How much is enough?

 ** sharing a post from my former blog **

Last night as I listened to the storm outside, and read chapter six in Radical by David Platt, I was convicted. Various parts brought me to tears. Chapter 6 is titled How Much Is Enough? American Wealth And A World Of Poverty.  Before I get started I am going to give you a few statistics because I have a feeling many of you may not make it to the end of this post as I will likely become a babbling mess with a super long message. SO, let's get right to the stats: ┼ As of 2010 if you make more than $50,000 a year, you are in the top 1% of the worlds wealthiest people. 99% of the world is less wealthy than you. Remember, this is world we are talking about, NOT America.  ┼ If you make $25,000 a year, you are wealthier than 90% of the worlds population. You are among the richest 10% of adults in the world. ┼ Of the 6.7 billion people on earth almost half of them live on less than $2 a day. We spend $2 on french friends, or mints. Our hourly wage is MORE than $2 and so many make that in a DAY. ┼ 60% of the worlds population make LESS than $1000 annually. That's right. An average of $83 a month. ┼ If you have money saved (any amount), a hobby that requires some equipment of supplies, a variety of clothes in your closet, 2 cars (any condition), and live in your own home, you are among the top 5% of the worlds wealthiest. You may think YOU are struggling financially BUT 95% of the world is struggling more than you or I. ┼ 93% of the worlds population don't even own a car. Yet we complain on a regular basis about our car problems. ┼ More than 26,000 children will DIE today due to starvation and preventable diseases. --- from the Radical book Statistics like this blow my mind. I guess I've never looked at the grand scheme of things. We tend to focus more locally. But when you start adding world into everything, things change.... and drastically.  I got the above stats from irememberthepoor.org & The hole in our Gospel by Richard Sterns, president of World Vision. If you haven't read David Platts' book, Radical, I highly recommend it. It has definitely brought things into perspective for me. Chapter 6 is about blind spots in our life. "we all have blind spots - areas of our lives that need to be uncovered so we can see correctly and adjust our lives accordingly. But they are hard to identify. Others can often see them in us, and we rely on friends to point them out. But the reality is, even then we have a hard time recognizing them. We don't want to admit they exist... often until it's too late" David Platt says he can think of at least one glaring blind spot in American Christian history: Slavery. How could Christians who supposedly believed in the gospel so easily reationalize the enslavement of other human beings? Churchgoers with good intentions worshiping God together every Sunday and reading the Bible religiously all week long, all the while using God's Word to justify treating men, women, and children as property to be used or abused.  When we look back at slave owning church goers of 150 years ago we ask "how could they have treated fellow human beings that way?" We have to wonder if followers of Christ 150 years from now will look back at Christians in America today and ask "how could they live in such big houses? How could they drive such nice cars and wear such nice clothes? How could they live in such affluence while thousands of children were dying because they didn't have food and water? How could they go on with their lives as though the billions of poor didn't even exist?" Good intentions, regular worship, and even study of the Bible do not prevent blindness in us. Part of our sinful nature instinctively chooses to see what we want to see and to ignore what we want to ignore.  Do you think materialism  is a blind spot in American Christianity today? More specifically, is materialism a blind spot in your Christianity today? Does this mean to sell everything you have? No. Take a look at Mark 10 and Jesus' conversation with a rich young man. The man eagerly approached Jesus and asked him "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" to which Jesus said to HIM "One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then, come follow me." Jesus was clearly exposing THIS particular man's allegiance to his possessions. The rich man needed a new heart. One that was radically transformed by the gospel. David Platt says that there are two common errors people make when they read Mark 10:

1. some try to universalize Jesus' words, saying that he always commands his followers to sell everything they have and give it to the poor. But, the New Testament doesn't support this.
2.  some people assume Jesus never calls his followers to abandon all their possessions to follow him. Mark 10 DOES teach us that sometimes Jesus DOES call on people to sell everything they own and give to the poor.

