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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Do you really want to live within your own resources? Part 3

• As Christians we have the firm belief that true riches are those that survive into eternity. This faith position is an absolute must if we are going to have the attitude and action towards wealth that Jesus calls us to. Having that attitude allows us to make choices about finances that look crazy from a Western mindset

• All actions concerning what we do with our money should not be out of some kind of penny-pinching protectionism. The clear instruction to "not worry about what you will wear" releases us to trust beyond ourselves for our provision, even beyond what our natural resources allow. The issue here is where is your trust, if you are trusting in your savings, in your pension even, in your job [high or low paying] for your security in life, then you are missing Jesus' message. Why? Because as soon as one of those is threatened you will find yourselves in worry and fear.

• If money is a 'god' in our society [and every society?] then it draws allegiance from us. We must be practical in demonstrating our trust of God in this area. It is my belief that the biblical way to do that is regular giving into your spiritual family in proportion to your income - otherwise known as a "tithe". That is my belief and that is my practice. As I practice that giving it demonstrates my utter connection with God. By honouring God with my wealth in tithing and other ways I am practically believing that my resources in life are not limited to my income potential and my income, but rather the resources of the God of all the earth who has all the resources that I could need!
• That is why I entitled this "do you really want to live within your own resources".
  

• The fundamental posture that Jesus talk about is that the things that we have are entrusted to us, things that we steward on behalf of another, not things that we own. Hence when we look at all that we have, all that God has provided for us, we act with it in a way that reflects what the one who gave it would want us to do with it.
• Hence it should not be 'squandered' but 'invested' in a way that reflects God's priorities. I will come back to this later.
  

Labels: discipleship, mission, money, social justice