Radical, Chapter Six: How much is enough?

This was my favorite chapter so far in the book.  By far.  It was a really uncomfortable read.  It's not easy to be challenged on how much money we should live on and how much to give away.  If you're like me then you recoiled a few times.  But I believe that there is a place of freedom from the worries and cares of money.  Stick with me.

We all have blind spots.  Personality quirks and flaws, if you will.  I have a tendency to interrupt people.  Sometimes at work I try to do everything myself and inadvertently make my co-workers feel inadequate.  I'm so glad that I have friends in my life to point these things out to me.  Think of this chapter as a gentle uncovering of a blind spot in all of our lives, not a condemnation.

Caring for the poor is a serious matter to God.  It is all over the Bible.  Just like teachings on sexual purity and gossip, we cannot read them and pretend it does not apply to us.

Platt starts by comparing the blind spot of materialism in our culture today with slavery 200 years ago.  Professing Christians were able to pray, go to church and read the Bible all while justifying the mistreatment of thousands of human beings?  They felt they were being generous by providing slaves with an extra chicken at Christmas while they lived with abuse and desolate poverty the other 364 days of the year.  They lived as they wanted then gave their scraps to the poor and called it generosity.  Jesus addresses this in Luke 16, the story of the rich man and Lazarus.  The rich man gave his scraps to Lazarus and patted himself on the back for being generous.  His riches were a stumbling block to him, and he did not enter heaven.

Now, Platt is very clear on one thing: caring for the poor is not a mechanism of salvation.  However, it is a mark of those who have been redeemed and know the Father's Heart.  His heart is with the poor and broken.  In church today we studied Acts 4:32-37.  Our pastor pointed out that the early church's view of money and material possessions was a radical change from their cultural views of money.  In Jewish culture, money was viewed as a sign of God's blessing, and lack of money was viewed as God's displeasure.  On top of that, persecution was ramping up against them.  It was a time when fear could have led them to hoard all their resources and stop sharing with each other.  However, because they realized that God was their Father and he would take care of them just like loving earthly parents.  Because of this world view they understood that their status, security and comfort came from God, not money.

So where does this leave us?  Most of what fills our houses are considered luxuries, not necessities.  Are our possessions inherently bad?  NO.  But what if Jesus walked up to us today and asked us to sell all we have and give the money to the poor?  Could we obey Him?  What if He asked us to live on half our salary and give the rest to missions?  Could we make the necessary changes do accommodate this command?  Or are we more like the rich man in the Lazarus story or the slave owners from 200 years ago and giving our leftover scraps to the poor?  When I read this chapter, God spoke this to me: "you are the rich man, giving your scraps and not your best."  I believe that God is challenging us to live radically and be willing to trust that He will care for us when He commands us to care for the poor.

This is a hard area.  If you're like me, you're probably having anxiety when you consider giving up your luxuries.  Obedience in this area requires a change in the heart and an increase in faith.  It will look different for each of us.  Toward the end of the chapter, Platt poses this question: how much will it take?  Many people in the world have never heard the gospel of Christ.  We can help reach the world with all the resources God has blessed us with.  That is an amazing opportunity.

Like the rich man, our possessions will not help us once this life is over.  We cannot afford to let the love of our possessions keep us out of heaven.  That is why we must take this chapter seriously and allow God to convict us in order to experience true freedom. We have a heavenly Father who knows what we need and will care for us.

Now for the questions:  take a moment to pray before you answer.  I'm going to post my answers in the comment section below.

1.  What is your response to the challenge in this chapter to care for the poor?  How did God convict your heart to increase your giving to the poor through this chapter?

2.  Do you view God as your heavenly Father?  If so, how does this change your view of money?

3.  What luxury can you give up in order to give more to the kingdom of God?  I know this isn't easy, but I believe the result of the work of faith will far outweigh the momentary discomfort =]

Radical, Chapter 5: Multiplying the Community

I have to say that I’m really enjoying the time we’ve spent reading this book.  It is very convicting, and this chapter might be the most convicting for me so far.  I took a turn facilitating the blog this week, and it was very refreshing!  I’ve been reading right along but for some reason the blog keeps eating my comments =[  This time I finally got smart and wrote my blog in a word document!