One writer put it this way... "that Jesus did not command ALL his followers to sell all their possessions gives comfort only to the kind of people to whom he would issue that command." How true is that?! David Platt makes sure to reiterate that the Bible NOWHERE teaches that caring for the poor is a means by which we can earn salvation. The means of our salvation is faith in Christ alone, and the basis of our salvation is the work of Christ alone. He does remind us that the books of Proverbs warns about curses that come upon those that ignore the poor. James(5:1) tells those who hoard their money and live in self indulgence to "weep and wail because of the misery that is coming"  Chapter 6 goes on in great detail about the luxuries of our American life and simple ways we can help others. For instance, one example he gave is how as our annual incomes increase so does our spending on ourselves. We make more a year, that means a bigger house, or a better car. When really, if we capped our income, and continued to live off of that cap, each year as our income grew, we'd have more to give to help those that aren't as fortunate. One example given was of John Wesley (1703-91). He identified a modest living level for him and never surpassed it. At one point he began making the equivalent of 160,000 a year in todays terms, yet he still lived as if he were making 20,000 a year and had 140,000 left over to give away. WOW. Scripture clearly teaches that God intends our plenty to supply others needs.  There are two questions that need to be asked?

1. What can we spare?
2. What will it take?

What would happen if together everyone stopped giving their scraps to the poor and started giving surplus? What if we started giving not just what we were able to give but beyond what we were able to give as the widow in Luke 21 did. She gave ALL that she had. What if WE began to give what it HURT us to give; not just because of the critical need around us, but because this kind of giving is actually what the heart of Christ in us both demands and desires? This is exactly what the Scripture teaches. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul tells Timothy to command the rich "to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." This, Paul says, is the key to being free from the deadly nature of wealth and possessions. GIVE. Give generously, abundantly, and sacrificially.  Chapter 6 gives SO many examples of this from cleaning out closets, donating electronics, selling a large house for a smaller one, and even one lady who, as her church tried to raise money to rebuild homes in Indonesia (you could rebuild a home for $400) after destruction from an earthquake, said "my husband and I don't have much money right now, BUT, I can give this (her wedding ring) so that a couple in Indonesia can have a home." I won't go into great detail of these examples as I know I've ranted for awhile now! The war against materialism in our hearts is exactly that, a war. It's a constant battle to resist the temptation to have more luxuries, to acquire more stuff, and to live more comfortably. It requires a strong and steady resolve to live out the gospel in the middle of an American dream that identifies success as moving up the ladder, getting a bigger house, buying a nicer car, eating finer foods and acquiring more things. BUT, we can beat the battle. We can win the war within our heart.  Don't be blind to materialism in your own life friends. Don't miss eternal treasures by settling on earthly trinkets. Where your treasure is Jesus says, "there your heart will be also." It's easy for those statistics that I gave at the beginning to seem so cold and distant. It's hard for us to even imagine as we lay our pillows down on our comfy pillows at night. But, it's out there friends. Men, Women, Children, just like us, are out there suffering. We have a choice. When we see those poverty commercials come on TV, we have the choice to switch the channels on our mega tv's, to continue our ordinary comfortable churchgoing lives as if the global poor don't exist, OR we can open our eyes and our lives to the realities that surround us and begin considering the facts that are represented by these numbers.  Only time will tell what you and I choose to do with this blind spot of American Christianity in our day.

The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field....

when a man found it,

in his JOY he went and sold all he had

and bought that field!

Matt 13:44

All they asked,

is that we should continue to remember the poor.

The very thing I was eager to do.

Galatians 2:10

To help locally it's as simple as cleaning out your closet, donating excess clothes, dropping food off or volunteering at homeless shelters or food banks. You can simply google local organizations that need help. If you'd like more information on helping fight the global battle please check out the following:

World Vision

Amazima Ministries 

Compassion International 

Isn't it amazing to think that by us sponsoring a child and donating $25 or so a month, we are making an enormous difference in that families household income? In some cases we are doubling an ANNUAL income. If you made it this far, thank you! I know it was a lot to take in, but I am so appreciative for you taking the time to read it. May you have a blessed coming week.