Out of Egypt:

Stewardship (another one of those floor posts-cum-blog entries)

Same info about context applies as before.

I've been considering whether I should join this discussion (probably one of the more heated of a contentious semester) or not, but have decided to hold my peace until now. Christian's most recent post brings up a good point, though: debating specific models of cars is only the surface issue here. And God calls us to tithe 10%, yes, but he also calls us to give of ourselves completely. Christ says that we are to hate anything that keeps us from following Him and that anyone who puts hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God. If we at Covenant really mean what we say when we say Christ is Lord of all our lives and that He is pre-eminent in all things, then I think that has some serious implications for our material lifestyle.

I don't want to judge any particular individuals for any particular choices that they've made. Not everyone is in the same circumstances. But I believe that the "gift of generosity" is a responsibility of us all.

Remember, we live in a kind of "floating world" up here [at Covenant] - sheltered from much of the suffering and need of the rest of the world. Thank God that we have classes like Global Trends to remind us of what's going on. Karl Dortzbach, when he was here, reminded those who came to his evening lecture of the words of Jesus: from the one to whom much has been given, much will be required.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 of the values of the Kingdom of God, which stand in stark contrast to the consumeristic values of our culture:

What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

As the author of Hebrews writes, we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth, seeking a better, that is, a heavenly city (Heb. 11:13-16). As pilgrims and strangers, then, Jesus urges us to use money primarily for others' sakes, not our own, making friends for ourselves with unrighteous mammon (Luke 16:9).

To those of us who, like myself, seek to make the words of Jesus about non-attachment to possessions have a purely spiritual significance, the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are particularly convicting.

When the rich young man was challenged by Jesus to accept a life of voluntary poverty do you think the rich young man thought Jesus was posing a theological question or a very real challenge? Did Jesus want the rich young man to sell everything and follow Jesus?

If, as we read our Bibles we heard Jesus speaking to us in this way today, we should probably try to argue ourselves out of it like this: 'It is true that the demand of Jesus is definite enough, but I have to remember that he never expects us to take his commandments legalistically. What he really wants me to have is faith. But my faith is not necessarily tied up with riches or poverty or anything of the kind. We may be both poor and rich in the spirit. It is not important that I should have no possessions, but if I do I must keep them as though I had them not, in other words, I must cultivate a spirit of inward detachment, so that my heart is not in my possession.'…. All the way along the line, we are trying to evade the obligation of single-minded, literal obedience. (The Cost of Discipleship, 87-88)

Bonhoeffer eventually concludes that the way of "inward detachment" is only possible for the Christian who has recognized it as actually harder than the way of external renunciation offered to the rich young ruler. Bonhoeffer makes a comparison between the external break with his previous life that Abraham made when he left Ur of the Chaldees and the internal crisis caused by the threat of his losing Isaac, the child of promise. The second was obviously harder, though the first was visible to the outside world.

I am aware that I am young and irresponsible and so cannot speak from a position of personal moral authority on these issues of stewardship. However, I think the Scripture references that have been brought up by myself and others such as Christian cannot be dismissed easily. I can't say what the calling of God in the realm of our money and possessions means for all Christians, or even for all Christians at Covenant, not knowing them or their circumstances. However, I believe pastorally this is something the Church needs to address more than it regularly does, and needs to address more on an individual level. There are other sins that God hates besides pornography and adultery.