Give.
Written March 28, 2020
Why are we so reluctant to give?
“It is better to give than receive” - Acts 20:35
“What you’ve done to the least of these you’ve done unto me” - Matthew 25:40
It’s really our perspective isn’t it? It’s not that we don’t have enough to give. I mean the statistic says, if you have a salary of $30k you are in the top 1% globally. In that regard, you have more than enough. So that’s not the issue, is it.
Let’s approach it in a more positive way.
Don’t you find that when you are given something, an abundant gift, you tend to be more inclined to share it and/or give it away. We are, after all, a communal species. It’s safe to say that if I was gifted much of something it tends to be easier for me to share it vs. if it were something I worked hard for and earned. Why should I share this? I earned my keep, you go work and earn your own! I’m not that good of a person. (Side note: God knows that you can’t do that either so he doesn’t ask that of you.) And let’s be honest, a lot of us who do give have an inkling of hope that it’ll come back around. That karma or goodness will be reciprocated some how. Or simply it makes us feel good, knowing that I am a good helpful person. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, it definitely makes sense and it’s understandable.
That’s where my statement of perspective comes in. The gospel message is that “all have fallen short of the glory of God” we all have nothing. We all are doomed for death and destruction. But what saved us? Christ’s sacrifice. God, knowing we cant give things that we have earned, addresses our fallen nature by giving us MUCH. He took the sacrifice onto his shoulders. I will give them my utmost so that they have enough to give to each other. So the biblical perspective is, the failure to see that I have been given much - abundance.
That what Christ did by giving his all for my sake, nothing in this world is really mine. I haven’t earned anything. It’s all a gift. So how can I hoard something I have never earned? There’s the true evil, and where we really need to repent. The arrogance in believing that all that I have, I earned and worked for and therefore I deserve it. It’s mine to do what I want to do with it. Do you see? This perspective is clearly against/opposite of the gospel message. YOU DESERVE DEATH! Only by God’s grace are you here today. What did you do to be born in this time of history, to be the race you are, to have the personality or temperament that you do? How arrogant are you that you believe you had some kind of say in any of this? You were born. You did nothing to do that!
Once we are able to see that all we own was given to us, that its nothing we own, it gives us the freedom to emotionally detach to not put so much meaning into things, to simply appreciate them for what they are, at the core, GIFTS. Because they are not our’s, it makes more sense to have the freedom to give them to those around us. To share it amongst our community. It’s also the Gospel perspective, the poor are not lesser than us, we are all broken in God’s eyes. The drug addict looks the same as the donating good citizen, and if we had the humility to see that, we would respond with the ability, joy and gratitude to give to others.
I am reminded of so many stories in the homeless community of the giving nature amongst the poor. So many times when one finds or receives something they’re immediate response is to share it. Why? It’s because the homeless truly know the reality of this life. That they are all fallen, that they all tried their best, but failed, that the world is tough and unforgiving, that they are all broken and therefore everyday is a gift. A gift that deserves to be shared.
This is how God sees us. This is why he calls, commands, yearns for us to give to one another. When we look to our God and see that he practices what he preaches, by giving up his Son, his own life, his relationship with the Father for our sake, how can we hoard what we have been given in light of His sacrifice, but give everything to Him and each other.
