Part 8 (1/2)
For close to a year I had trouble spending money on anything that wasn't absolutely essential: movies, nice meals, new clothes, even Christmas presents for my own children. I began to loathe American culture as a whole and despise my own partic.i.p.ation in it. I fell into a black hole of cynicism.
This wasn't particularly helpful to my marriage. My wife rarely buys things we don't need, but her standard of ”need” is a bit higher than it is for people in Cite Soleil. One time my poor wife wanted to replace the old shabby curtains in our living room. They really were in pretty bad shape. But my response was, ”How many kids will go without food because we chose to buy curtains rather than feed them?”
It wasn't the happiest year of our marriage.
I slowly realized I was shouldering far more responsibility than G.o.d had given me, and it was crus.h.i.+ng me. Certainly those of us who are privileged by wealth have a responsibility to steward our advantages in ways that help the disadvantaged. But what I had forgotten was that, as a Kingdom person, I am to seek G.o.d's will about how I'm supposed to do this. I'm not to a.s.sume responsibility for every impoverished child in Haiti. I'm to a.s.sume responsibility only for those G.o.d entrusts to me.
When I sought G.o.d's will, I came to believe the Lord wanted Sh.e.l.ley and me to be content supporting the Haitian ministry a couple in our small group had started. This included helping to raise six children in a Haitian foster home and sending several hundred Haitian children to school each year who otherwise wouldn't have been able to go. Having done what I felt G.o.d led me to do, I felt the Lord instructing me to turn over the responsibility for the desperate child on the garbage heap-and all other Haitian children-to him. His strong shoulders can carry this enormous weight. Mine cannot.
Sh.e.l.ley and I, along with our small group, have continued to be open to G.o.d calling us to expand our responsibility to the poor in Haiti and elsewhere and to increase our sacrificial giving. He has done this several times. But however much responsibility G.o.d leads any of us to a.s.sume, it's crucial we leave to him what he has not not called us to a.s.sume responsible for. called us to a.s.sume responsible for.
TROUBLING Pa.s.sAGES ABOUT WEALTH.
As I've read books and heard speakers on the topic of wealth and poverty over the years, I've found that balance seems to be in short supply. On one hand, some rightly emphasize our need to shun greed and to care for the poor but then explicitly or implicitly rail against wealth, as though it were an intrinsic evil. This is where I was when I returned from my first trip to Haiti. On the other hand, some rightly see that G.o.d is not opposed to wealth as such but then minimize the need to shun greed and to care for the poor. In fact, many authors and speakers explicitly or implicitly promote capitalism and the accruing of personal wealth as a sign of ”G.o.d's blessing.” Both of these extremes are unbiblical and unhealthy.
Let me share how I gradually set aside my cynicism after my first Haiti trip.
At some point after returning to the States I became puzzled over several aspects of Jesus' ministry. For instance, why would Jesus change water into wine-for a bunch of partiers who'd already gone through all the wine the host had to offer? Why would he waste a miracle for such a trivial cause? How many disabled children in Palestine could have used that nice, superfluous display of supernatural power? After all, what's more important: helping wedding guests drink more wine than they need or helping a disabled child walk?
Then I wondered about the jar of expensive perfume Mary poured on Jesus' feet. Judas, who was in charge of Jesus' finances, objected that this perfume could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. Given my frame of mind at the time, this struck me as a very reasonable objection. I'd have made it myself. But Jesus rebuked rebuked Judas. ”Leave her alone,” Jesus said. ”You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Judas. ”Leave her alone,” Jesus said. ”You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
Then I began to wonder why Jesus spent so much time at parties. At every turn, it seems, Jesus was eating and drinking with his disciples as well as with tax collectors, prost.i.tutes, and every other sort of person. How many people in Palestine were not having their basic needs met while Jesus was condoning this unnecessary ingestion of food and drink?
