Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Be Like Jesus (part 5)

Here's another brief thought about what it means to be like Jesus. How about we learn to have the same attitude towards money and possessions that He had? We know that He served God rather than money and taught that you cannot do both! (Matthew 6:24). We also know that He encouraged generosity (see Mark 12:41-44) and that He suggested that we choose not to worry about "things" at all! (Keep reading after Matthew 6:24!).

Someone who has done a wonderful job of addressing this issue (living it out as well as writing about it) is Randy Alcorn in his little book, The Treasure Principle. I have listed his 6 principles below for your consideration and comment. What would it look like for God's people in the US to grasp and live these out? (Answer: we would begin to be like Jesus in our attitude towards possessions instead of like our unbelieving neighbors!).

Treasure principles from Randy Alcorn.
"You can't take it with you -- but you can send it on ahead!"

Treasure Principle Keys
God owns everything. I'm his money manager.
We are the manager of the assets God has entrusted--not given--to us.

My heart always goes where I put God's money.
Watch what happens when you reallocate your money from temporal things to eternal things.

Heaven, not earth, is my home.
We are citizens of "a better country-a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:16).

I should live not for the "dot," but for the line.
From the dot (our present life on earth) extends a line that goes on forever, which is eternity in heaven.

Giving is the only antidote to materialism.
Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. It dethrones me and exalts Him.

God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
God gives us more money than we need so we can give -- generously.

My wife, Jettie, and I have simplified these down a little: Because we are richly blessed we choose to live with gratitude and generosity, and we choose to live in way that we never spend our resources in a way that would keep us from being generous (i.e., we never buy anything large if it would hinder our being able to give considerable funds away at some point in the future).

What about you? I welcome your thoughts or questions.

Have a generous life!

Tom, the least of Abba's children.

1 comment:

Disclaimer said...

A friend and I were talking about how the church in the US is not the sending organization that we find in the first century church. He thought that maybe the hesitation to send people out had something to do with money. Maybe part of the issue is the expectation of compensation. When Jesus sent out the Twelve, He said the following:

“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.” (Matt. 10: 7-10)

Jesus was teaching His disciples to trust in Him and not on physical things. Trust is the central issue when we talk about who or what we will serve. Will we trust in God or money? If our trust in is God and not on what the world can supply, sending people out on faith is only logical.