Warning: Very Blunt Blog Post - God's Economy & His Middlemen

"God, why don't you do something?", we say.

"I did", says God. "I created you."

And the Government shall be upon his shoulder. Isaiah 9:6

(... and if we are the body of Christ, then we are responsible actors in God's economy)

The truth of God's economy is pretty blunt. We sooooo want to twist what scripture says so that we get to keep that which God gave to us. But that's not God's economy.

Jesus says that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven. We see this and we feel this everyday, don't we? I think we fundamentally know that something is wrong with how we handle God's blessings of treasure. Down deep we understand that we really had little to do with the wealth that we find ourselves enjoying ... that we find ourselves accumulating ... that we find ourselves spending on things other than fundamental needs.

What if God intentionally set it up this way to test us, to teach us the lesson we needed to learn? 

And what if - if we saw it from God's perspective - we found we were failing miserably?

I will posit that we are. I will posit that every nickel and dime that we receive is from God.  (I think I've got some pretty firm scriptural backing on that.)

Now, here's the tough part:  

What if every nickel and dime given to us wasn't meant for us at all. Rather, we are simply the "middle men" of God's economy?

What if, instead of God giving everyone an equal portion of treasure, he decided to give some a disproportionate amount of the treasure ... to see what we do with it? To see if we are paying attention? To see if we are actually absorbing His Word and trusting Him?

What if we are only supposed to use the amount that provides our daily bread and shift the remainder to all of those who don't have their daily bread? What if God has given us the task of providing that daily bread to all the nations?

What would our world look like it we did that?  

Take a minute to picture it.  

Literally, stop reading and take 60 full seconds to ponder that potential reality.  

Because it is possible.

We say we're stretched thin. We say we don't have enough to spare. Rubbish.  We live in a world of affluence... Even those considered poor in our country would be relatively affluent in third world countries.

If we give, we give from the fat. Let's just acknowledge that. And Jesus spoke of these people. He used the Pharisees as examples, who gave very large sums ... but from their surplus. The one he noted as exemplary was the widow who gave her last two shekels ...

God's economy is actually quite simple. But I think our worldly minds don't want to acknowledge what we're called to do. We like our comfort. We like our things, our nicer car, our safe neighborhood, our school district ...

What if God intentionally set it up this way to test us, to teach us the lesson we needed to learn? And what if - if we saw it from God's perspective - we found we were failing miserably?

Some ideas:

• One level down.  Buying a car?  Find the one you want, then buy the model below it and give the balance to charity.  Buying a smart phone?  Find the one you want, then look for the previous version of that phone on eBay, then give the balance to charity.  And so on.
• Charity instead of gifts.  Give to charity on someone's behalf instead of buying them a gift, card, flowers.  Even the $4 for a card means two days wages to someone in extreme poverty.
• HowGiving.org. Make it automatic.  I am working on a simple app that allows you to give to charity on others' behalf more automatically and simply, still acknowledging their birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc., but giving meaningfully.  I'll let you know when the app is ready for use.  Exciting!  Learn more in the interim at www.howgiving.org ...
• Create a budget.  Look for areas to cut out the fat, even the muscle.  Remember, this is about sacrificial giving, not comfortable giving.  Really think on this and remove items incrementally ... but incrementally give to charity of those same amounts when you do.  If you could afford premium cable, you can afford to help orphans in the Sudan get the inoculations they need to avoid getting sick from the germ-ridden water their forced to drink.

"It's not enough to do nothing.

Is time for us to do something." 

-- Matthew West

"All that it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

Enough with the minimum. Enough with the excuses. Time to sacrifice as Jesus did ... as were called to do.

Take up your cross daily, and follow me.

--Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