Category Archives: Jesus Money Materialism Reflection

Wowsers

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I read this today:

Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life.
1st Timothy 6:17-19

In the words of Inspector Gadget…wowsers. So if we were to summarize this statement from the Bible we might say:

Don’t trust in your money because it could just up and disappear (nobody can relate with that these days right?!). Instead we should trust in the God who has given us all we need to find joy (though it must be said that our defenition of joy must be severly changed and transformed! The joy that Jesus offers has nothing to do with having lots of stuff and financial security). If you are one of those persons with money, why don’t you keep it in perspective and do good things with it. All money is, is a big wad of potential. For if your money is just temporary and your trust is in God instead of your money why wouldn’t you give it away to those in need? Why wouldn’t you fulfill some of your money’s potential for good? And you know what? If you’re able to do this you know what will happen? Not only will you be storing up treasure for yourself in heaven, but you’ll actually discover and experience life as it should be. Real life. Or as Jesus called it, eternal life.

One sentence summary: If you trust God instead of money, give money away, you’ll be able to experience eternal life right now…wowsers, that’s a bold statement.

Offering

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So i’m trying to process something here and was wondering if y’all (my loyal, fairly good sized, and yet completely invisible readership) had any insight.

When I’m a lead church planter i want to be supported by my church. There are many reasons both Biblical and practical for this, but for what I desire to do it seems like the most effective and best way to plant a new church. Obviously in the beginning there will be a need for outside financial support, but the goal would be to get paid by those to whom God has sent the church to.

So while that is true, I’ve also got this other idea germinating in my head. What if the church that is planted in downtown Vancouver carries some of the early churches tradition of using the money given to the church to distribute among the poor and needy. In the early church we see a tradition of people taking money to the apostles feet to be shared among those in need. Renovatus shares some of these values too, which is wonderful. But what if we took it to the next step and made a huge portion of the “first fruits” of the churches income go toward those who are in need. Could a church pay its bills? What sacrifices would need to be made? Is that incongruous to paying a lead ministers wages?

Let me see if I can paint a picture a bit more clearly. Using percentages, money offered to the church might be broken up like this:

  • 10% would go to Kairos church planting support– so that we will always be involved in planting new churches and reaching more people for Jesus.
  • 70% would be considered benevolence (please give me a better synonym!) and would go to those who are poor and in need, first within the faith community and then those outside the church.
  • 20% would be left for wages, facilities, printing, advertising, etc.

Some implications of this would be less print, less advertising, less cool and functional equipment (sound, computers, etc.), less potential for additional staff members, less money for the lead minister, restrictions for potential facilities, and lots of other things like that. I can tell you one thing, for better or worse it would not lend to being a “cool” church…but I don’t do cool very well anyway!

I’m not certain this is even feasible and I’m only just now thinking about what something like this would look like as a discipline rather than just an ideal or idea.

Any thoughts.

Jubilee

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I have not yet done the study I need to do concerning the Old Testament biblical concept of jubilee. But, if I’m getting this right, God told Israel that every7 years your land was supposed to rest. On that seventh year there was no planting, and the fields themselves enjoyed a season of sabbath. Additionally, every 49 years (on the 50th year) it was a a year of jubilee where the land was to rest, slaves were to be set free, and land was to be returned to its ancestral owner. In other words, everything started over.

While, as I understand it, we have no proof that Israel ever practiced this 50th year jubilee, it is nonetheless God’s idea. And a beautiful one at that!

One author while calling Christianity today to practice the spirit of jubilee says:

Those who have been trained to trust God for provision are the only people who will ever believe that Jubilee is a good idea. Otherwise, it looks like losing everything you have worked so hard to earn. But if we never earn anything-if everything is a gift-then it begins to make sense that God would want to redistribute gifts as a guard against injustice in a broken and sinful world.

That’s a powerful thought isn’t it? Don’t we so often fall into that trap of thinking that our stuff is actually ours? God had intended that for Israel everything would be leased. Nothing would be owned longer than 50 years unless it was given to your family by God. Well in reality, doesn’t everything that we own belong to God? So, in essence, everything we have is leased. It belongs to us only for a season (for this life) and will not stay with us forever. And yet we spend so much time worrying about what we have…oops, sorry, I’m starting to preach. That’s not what I intended. Let me share one more connected and quick thought.

I once commented to a wise older friend saying that I loved capitalism, but what it seemed to be lacking was a year of jubilee. Capitalism works really well until eventually the scales get so lopsided that it no longer becomes a free market system but instead becomes a free market to those who are privileged with opportunity. So what capitalism is lacking is a do-over. I commented that capitalism needs a point in time where we start things new, and create a clean slate. My friend smiled and said “that’s what a recession is.”

interesting.