  This chapter is all about discipleship and what that looks like practically.  Throughout the chapter he weaves this theme that discipleship is a messy, down and dirty, in your face process that takes time…lots of it.  He does this is several ways, starting with the ultimate example: Jesus.  From time to time I’ve wondered about how Jesus did things.  He had all these adoring crowds surrounding Him, but time after time He gently but firmly extricated Himself to either pray to His Father or explain a parable to the disciples.  He was incredibly focused on following the Father’s will and teaching His human companions.  I think about how a human would handle the same situations.  I’m thinking that I, for one, would consider all the attention to be a “God given opportunity” and “a platform” to speak from.  Soon I would be all about myself and the truth would be watered down.  It really seems like Jesus had two missions while on this earth: redeem humanity and make disciples.  This was His last command to us: go into all the world and make disciples.  This is His model, to reproduce ourselves.  How can we look for another way?

He makes the point that people are not impressed with drive by evangelism.  He illustrates this by documenting his experience evangelizing in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  No one opened up to him until they realized he was there to stay and genuinely cared about them.  And all of us understand this.  When have you ever been convinced to like something by someone who isn’t passionate and doesn’t seem to care about your well-being?

My final thought before getting to the questions is the concept of listening to reproduce.  I think this is my favorite part of the chapter.  So often we listen to sermons and other teachings to see what we can get out of it and how it applies to our lives.  There’s really nothing wrong with that, but the author points to a bigger purpose that we are called to be a part of: listening to reproduce.  Meaning, I’m paying close attention to the sermon so I can explain this passage to someone who doesn’t understand it or has never read the Bible.  Wow.  Now I need to step up my game.  This reminds me of college.  I paid very close attention in my nursing classes, especially lectures that had to do with keeping people alive.  This was because I knew it was vital knowledge that would actually save lives someday.  I felt a weight of responsibility to understand the material that I didn’t feel in my Bible classes (I minored in Bible).  What if I approached every sermon this way?  Knowing that I had the opportunity to learn vital knowledge that would save a soul someday?

Ok, so for the questions:

1. Who do you look to as an influence of discipleship in your life?  

For me it’s been different people at different times.  There was a family that really took me in while I was living in Cleveland.  They were so passionate about the Lord and read His Word continually.  They opened up their home and their hearts to me, and really challenged me to go deeper in my commitment to the Lord.  I’m so thankful for my time with them.

2.    

Do you have the opportunity right now to disciple someone?  Think of that person or persons, and think of ways you can pour into their life.  Also, keeping in mind Jesus’ last command, who can you disciple who does not currently identify faith in Christ?  

a.    Personally, this chapter challenged me to continue to disciple a few women whom God has brought into my life, even though their lives and mine are messy.  Discipling is hard.  I get easily discouraged.  But those who trust in the Lord renew their strength.  We serve a good God. 

b.    As I think about the second part of my question, I realize I’m surrounded by people who need the gospel.  My neighbors from China and India for instance.  They never heard the gospel before the Helms and I moved into this building.  Or how about my new co-worker who just lost a good friend to cancer?  Turns out that friend was a Christian and had been witnessing to her already.  I never got to meet her, but she passed me a baton of sorts =]  And finally, there are the Somalian refugees who populate our city.  I’ve met some of them already, they work at the hospital with me.  They never got to hear the gospel in their own country, so God brought them to us. 

3.    What are some practical ways you can listen to reproduce?

a.    A couple things come to mind for me right off the bat.  First, I need to be more diligent in daily Bible reading.  It often gets pushed right off the priority list for me.  I need to make it a part of the daily routine.  Another thing I can do is review sermon notes and read over the passages again.  Kind of like studying for an exam in college =]