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Rich or Poor? In what way?
There is a question now a days about who is wealthy and who is not. I am talking financially. It seems as America gets progressively richer, the standards change.
I recall looking at my son and his wife's calendar, where they carefully notated when their bills were due. Such a simple time when a single calendar could hold the weekly bills. I can vaguely remember such a time when my life was so simple. Now, thankfully I have Microsoft Money to help me keep track of things. To tell you the truth, those simple times were often simply hard.
I agree with the comments on my last blog posting. Yes, praxis is where it is at for me. Who is really doing what and where? I belong to my local food cooperative OKLAHOMA FOOD and I think of the many people who work very hard and dedicate their time to make the whole thing work. I agree that the evangelical community has united well and has built in some systems of accountability for their fundraising. The Liberals have been so scattered that they have not found enough common ground to focus in on a specific area or method of giving.
Action is very important too. Many people seem satisfied just dropping in a check. What is it Keith Green used to say? "God doesn't take out of state checks!" Money is important, but without heart behind it, I am not so sure.
I see giving as a part of worship, although I do not confine my giving where I worship.
I preached yesterday in the hospital Chapel. I arrived at work to find the following message on the bulletin board--
You Go Pat! $8.29 in the offering box! All time record.
Obviously sucess cannot be determined by offering amounts in my setting (if it can in ANY setting). But as I reflect, I realize that in my setting, that could represent a huge amount of money for someone. Many of our Veterans are essentially street people. Some of them walk quite a ways to attend our modest little Sunday Service. I am rich in comparison and I am certainly rich in comparison with most people on this earth. This makes me much more accountable for what I do with my money and the amount of waste I generate. Charity is important but that does not free us from being accountable for the money we spent on our own needs. I need lots of improvement. I drink less coffee because I spend more to drink FAIR TRADE COFFEE, hopefully the many ways I spend my money, save my money, give my money and live my life add up to making a real difference.
