"Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me..." (emphasis mine). (ESV)
Blomberg states on pages 53 & 63 of his book that,
"God's people may at times be enormously wealthy, but a major purpose of God granting them wealth is that they may share it with those in need..."
He couples that with other verses from Proverbs; Proverbs 3:9-10, 27-28; 29:7), to be precise.
"Righteous rich give generously to the Lord and the needy."
Righteous Job of the Old Testament is a capital example of such philanthropy (Job 1:21). He was very wealthy and he gave freely of his resources to those in need.
Contrast that to Ananius and Sapphira of the New Testament who sold a plot of land and pretended to give all of the proceeds for the poor (Acts 5:1-11). They appeared to have had their heart in the right place but their greed got the better of them. However, the Holy Spirit knew falsehood and alerted Peter to the insincerity. Ananius and Sapphira paid for that with their lives.
This puts me in mind of what Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda says about daily necessities in his book What Buddhists Believe on page 255. He says,
"And it is not wrong to satisfy these needs (physical desires and needs) on a limited scale. When Buddha advocated the Middle Path, he said that we should neither indulge ourselves in luxury nor completely deny ourselves the basic necessities of life."
He goes on to explain that the more one becomes "detached" from these needs, especially the material ones, a person will be able to lessen the greed within, and be more generous towards others who need help with the basic necessities of living on earth. The more one makes a habit out of this, reflects Sri Dhammananda, the more they will squash their desires and heap up merits. In turn, the closer to nirvana they will become.
Keep in mind, though, the many "rebirths" this requires, according to Buddhist thought, to "develop one's understanding" (page 255) and as they...
"crave less and less for the pleasure of the senses"...
over many lifetimes, they'll become truly "self-reliant".
For the follower of Jesus Christ, we are told in Romans 12:13 to "practice hospitality". This not to earn any merit points towards our salvation, but to show our thankfulness and gratitude to God and to pass on the love of God to others where there is a need.
Certainly this has potential to teach one generosity and compassion for others and is good for the individual to practice often. There may even be healing in the actions. In her book, I'm So Glad You Told Me What I Didn't Wanna Hear, Barbara Johnson quotes another from page 155,
"When you help others you heal a little yourself."
The following famous saying has been attributed to John Wesley and sums things up tidily,
"Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, As long as ever you can."
The apostle Paul told the Galatians to,
"Do good to all especially to the household of faith." (Galatians 6:10).
Blomberg refers to this verse, as well as from verses 7-10, and writes that Paul,
"...generalizes people reaping as they sow and encourages Christians to "do good to all people especially those who belong to the family of believers"
saying that,
"...it is probable that Paul is thinking, primarily of the financial principle of reaping as one sows and of doing good to fellow believers with one's money" (Page 179 of Neither Poverty Nor Riches).
There is an anecdote saying that a pastor once prayed,
"Protect us from members of the church who, when it comes to giving, stop at nothing."
Sounds amusing but there is a great serious element to the story. We do well to examine ourselves to see which category of people we are from and rectify as needed.
Jesus said,
"By this all men will know you are my disciples when you show love to one another." (John 13:35).
In showing such love and care to others, others can be helped, not only in daily living necessities but helped and encouraged on in their life with Christ and even to find salvation in Christ. That is the Christian's aim.
Certainly, greed is extremely undesirable. As we practice hospitality, the blessing of diminished greed in our hearts and minds can become a treasure. May generosity spring up and flourish as we share with others in need.
This is all part of the sanctification process alluded to in earlier blogs. This process is only for this lifetime of the one and only individual. Rebirth, or in Christian terminology and connotation, being "born again" (John 4:4) is something to happen in this present life in the land of the living and NOT a phenomenon that triggers at the moment of death of the physical body and the conception of another in many cycles til perfection is reached.
Being born again into God's family is something to seek, accept and live by. Justification happens first, then the progressive sanctification of daily living with that "new heart" given by God through acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and the further gift of His Holy Spirit.
As a born again individual practices hospitality and helping the needy, greed, lust and many other negatives will be lessened to the degree the person is walking in step with the Spirit of God, being obedient to His convictions, leading and guidance.
Craig Blomberg also cites the following in regards to 2 Corinthians 9:12-15, that...
"...people will thank God because of people's generosity."
Talking about the Middle Path moderation for Buddhists begs similar mention that we followers of Jesus Christ are to...
"...let our moderation be known unto all men" (Philippians 4:5-7).
It behooves us to live moderately and then have more to share with others.
There's a pastor named Rick Warren, a well-known author of the much sought after book, The Purpose Driven Life, who did a remarkable thing. It was said that with the proceeds of this book he was able to relinquish the salary his church was paying him and return what he had earned thus far from them. That offering no doubt freed up his church to channel the funds to needs elsewhere.
That is what he felt he must do. Others may have kept the proceeds and salary and given to needy elsewhere. What is right for one person is not necessarily what God wants for you. He may want you to use what you have in a different manner. The point is to use as directed by the Holy Spirit of God as needs arise and are made known.
There are many missionaries who have turned from lucrative jobs to do God's work. For instance the World Vision leader Richard Stearns took a big cut in income when he became CEO. God did supply his needs in many ways beyond his imagination. (This I read in his book A Hole in the Gospel; you can also go online and check it out).
A scary step to take especially if one has a brood of children to feed and clothe. My parents did that and God never let them down; He supplied all their needs and more even though they never knew how much money to expect each month. They were willing to do this so that others could hear the message of the love of Jesus with the noble desire to bring "many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10) for God and make disciples of Jesus Christ out of them.
Wealth can bewitch and spawn greed. Let us don the armor of God with the overcoat of prayer to guard against the fiery darts as well as the subtle deceptions of the evil one. May our desire be for God, living to please and serve Him, and to serve others as we are able. Recall...
"Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31).
Keep perspective. Live moderately. Love as God loves and store up treasure in Heaven (Mark 6:19-20).
As an Arabic Proverb exhorts,
"The best generosity is that which is quick."
~ERC July 2018~
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