From
Romans 12:1-13
H,
Well,
that is very much against every nature I know. We can share for applause and
many have, on the surface, a generous nature but I have barely met anyone who
gives simply for the sake of giving. We often tie expectations to our
generosity. There is no spontaneity to it in the sense of moving on from the
donation and not expecting something in return though that something may be
just the buzz of helping out. If things go sour when we give then we regret the
gesture, as if our gifts were the light and it never goes out.
It is
a different, radical king of donor that our faith seeks to promote. It is one
who gives according to need and in obedience to the higher nature of Christ not
the lower nature of man. It is funny that in certain Pentecostal-evangelical
settings being poor is looked at as a failure to seize the day or pull one’s
self up by the metaphorical boot straps. The Darwinian principle has set in.
There is no room for weakness, struggle or any form of material lack. We act
like we are elevating Christianity and showing the stereotype is wrong: Christians
are not church rats, we say and Christians can thrive in the ‘real world’ we
proclaim. These are not the tools we are given. We are here to overcome and not
to thrive. It is almost impossible for a rich man to go to heaven, that vivid
analogy of the needle and the beast proclaim. When a ‘righteous’ rich man
approached Jesus in all his tithe-paying and rule following pomp he was told to
go and sell all he had and give to the poor so he could come and follow the man
of sorrows who was changing the nature of reality without money. The rich man
went away sad. He did not return. Lay up your treasures in heaven, we are told.
It is not that being rich is bad. It is that it puts the human soul in a bubble
of fear. It elevates and the elevated man does not want to fall down again. He
becomes protecting of his material condition and you cannot serve both masters.
Money is a defense but it is a bad one. The specific quotes we use to justify our
greed (“use money to make friends”) do not nullify the overall message of foxes
having holes and giving liberally and giving all to God. If it did Christ would
have told that rich, good man to use his money to make friends for himself. The
gospel does not need money. It needs giving hearts and those hearts will, in
God, provide the resources. With no coercion, we are told.
It seems
harsh, I know but this is the problem: our hearts are made to be conduits of
grace and not bastions of lucre. The human heart is so ravaged by time and sin
that giving any advantage it will fall into superiority complexes and
judgmental stances. Are we not prime examples? Guard your heart, we are told. Those
early fathians had all things in common. It is not that they did not realise
the differences between them materially. It is that there were led to that
higher form of life where all needs are met because all hearts are open. I know
you will call me a communist or commune prophet or Tolstoy when he went a
little unhinged and ultra pacifist. The difference here, with the possible
exception of Sir Leo, is that God is king of this enterprise and the life is in
Christ. Much of what we find hard in Christianity we leave untried. Too bad for
us.