My bewilderment hit a pitch when I came upon Paul's instruction to the rich in 1 Timothy 6. On one hand, Paul tells us to be content with what we have and not to get sucked into the pursuit of wealth. This made sense to me. But then Paul states that G.o.d, whom the wealthy are to put their trust in, is a G.o.d ”who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” G.o.d wants wants us who are rich to us who are rich to enjoy enjoy things, I wondered? G.o.d richly provides us with everything things, I wondered? G.o.d richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment for our enjoyment? From my standpoint during this time, this didn't seem right. How can G.o.d give us extra things and tell us to enjoy them when millions don't have enough to survive on?
STRIKING THE BALANCE.
As I struggled to make sense of these pa.s.sages, I began to understand why my guilt over every nonessential thing in my life was misguided. If the Kingdom of G.o.d is about manifesting G.o.d's will ”on earth as it is in heaven,” and if Jesus manifested G.o.d's Kingdom perfectly, then it must be the case that it's G.o.d's will for people to enjoy nonessential things, celebrate weddings, kick back with friends at parties, share an abundance of wine and food, and wors.h.i.+p G.o.d extravagantly, even using expensive perfume when appropriate. So I came to see that any social situation in which people can't afford to do these things is, to this degree, less in line with G.o.d's will than one in which people can.
Jesus wasn't taking a break from the Kingdom when he celebrated nonessential things: he was just manifesting another aspect of it. We could call this the abundance aspect of the Kingdom.
Now of course, we have to balance the abundance aspect of the Kingdom with the call to live sacrificially generous lives, for we still live in a world in which 40,000 people die each day of illnesses related to malnutrition and extreme poverty. If we only only manifest the abundance aspect of the Kingdom, we will become guilty of greed and fail to manifest the outrageous generosity of the Kingdom. manifest the abundance aspect of the Kingdom, we will become guilty of greed and fail to manifest the outrageous generosity of the Kingdom.
But by the same token-and here's what I needed to learn-if we only only manifest the outrageous generosity of the Kingdom, we will fail to manifest the abundance aspect of the Kingdom and may become legalistic, self-righteous, and cynical-as I had become. manifest the outrageous generosity of the Kingdom, we will fail to manifest the abundance aspect of the Kingdom and may become legalistic, self-righteous, and cynical-as I had become.
It may seem that the abundance aspect and the self-sacrificial aspect of the Kingdom are in tension with each other, but in reality they're not. The New Testament teaches us that while G.o.d loves to bless us with an abundance, the ultimate purpose for this blessing is ”so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). And the more we give sacrificially, Paul says, the more we are given to sacrifice with. In other words, abundance and the call to sacrifice for the poor aren't at odds with one another: they're two sides of the same coin. they're two sides of the same coin.
Our job, then, is never to cling to our possessions as if they belonged to us, follow G.o.d's leading in how we imitate Jesus' self-sacrificial lifestyle and care for the poor, and trust that G.o.d will use our costly sacrifices to advance his Kingdom and provide for us so we can ”abound in every good work.”
As we do this, we manifest the beauty of G.o.d's generous Kingdom while revolting against greed, poverty, and the Powers that fuel them.
Viva la revolution!
CHAPTER 12.
THE REVOLT REVOLT AGAINST AGAINST.
THE ABUSE ABUSE OF OF CREATION CREATION.
The time has come for judging the dead...
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.
REVELATION 11:18.
It is impossible to care for each other more or differently than we care for the earth.
WENDELL BERRY.
WE'RE BURNING UP!
I am starting this chapter the day after Al Gore was awarded the n.o.bel Peace Prize for his fight against global warming (summarized in his Academy-Award - winning doc.u.mentary, An Inconvenient Truth An Inconvenient Truth). It seems a fitting way to begin this chapter on caring for the earth and the animal kingdom.
Over the last decade, and especially over the last several years, Gore and others have warned us about the terrible things that will happen unless drastic, immediate measures are taken to curb the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. It is ominous, to say the least, and it's starting to have a profound impact on politics and society. More people are ”going green.” Even some evangelical leaders have taken up the environment cause.
