I got this one again, this week, from a Brother whom I have great respect for!
It’s that favorite “go to” verse that everyone uses when…………….
You quote passages from books like Radical that I quote below……..
Or you question American prosperity, ignorance, incredible waste and greed…….
And your own…….for that matter!
I have gotten it many times from Rich people who have never been outside of their protected county in Rich America!
Now……..I can’t judge anyone’s heart…
But I can sure as hell……judge mine!
And it ain’t good.
So what is Jesus getting at here?
This woman anointed him with expensive ointment
And the disciples got angry because they saw it as a waste of money!
So was she performing an act of worship and adoration to the King of Kings?
Was she preparing Him for his burial….to the glory of God?
Now Jesus called this so-called “waste” a “beautiful thing”!
So what’s beautiful?
The ointment? The act? The Worship? Her heart? Her sacrifice? Her Adoration of Him?
And then He said…….”but you will not always have me.”
And then he died, rose up, presented himself to over 500 people and departed this planet.
OK, I get that.
But now that He is gone, what am I called to do? 
Still worship Him first?
Got that!
But can giving to the poor be an act of worship? I think so.
Can giving to the poor, like the Macedonians, (2 Corinthians 8:1-4) get in the way of worshipping Jesus?
Sure, a lot of things can get in the way of putting Jesus first.
Especially works, like giving to the poor.
But can I do both?
By the Grace of God, I hope so!
So….why do I always get Matthew 26:11
And not 2 Corinthians 9:6-14
Some might say……….”Balance Brother”!
I really don’t see much balance in most Rich Christian’s lives
Might be one reason they are rich!
“But don’t compare”, others will say.
Well…………I have to admit……..that ain’t easy.
Because, frankly, I see a lot of comparisons in the Bible.
The Macedonians are one group and of course, Jesus, and Paul and Peter.
If you compare yourself to those guys, you are gonna feel some conviction…….
And that’s not comfortable!
And I think most of these guys said follow me, emulate me, do as I do.
And of course, we Americans like to be comfortable.
I say this as I am sipping my Egg Nog with Zaya Rum. (my webmaster makes the best, BTW)
Am I strugglin?
Absolutely!
And I hope you are too…..but I fear that you are not!!
And it should scare you that you are too comfortable.
It scared me last week when I visited Samuel in Myanmar.
A very humble, broken Brother with 4 children, a sweet wife…………
and 12 orphans from the mountains of Myanmar.
All 18 living in a shack in Yangon!!!
And then, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:11…………
(which I have never heard taught)
“You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way”
Say what?
Is Paul saying that God made you and I rich in this wealthy country…………….
So that we can be generous………in every way???
WOW!!!
What do you think of that?
Would love to hear your comments!!!
Last Week………
I just returned from Myanmar………………..
Troubled!
I made a huge mistake.
Started reading David Platt’s book, “Radical”, before I left,
Read it in Myanmar and just finished it.
Not a wise thing to do while in a 3rd World country ruled by the military for the last 50 years
Especially, if you are comfortable with your rich American christian life.
No, not wise at all.
While there, I met Brother Samuel and his wife and his 4 children and his 12 orphan children….
All living in a small shack near the airport…
And Brother Paul who has 70 orphans outside of Yangon in a Jack Fruit Orchard.
So……..is David Platt out of his mind…….a lunatic when he says stuff like this?????
“The result is tragic. A majority of individuals supposedly saved from eternal damnation by the gospel are now sitting back and making excuses for not sharing that gospel with the rest of the world. But what if we don’t need to sit back and wait for a call to foreign missions? What if the very reason we have breath is because we have been saved for a global mission? And what if anything less than passionate involvement in global mission is actually selling God short by frustrating the very purpose for which he created us?
“WHAT ABOUT THE NEEDS HERE?”
Maybe the most common response that arises among Christians regarding the global purpose of God is “What about the needs here? Why do we need to be involved in other nations when there are so many needs in our nation?” Among Christians in Birmingham (where I pastor), I often hear this statement phrased something like this: “I don’t need to go to all nations, because God has given me a heart for the United States.” Others might say, “God has given me a heart for Birmingham.” These statements sound spiritual, but when we probe deeper, they seem more like smoke screens.
They are smoke screens because most of us really are not very concerned about the needs right around us. Most Christians rarely share the gospel, and most Christians’ schedules are not heavily weighted to feeding the hungry, helping the sick, and strengthening the church in the neediest places in our country.”
Platt, David (2010-04-17). Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (pp. 75-76). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
I know what you’re thinking……Platt……don’t try to guilt me into doing something crazy and risky! I am not a bad person…..I give to my church and I don’t lie or steal and I have never killed anyone and I pay my taxes……
Well, Platt, responds to that too:
“When we gather at the building, we learn to be good. Being good is defined by what we avoid in the world. We are holy because of what we don’t participate in (and at this point we may be the only organization in the world defining success by what we don’t do). We live decent lives in decent homes with decent jobs and decent families as decent citizens. We are decent church members with little more impact on the world than we had before we were saved. Though thousands may join us, ultimately we have turned a deaf ear to billions who haven’t even heard his name.
Discipling is much different.
Whereas disinfecting Christians involves isolating them and teaching them to be good, discipling Christians involves propelling Christians into the world to risk their lives for the sake of others. Now the world is our focus, and we gauge success in the church not on the hundreds or thousands whom we can get into our buildings but on the hundreds or thousands who are leaving our buildings to take on the world with the disciples they are making.
Platt, David (2010-04-17). Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (p. 105). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
In Chapter 7 of Radical, Platt explains Matthew 28:19……..
The command that Jesus gave to all believers before he left this planet.
Platt says this ain’t no option, there ain’t no Plan B……YOU ARE IT! Like it or not!
“The question, therefore, is not “Can we find God’s will?” The question is “Will we obey God’s will?” Will we refuse to sit back and wait for some tingly feeling to go down our spines before we rise up and do what we have already been commanded to do? Will we risk everything— our comfort, our possessions, our safety, our security, our very lives— to make the gospel known among unreached peoples? Such rising up and such risk taking are the unavoidable, urgent results of a life that is radically abandoned to Jesus.”
Platt, David (2010-04-17). Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (p. 160). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
I tell ya……Platt is starting to sound a lot like Keith Green here………and getting under my skin!
If you can remember back 30+ years.
I only know a few followers of Jesus who think like this and actually act on it……….
So what do YOU Think Like??
Feedback?