I Need, I Need, Gimme, Gimme - Bob

I've been thinking some lately about how blinded I am to my spiritual need by my total lack of physical want. It's easy to forgot my absolute dependence on God when all my physical senses tell me I need nothing. I'm reminded of a passage from Proverbs which says "give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." My danger definitely lies at the "too much" end of things.

I think the situation of the church of Laodicea is especially appropriate. In the book of Revelation Jesus says to them:

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent."

I feel like Jesus' words are directed right at me. I have a false sense of plenty that needs to be destroyed. I'm wrapped up in the illusion that the physical world is all that matters. It's hard to turn the whole world upside down.

I think that giving can help tranform us. I think of this event from the book of Matthew:

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,'and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

From what I can gather the response of the mainstream church in America (and Australia) goes like this: Our physical prosperity is fine as long as Jesus, not material wealth, is our master. The rich young man is thought of as an extreme example who needed to take extreme action to realize his dependence on God.

I'm pretty sure I agree with that, but I think I'm a lot closer to the rich young man's situation than I'd like to admit. Relative to my neighbors just about anywhere else in the world I'm fabulously wealthy, and I'm probably pretty close to being just as attached to my wealth as the rich young man was. I need to take action too. I certainly don't think the material wealth I have should continue to be used to create a life of excessive physical plenty for myself. Jesus teaches that it should instead be invested in what he calls "treasures in heaven." I've heard others teach that we should "give until it hurts," and I like that. I'm not sure if it goes as far as Jesus did though. Wise stewardship of what God has given us needs to be practised, but I think in order to remove money from its throne I need to give in a way that forces me to depend on God materially. To give until faith and money become entangled. Then I will truly be able to call Jesus my master. My illusion of plenty will be shattered so I can see my destitute spiritual state and my absolute dependence on Christ for salvation.