Carelessness And Godliness.
as of late, the distinguishing line between following God's will without care for self and carelessness has all but been totally erased. i have heard it said, even out of my oun mouth that 'i trust in God, but i still lock my door. i trust that God will protect me and help me in my best intrest, but a complete lack of self preservation is just reckless.' is it? did Jesus possess even an ounce of self provision? did he not walk willingly into death? did he not give himself for us? is not the idea of putting oneself directly into the midst of danger concidered ludicrous? but why? why is it that going on summer mission trips, or volunteering at the salvation army, or buying a meal for a homeless man an acceptable 'care,' but putting yourself in the line-of-fire in a gang war that has spilled over into your neighborhood, or leaving the keys in your running car in a poor neighborhood, or opening your home to the homeless knowing that you might be missing a few items in the morning is concidered an unacceptable 'carelessness?'
what of the rich ruler? Jesus called him to sell every single thing he owned and then follow him. luke tells us that he became sad at Jesus' teaching because he 'was very rich.' think about this... Jesus wanted this guy to sell everything, his clothes, his two 60' plasma/hi def tv's, his $300 suits, all his silverware, his bed, complete with down comforter, his new bmw m3, his summer home on martha's vinyard, his original picasso sketch he keeps in the master bedroom, and his 2.3 million dollar mansion he inherited from his father... everything.
if i asked you to sell every piece of material, property, capital, and investment you have ever owned and hand it directly to the first impoverished soul you met on the street, you would probably laugh at me and call me an impractical, irrational, irresponsible, lunatic.
what if God asked of you the same thing? what is it you would call him?
what of the rich ruler? Jesus called him to sell every single thing he owned and then follow him. luke tells us that he became sad at Jesus' teaching because he 'was very rich.' think about this... Jesus wanted this guy to sell everything, his clothes, his two 60' plasma/hi def tv's, his $300 suits, all his silverware, his bed, complete with down comforter, his new bmw m3, his summer home on martha's vinyard, his original picasso sketch he keeps in the master bedroom, and his 2.3 million dollar mansion he inherited from his father... everything.
if i asked you to sell every piece of material, property, capital, and investment you have ever owned and hand it directly to the first impoverished soul you met on the street, you would probably laugh at me and call me an impractical, irrational, irresponsible, lunatic.
what if God asked of you the same thing? what is it you would call him?
posted by Lord Milton Pepperbottom III at 2:36 PM
2 Comments:
thought provoking. kind of unsettling.
do those material possessions represent your house?
-emily
ha! no, not much of what i spoke of in terms of possessions is analogous to me. i mean, i have possessions, dont get me wrong, i am just as guilty as anyone else, (if, in fact, guilt is implied in my post, which i don't think it explicitly is) of owning things and being selfish and all that good stuff. but no, i live in a low-rent apartment and enjoy subsidized health care, etc.
and as to your comment on this post being 'unsettling,' i would surely agree. i mean, you are totally right on. it is unsettling, but hey, it's part of deal, right? i.e. 1Cor1:18.
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