Saturday, December 9, 2017

Stop thinking and give

In the last few years, it seems that there has been a lot written and spoken about “sustainable giving” and “when helping hurts”. So much so, I feel, that any “responsible” giver reading and listening to these things almost becomes paralyzed with fear, and instead of giving freely, they become so worried about how their gift is being used that they do not give. It is true that individuals do need to be responsible and mindful with their giving; and be careful not to create any long term or unhealthy dependencies. But I think all the sustainable giving talk can be summed up with those two words: Be mindful. Do not get me wrong. I am a huge proponent of giving sustainably, however over the past few years I have become a larger supporter of giving freely. I think that our sentence should not just end with being mindful, but should read: Be mindful, but most of all give freely/joyfully.

So often the things we do or do not do are governed by fear. Fear of what people will think, fear of how people will use what we give, fear of creating more complications. And while some fear can be healthy, too much can paralyze. If we are giving in accordance to what we see in scripture, I see nothing to indicate that there should be any fear or worry connected to our giving. Give cheerfully, give generously, give to everyone who asks. (This applies not only to monetary gifts, but also giving our time, and those things that “belong” to us.) Now, I know some will have some objections and concerns with this but ultimately my point is this: All in all which heart do you feel God would have us give with? A light, worry free, cheerful heart? Or a heart that is bogged down and calculating every eventuality that could incur? 

Now I know I am taking this to its maxim and there should be some responsibility involved (that is why: be mindful), but ultimately I believe less thinking should go into this exercise than you would think. I am learning more and more that giving should not be a practice of the mind only, but ultimately a larger practice of the heart (which is sometimes quite hard for the INTP thinker that I am). I fear, when we try to be responsible or calculating we lose a part of cheerful giving we lose some freeness with the gift, and some of the joy, the heart that goes with and into giving. 


When I was in college some friends and I went on a camping trip.  While there a couple of us thought it would be a good idea to try to climb a pine tree using only hatchets.  As the first of us got about 20 feet up in the air, only secured to the tree by the blade of the hatchets, the honor student asked, "How are you going to get back down?"  Now if you are the person 20 feet in the air with hatchets in your hand, that is not necessarily the question you want to hear. But it led us to a great answer, that we still use till this day, "One step at a time." Now my point in this is not to promote foolish thinking, or utter lack of thinking, but to point out that this among many of my other memories are fond memories, full of joy that came from lack of thinking. Now granted, that is only so because no one got hurt, and we do need to exercise some caution, admittedly probable more than being in the air 20 feet up with hatchets... But the more we think and examine things from every angle the more likely we are to stay on the ground and not move, rather than create a joyous memory. If we live our lives mindfully, and move one step at a time, responding to the hiccups and challenges that come along the way rather than avoiding them altogether, we keep our motion, and can live a little more freely.

In summary: of course there are areas, over our time working in a developing country, that we have seen giving more beneficial than others. (I am partial to short-term relief aid, trainings, and sustainable economic projects myself). But who can say how God can use any gift. Even a cup of chai to some street boys, (that by all calculations could create a cycle of begging) can be used by God to do things we cannot even imagine. And do not underestimate the effect that cheerful giving has on the giver as well. To be concise: Give freely. It is not for us to control how each gift is used as that defeats the purpose and joy of a gift. Give to the needs that pass in front of you. Give where your heart feels a tug. Give joyfully and freely. But ultimately: Give.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

It’s all God’s: Realizations of Missions Part 2: The Money

There once was a landowner who hired workers early in the morning, agreeing to pay them a set wage for their work. And again, in the afternoon, he hired more workers, to help complete the task.  Later that day, when the time came to be paid, he paid them all the same set wage for their work.  The ones hired first began to grumble, saying, “You have made them equal to us, though we worked longer and harder”.  But he answered them, ‘Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money?’

            Working overseas as a missionary one has to face a hard reality, nothing in this world is our own.  When Audrey and I first embarked on this journey we quit our current jobs, gave up our apartment, sold many of our things, put the rest into storage, and “left” our family behind.  We either gave up or left behind pretty much everything we considered our own, save for what we could fit into our suitcases and embarked on a new journey that we felt God was leading us to.  I do not say that to boast or to brag, just to illustrate the view that all we had was temporary.  But given all of that, this was still a hard thing for us to learn; and as creatures of habit, as soon as we arrived we quickly started making ourselves at home again, collecting and hunting down items to make our stays here more convenient and comfortable.  However, there is always the looming feeling that it is all temporary.  We do not know when or where the Lord will call us next, so we try to live life with palms held open. 
            Living here we have partly come to the realization that nothing we have is really ours to cling to.  It can be here one moment and gone the next.  In the same way being individuals that are supported financially by friends, family, and churches it takes it to an even deeper level that we are not even “earning” our own income.  Everything we have is a gift. It is not ours, and ultimately it is all God’s, unearned gift. This means we have the need to be accountable and transparent for every penny of it. Now as I say this, I am so very thankful for all the friends, family, and churches that support us, and all of their hard work and giving that makes every day possible, and I hope we are doing the work you have commissioned us for well.  But I want to raise a question.  Is not all money God’s anyway?  And if this is true, does it not then mean those same two big things are true for you as well?  Do you not also have a responsibility for how you are spending God’s money?  Is it not also a gift from God? 