I delight in this increased environmental awareness among Christians, but frankly I'm also a bit concerned. It seems to be largely motivated by the conviction that global warming is caused primarily by humans. But what if this theory turns out to be false? 1 1 Or what if the earth suddenly starts cooling down, like it unexpectedly did in the 1970s? Will Christians stop being environmentally conscious? Or what if the earth suddenly starts cooling down, like it unexpectedly did in the 1970s? Will Christians stop being environmentally conscious?
I'd like to suggest that, from a Kingdom perspective, it shouldn't make a bit of difference why the earth is warming up. Nor should it make a bit of difference if it suddenly starts cooling down. For we as Kingdom people are called to care for the earth and the animal kingdom simply because this is part of what it means to be faithful to the reign of G.o.d. Following the example of Jesus and the general teaching of Scripture, we're called to manifest G.o.d's loving care for the earth and the animal kingdom while revolting against everything that abuses creation.
THE CREATOR AND HIS PRECIOUS CREATION.
Until recently, few Christians thought their faith had any implications for how they viewed the earth and the animal Kingdom. Nothing could be further from the truth.
To understand why, let's go back to the beginning.
”In the beginning,” the Bible says, ”G.o.d created the heavens and the earth” and he declared it all ”good.” Unlike many religions and philosophical schools of thought that deprecate matter as something that is inferior to spirit or even downright evil, the Bible celebrates matter as a marvelous creation of G.o.d. It is good good.
Everything that exists is sustained, owned, and cared for by G.o.d as something inherently precious. Many pa.s.sages depict G.o.d as a gardener tenderly caring for his creation. Despite the fact that everything has been tainted by the curse humans brought upon creation by our rebellion, everything still reflects G.o.d's power and loving care. Sometimes creation is depicted as a sort of wors.h.i.+ping congregation with every distinct thing glorifying G.o.d in its own unique way.
The Bible also depicts G.o.d as having a special love, respect, and concern for animals. Every animal was created by him, belongs to him, and is sustained and cared for by him. Just as the Lord is depicted as a gardener caring for his garden, he is also shown as a compa.s.sionate caregiver affectionately tending to the needs of his animals. ”All creatures look to you,” the psalmist says, ”to give them their food at the proper time.”
The Lord's heart is to preserve ”both people and animals,” and he shows compa.s.sion to every living thing he has made. For example, one of the reasons he gave to Jonah for wanting to have mercy on Nineveh was that it was home to so many animals. G.o.d clearly has a tender heart toward animals.
One of the clearest signs of the high value animals have in G.o.d's eyes is that he sometimes makes covenants with them. When G.o.d forged a new covenant with Noah after the flood, for example, he included animals. The Lord said that the placing of his bow in the sky was ”the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you [Noah] and every living creature with you...”
So too, according to Hosea, animals will be included when the Lord fulfills his promise to bring peace to the earth.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground.Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.Hosea 2:18 The earth and the animal kingdom are G.o.d's handwork and are intrinsically valuable in his sight. A central job of all who submit to him is to reflect their agreement with G.o.d by how they treat the earth and care for animals.
LANDLORDS AND CAREGIVERS.
The final act of creation, according to the Genesis narrative, was the creation of humans, who were created to be G.o.d's ”coworkers” and corulers, carrying out his will ”on earth as it is in heaven.” Our original mandate was to enter into ”one flesh” relations.h.i.+ps (marry), have children, and extend G.o.d's loving dominion over the earth and the animal kingdom.
This original mandate is never retracted in Scripture. When G.o.d raised up Israel to be his vehicle for restoring the world, he commissioned them to exercise loving dominion over the land he was giving them and over the animals that inhabited it. As in many other matters, Israel was commissioned to be a microcosm of what G.o.d desired for all of humanity.