote: "Loving the poor has nothing to do with the amount of money or stuff you have. It has to deal with the heart. IF you were asked to give it all away...would you?? Even if you aren’t asked to get rid of it all...do you have your purse strings open ready to give without hesitation?? Are you more connected to your stuff than you are to the Will of God?? That is what God wants to know! "

If you were called to give it all away... would you?