When we go to Target we spend about an hour in the toy aisles. Now, we do not buy our daughters a toy every time we go, but we always let her play with the toys there. We wish we could buy them, but we know that we do not have the budget for that. We “are not made of money.” But why does Jadyn continue to be drawn to the toy aisles and continue to play with these toys with complete contentment knowing that she will have to leave them behind?
Walter Brueggemann reminds us that the world spreads the lies of limited resources and that the imagination of Scripture is the new possibility of unlimited resources. Nothing better illustrates that point then all of the rage over the super lotto. There are people willingly shelling out small contributions to this large pot in order for one person to win. One woman started a gofundme in order to replenish her life savings that she spent on lotto tickets! Yet simultaneously we are arguing in politics over who to care for in this country. We are concerned about where our limited dollars will go Seriously, breakdown our political arguments. It comes down to caring for others. It comes down to the question "who do we prioritize?" Should we care for inner city schools? The homeless veterans? The immigrants? The students with loans? The refugees? The corporations? The minimum wage employee? Shouting matches are going back and forth and essentially the argument is based on the idea that we only have so much money to take care of ourselves. Unfortunately that is a lie. Imagine what could happen if we bounded together and raised $1.2 billion dollars of honest giving, not so that one lucky person can win it and splurge it, perhaps donating some to charity. But what could we do with honestly raised and cheerfully given $1.2 billion. This is what we could do…
Suddenly, when the lie of limited resources is suspended, we no longer have to argue how to allocate funds. We are free to imaginatively love our neighbor. We are given the opportunity to imagine a world with unlimited resources, thus new possibilities. Does our church believe that God is able to create new possibilities? Do we believe that our God operates within an imagination of unlimited resources? Do we believe that our God operates from a kingdom of abundance? Or have we brought this lie into the church’s consciousness. As the church, we must not buy into the world’s lie of limited resource, but allow ourselves to play in the toy department and live in the world of unlimited possibilities made possible by the Gospel. When the church enters the political conversation, it should not give its own opinion as to "who should we care for." The church should say, "yes, care for them...and them...and them...and them..."
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Brief BioDaniel Archives
January 2016
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