            As Americans across the board we all deal with entitlement to some extent.  And I am sad to say this is not only applicable to the “millennial” generation as we so often point out.   It is evident in every generation, just because we have put in the sweat, does that really mean we are owed something?  If it is all truly God’s money, then even if we “earned” it, can we truly spend it any way we please?  I think if we view “our” money as God’s money, this changes how we use and manage it.  No longer does it become as easy to borrow money for something that may be unnecessary or to put things on credit that do not really matter.  For after all, where are we storing our treasures, and with Whose money are we purchasing them?  To push the item even further, is it okay to spend money on things to make our lives more "comfortable" because isn't comfortable sometimes just another word for distracted?  As we become more comfortable are we becoming like the rich young ruler who was "comfortable" with his good deeds?  

            I do not say any of this to elevate ourselves here, or pretend like I have the answers. We are struggling with the very same things.  It is hard to be accountable to a level where everyone can look at your finances and say you are using God’s money correctly.  There are always things we, and our flesh want, that may or may not be wise uses of the resources we have been given.  It becomes even harder when you are trying to please both God and others who have given to you as well.  But I do want to challenge each of you today to live like all the money given to you is a gift from God, that you are accountable for and wanting to honor him with.  It is not your own, whether you have worked hard for it or not, it is all a gift.  

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

It’s all God’s: Realizations of Missions Part 1: The Work

            Let’s ask a question. “Why missions?” or I guess let me go even broader with that question, “Why professional ministry in general?” How have we gotten to a point where there are an estimated 2.2 million “Christians” on earth, roughly 31%, and we have to hire people to spread the gospel?  Now I must admit, this must sound very strange coming from the mouth of one of those fully supported ministry staffers, who is receiving income from sharing God’s word.  But I want to look at why this is a need.  Is ministry something for a select few paid professionals to engage in, or is it a collective community oriented call of God?
To give a very generic, Sunday school answer to start, I would say we must first look at the great commission.  “Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Okay, so it seems pretty evident there if we believe what Christ said, we have a mission to make disciples, it is a job of everyone who believes.  Most people stop the argument there.  But let’s continue, lets look deeply and honestly at this.  Why in the world with 31% of the population of the entire world “serving” God in this mission, can we not get the job done without paying people for full time work to complete it?  The only answer I think we can conclude is that we, as the 31%, are not following our commission. 


            Now, Chase, listen, I work hard, 60+ hours a week, so that I can support my family and our lifestyle.  And then I go to church and fellowship on Sunday, and I even gave some money to the homeless guy on the corner.  Are you saying I am not following God’s commission?  Yes, bluntly, that is exactly what I am saying.  Unless we are purposefully engaging in the work of making disciples, growing up other leaders to join in the work of making more disciples and growing the kingdom of God, and being discipled ourselves, we are not following His commission. Now I do not know each of your lives personally and I cannot begin to judge anyone but myself.  But being honest and looking at my life, I cannot honestly say that even though I grew up in a Christian home and have professed Christianity for over 23 years now, that I have truly lived up to the commission that Christ has invited me to.  All I know is that by looking at the world today, looking at the state of our own country today, that we as a body of believers, we as a Church, have failed at living out the great commission daily in our lives. 
Maybe this does not apply to you personally, maybe it does, but the truth is it most certainly applies to the church at large.  We have failed in the great commission.  It is because of this, because we as individuals and as a larger collective have failed at our objective, that we have to outsource our personal jobs to a paid professional.  And the sad thing on top of it, I hate to admit, is that many times the paid professionals are not much better at their work.  Yes, they may be more intentional, but they are still bogged down by their own sins, failures, and desires that they still often cause just as much hurt as joy sometimes. 

            I believe it is because the world is broken, because our church is broken, because we are broken, and failing at our objective, that we need paid professionals to take the intentional time to carry out this work.  It should not have to be this way, yet it is because we have failed.  We are now reliant on these professionals to do the work that was entrusted to us.  My prayer is that this is not always the case. Yes, we may still need some missionaries to travel to remote places where the gospel has not yet reached.  But anywhere a well established church is planted, and the word has taken hold of believers lives, and the Holy Spirit is moving mightily, the church should be able to do its work from that point forward.  Let's awake church, awake, rise up individuals, believers, Christians, and do the work that we were called to do.  Let's love radically, make disciples, do it in the every day, as a part of living and breathing, so that one day we might not need the paid professionals of ministry today.  Let us engage in our call of community work, that flows naturally as an outpouring of being in communion with our Heavenly Father. 

