What Defines Us?

As I reflect upon our "Church" culture in America, it appears that we spend an enormous amount of time and energy trying to "attract" the already convinced. Jesus of course told His followers over 200 times "to go" and the only times He told them to stay was to wait for His instructions on what to do next. It appears that we try to control God and limit heaven on earth to people looking like us. Rick Warren says "Life on earth is a temporary assignment." Maybe that is why Jesus said when we go . . . go light, only take what you need for that day and depend upon trusting me and the generosity of others to live. In America, we are obsessed with accumulating stuff and it weighs us down in our going out. It takes time to take care of our stuff and monies to pay for storing our stuff and keeping it in tip top shape that we have less to invest in the "going out" journey. This current series has caused some deep reflection on my part in terms of what we are know for . . .it is our programs, our buildings, our staff? What would it take to get the reputation or brand that we are an incredibly generous people? How cool would that be!

Generosity

I'm curious what we allow to control our emotions and ultimately our lives. Is it the spirit of our times? Or is is the Spirit of our God? Where does faith come in when our culture preaches its fear? How do we respond with what God has given us? How do we view our lives, as blessed? Or do we join in the resounding chorus of what we do not have? Do we complain more than we give thanks? Do we give more than we try to save? Maybe the reason we have lost much of our joy is directly related to how much (or little) we give. Maybe we are reacting to the spirit of our times rather than being proactive with our faith in Christ. Maybe a spirit of coveting trumps our spirit of contentment. Experiment: What if you received no gifts this Christmas, would you feel left out or blessed? (Just imagine if the entire Body of Christ in America gave away to the orphans of our world the monies they normally spend on each other at Christmas) Just and end note - statistics tell us that on average, Christians spend more for gifts at Christmas than they give to charitable organizations. Merry Christmas indeed.