Comments on: That’s rich coming from you http://www.vincevincevince.com/59/thats-rich-coming-from-you In my humble opinion... Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:53:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: churchtaskforce// Art http://www.vincevincevince.com/59/thats-rich-coming-from-you/comment-page-1#comment-155 churchtaskforce// Art Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:36:45 +0000 http://www.vincevincevince.com/?p=59#comment-155 By the way, there is a line in the book Joshua (the novel) that I've never gotten out of my head. Joshua visits a poor family, and gives their two little girls animals he has carved for them. The mother is moved, and as Joshua is leaving, she reaches onto nearly bare shelves and hands him a jar of her preserves in thanks. Joshua says, "Only the poor have enough to give." By the way, there is a line in the book Joshua (the novel) that I’ve never gotten out of my head. Joshua visits a poor family, and gives their two little girls animals he has carved for them. The mother is moved, and as Joshua is leaving, she reaches onto nearly bare shelves and hands him a jar of her preserves in thanks. Joshua says,

“Only the poor have enough to give.”

]]> By: churchtaskforce// Art http://www.vincevincevince.com/59/thats-rich-coming-from-you/comment-page-1#comment-154 churchtaskforce// Art Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:33:19 +0000 http://www.vincevincevince.com/?p=59#comment-154 Hi Vincent, I think you are right in suggesting the young ruler wanted to be affirmed, but notice the scripture specifically identifies his real issue: "And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions." He had great possessions. This seems to indicate he understood Jesus to be saying essentially what you set before us here. Where is our treasure? What do we treasure? God, our neighbors? Are we following Him who owned the universe and lived so sacrificially, and yet we act so miserly with our tiny fortunes? The vast gap is incredible. In today's political climate, and in light of how often liberal/nominal Christians have sought biblical justification for communism and socialism, it is important to note that this sharing of our goods is to be personal and voluntary. But personal connection is a critical component of how God meets needs, and a bureaucratic redistribution system is not only inefficient, impersonal and demeaning, it destroys the dignity of both giver and receiver. Personal interaction in these areas of sharing what we have is a critical ingredient. I wonder if the bureaucracy of a church or denomination becoming the intermediary is an improvement over Jesus' model of personal, face to face sharing of abundance? Hi Vincent,

I think you are right in suggesting the young ruler wanted to be affirmed, but notice the scripture specifically identifies his real issue: “And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.” He had great possessions. This seems to indicate he understood Jesus to be saying essentially what you set before us here.

Where is our treasure? What do we treasure? God, our neighbors? Are we following Him who owned the universe and lived so sacrificially, and yet we act so miserly with our tiny fortunes? The vast gap is incredible.

In today’s political climate, and in light of how often liberal/nominal Christians have sought biblical justification for communism and socialism, it is important to note that this sharing of our goods is to be personal and voluntary.

But personal connection is a critical component of how God meets needs, and a bureaucratic redistribution system is not only inefficient, impersonal and demeaning, it destroys the dignity of both giver and receiver. Personal interaction in these areas of sharing what we have is a critical ingredient. I wonder if the bureaucracy of a church or denomination becoming the intermediary is an improvement over Jesus’ model of personal, face to face sharing of abundance?

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