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Finding Sabbath Rest

            Recently I was listening to a podcast sermon from Tim Keller, Work and Rest.  In it Tim points out that so often we, and even the Pharisees of the Bible, think of Sabbath as a physical rest. In doing so we neglect noticing the deep rest the inner rest Sabbath may actually be searching for. Keller looks at some instances of Sabbath, and I am going to focus on the first one in Genesis 1-3. 
            In Genesis 1:31-2:2, we see God finishing creation and calling it all very good.  Then upon completion on the seventh day He rests. He sets that day apart and calls it holy.  Why does God rest?  Surely it is not because He was tired.  If God was a God who could tire, then surely He is not God.  So if He was not tired then why rest?  It seems this rest points not towards a rest of recuperation, or of recharging ones batteries physically, but rather a rest of accomplishment.  God had finished, He had accomplished, He had finished, and it was very good, so He rested.  He was completely satisfied by what had been done, now He could rest in that fact.


            So often we are striving for something, to prove something either to ourselves, to others, or even maybe to God.   But in reading Scripture it does not seem to me that this is what God requires or desires.  When man was created, we were made in God’s image, filled with His breath, the spirit of God, and pronounced “very good”.  Then God was finished, completely satisfied with His work.  Man lived in perfect communion with God, our “church” was walking in perfect harmony with God in the garden, perfect communication, not afraid and not ashamed.  It is not until Genesis 3 where we see the serpent entering the scene breaking that trust, that communion with God, and man begins striving for more.
            Because of pride, because of wanting one’s own way instead of God’s man tries to become his own God and begins the process of striving and proving himself that will continue until he is one day completely redeemed.  Man rejects God’s authority, God’s supremeness, and who God says man is, and begins to try to prove to himself and others that he is something of worth.  It is my theory that in knowing “good and evil” man develops a constant desire to measure and weigh himself, to count his imperfections, to try to counteract his guilt, to try to become more, to do more, to no avail.  Because of that fruit we now know how much more we can be, how short we fall of God, and we desire, we strive to bridge that gap, to become gods ourselves.
            Before tasting the fruit we were content, listening only to who God said we were, what God said we were, and who God was in us.  We were very good, and God was God, supreme and sovereign, there was no need for us to be anything more, to do anything more than rest in Him, in that fact.  We saw ourselves as God intended fulfilled in Him, in His image, radiating His glory.  In eating the fruit becoming “knowledgeable” we stopped resting in that fact and started striving for ourselves.  Psalm 46 says (paraphrased), “God is our refuge and strength, a help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change/fall apart -Selah.”  If God is truly our strength, our refuge, we should not be afraid, regardless of the state of the world and what is going on around us, we will not fear.
            I love the word Selah, and although there is some debate on its exact meaning I love the idea that it means pause and reflect.  Stop and listen, think!  Meditate on that fact, that God is truly God, and if that is true, then we are not gods.  That means He is in control of it all, there is nothing dependant on us, we are not responsible for making the world run, it is in His hands.  If we believe that fact, why do we fear, why are we striving to do it of our own accord?  It can only mean we do not truly believe, we do not truly trust that God is God.  We do not truly believe He is in control, in some small or large way we are guilty of the same pride of Adam in the garden, the desire to be in control, to have the knowledge, to do it on our own.  This is not rest, this is not Sabbath.
            Bringing us to the next section of Psalms 46 and what it means to rest in the Lord. Psalm 46:4 (again paraphrased) “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her. The Lord of hosts is with us; He is our stronghold. Come, behold the works of the Lord, Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; He is our stronghold. Selah.”  It seems this is most likely referring to Jerusalem but I believe now also applies to us.  How I wish for our lives we could all be rivers of peace, rivers of rest.  Not striving for anything but to give God control of our lives. If God is in us, if we are at peace, we will not be moved, and in this peace it seems God delights.  We rest because we have God at the wheel; from the prior verses we have yielded control to God because He has it all in his hands. 

            We no longer have to struggle to be someone, to do something.  We are to acknowledge who God is, and His power, and look at all the things He has done and know it is enough, that it is very good!  In looking at that we ourselves begin to trust in who He is and what He has done and we cease striving to become our own gods in ourselves.  We rest in the fact that this life is all about what God has done not what we have, can, or will do!  We are nothing but dust, and from Genesis 3 we see that is exactly what we will return to.  It is only what God does that matters, His life, His breath in us is what gives us value.  We exist only to be in communion with Him, to be His image bearers, to work, yes, but not to let that work or striving overwhelm or define us.  We are defined by nothing but God, and to be as the river in Psalm 46, at peace with God in our midst.

            How then can we find this now that we are plagued by sin?  Praise be to God, He came Himself and died for us, covering our sin, our shame, our striving with His own blood.  Our debt has been paid, not of anything we have or could have done.  But according to his mercy we are made clean.  Again we have no reason to strive for ourselves, it is finished.  We are at peace.  So while the world and our sinful nature tell us constantly to strive, to be more, to be better, to work harder, we must find our Sabbath (our deep inner rest), in trusting who God is and what He has done.  Letting our fears and failures go, because ultimately this world is not dependant on us.  This does not mean that we should be lazy and not work at all.  In fact, at the beginning of Genesis we see that man was put in the garden to work, to take care of creation.  So yes, we should work, yes we should act, yes we should love, but only as God leads, resting in His lead, trusting that it is in His hands.  God is in control of it all, not us.  We must only walk in communion with Him.  We must cease our striving and find Sabbath rest, Selah, the Lord is with us.