Aint No Reason

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I love the lyrics to this Brett Dennen song “Aint No Reason”. He may be a pot smokin’ hippie, but he speaks a lot of truth in this song.

There ain’t no reason things are this way.
Its how they always been and they intend to stay.
I can’t explain why we live this way, we do it everyday. 
Preachers on the podium speakin’ of saints in seance,
Prophets on the sidewalk beggin’ for change,
Old ladies laughing from the fire escape, cursing my name.
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same,
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing,
You can spend your whole life workin’ for something
Just to have it taken away.
People walk around pushing back their debts,
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets,
Talking ‘bout nothing, not thinking ‘bout death,
Every little heartbeat, every little breath.
People walk a tight rope on a razors edge
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons.
It could be a bomb or a bullet or a pen
Or a thought or a word or a sentence.

There Ain’t no reason things are this way.
It’s how they always been and they intend to stay
I don’t know why I say the things I say, but I say them anyway.
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free,I do believe 
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set me free, yes.

Prison walls still standing tall,
Some things never change at all.
Keep on buildin’ prisons, gonna fill them all,
Keep on buildin’ bombs, gonna drop them all.
Working your fingers bear to the bone,
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul.
Like a lung that’s filled with coal, suffocatin’ slow.
The wind blows wild and I may move,
The politicians lie and I am not fooled.
You don’t need no reason or a three piece suit to argue the truth.
The air on my skin and the world under my toes,
Slavery stitched into the fabric of my clothes,
Chaos and commotion wherever I go, love I try to follow.

Love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set me free, yes.

There ain’t no reason things are this way
It’s how they always been and they intend to stay
I can’t explain why we live this way, we do it everyday

The Compact, Folgers, and Jesus

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We’re done! We did it! It’s finished!
That’s right folks, if you don’t follow my twitter or facebook status updates then you won’t know that Jessica and I completed our commitment to The Compact. If you haven’t read what I’ve written about it in the past then just know that it was a commitment to not buy anything new for 2008 (there are a few exceptions like underwear and such).

I’ll be honest and say that we broke the compact a couple of times. We’ve got some family members who would have found a used Christmas present offensive, we needed a few art/craft supplies to make some gifts, etc. But in general the biggest problem to this whole Compact thing for us was that we just forgot about it. After a while we got so out of the habit of going to stores or looking to purchase things that we forgot that it was even a commitment that we had made. It became a moot point really. Another problem was the amount of money that we spent at Goodwill. Goodwill is terrible if you go there looking for one specific item, but if you show up looking for a great deal it’s amazing what you can find. Virtually all of Jones’ Christmas pressents were from Goodwill and they were all amazing deals. Jeans at Goodwill are expensive, used Duplos are not.

If you are wanting a challenge for 2009 I highly suggest joining The Compact. It has changed Jessica and I. We are not the same. While we have had absolutly no discussion as to if we are going to continue the challenge over 2009 (sick kids have slowed down our discussion a bit) I have no doubt that The Compact has played a part in transforming how we view stuff, money, shopping, used things, giving, and gifts.

Through The Compact I feel that I’ve learned that I don’t need things. Most of the things I “need” seem to fade away if I stop thinking about them for a week. I’ve learned that you can find nearly anything used or recycled if you’re patient. I’ve learned that even if you don’t buy your kids toys they can still have a playroom overrun with toys! I’ve learned to not throw things out as quickly. That scrap of wood from that broken desk could make a perfect…(fill in the blank)…I’ve learned that advertizing sucks. It teaches me to think that I’m unhappy and that your product will make me happy. Regarding that idea I’m still in the process of evaluating how that idea of advertizing has affected my view of Jesus. Isn’t the gospel (good news) more than just a product to be advertized? Think about it, doesn’t the general “Jesus pitch” go a little something like this:

You’re life is incomplete. You’re lacking purpose, hope, peace, etc. You’ve got a god-shaped hole in your life that only one thing can fill. And that one thing is the message of Jesus…etc. etc. etc.

Isn’t that the same thing that Folgers tells me? Folgers says:

You had a terrible night. You couldn’t sleep, you just tossed and turned all night. And now it’s morning and the last thing you want to do is wake up. Work is going to be stressfull today and that terrible alarm won’t leave you alone! Life is miserable! You’re lacking energy, joy, and peace! You know what you need? You need that wonderful smell of Folgers coffee. The moment you smell that coffee you smile, get out of bed, see your wife downstairs holding a steaming cup of coffee and you know instantly that you’ve found what you’re looking for.

I’m not sure what the answer is, but I’m uncomfortable with the observation!

One final thought…Renovatus is just starting up our first Financial Peace University course and we’re going to have 30 people crammed in a little coffee shop on 164th! How awesome is that?!?!