A Fresh Currency
Reading from Acts 20 this morning. I was struck by Paul’s farewell speech in Ephesus. He had just spent the last 3 years there, and is now saying goodbye. This is one of the churches he would later write the great letter Ephesians to; his treatise on Christ and his Bride, the Church.
In Acts 20:34, Paul mentions that by his own hands he worked among them to meet his needs, (thus keeping people from being burdened down by having to support him financially). He wasn’t a mooch or a slacker, but he also wasn’t stingy – he also saw his job as a tentmaker as an opportunity to help the weak. This urge to give away his earnings came from Paul’s christocentric orientation; thinking about “What Jesus Would Do”. He quotes his Lord, “It is better to give than to receive.”
This is the very end of Paul’s farewell address to a church that he dearly loves?…A side note about his pay earnings and his tax-deductible donations? How strange. One might think he would be busting at the seams, calling out names of beloved friends and hugging people around the neck. But maybe there is something more – something more profound.
Could it be that Paul is on a last ditch effort to help the Ephesians catch a vision of God’s economics? Might Paul be passing out a fresh, new currency in the Kingdom of God? Paul worked hard, and then gave hard. He never saw his money and things as his own, but was consistently sharing and giving. I recently discovered a collective of thousands of Christians who pool their money each month in order to cover each other’s medical bills. A sort of “spiritual family health insurance”.
Much could be said for the repercussions of the Western Church who has exported most of her distinctive, benevolent qualities to the government (welfare) or to para-church organizations (evangelism, anyone?). Suffice it to say that we are now coming to a crossroads in our part of the world where the sluggish, obese, and hibernating Bride is rousing from her winter slumber, and will have the choice to hit the snooze button, or to get up and start working off the excess that’s been weighing her down for so long. It will be her chance to reclaim the joy of interdependent living, where she is once again circulating the blood of Christ throughout the entire Body, sharing and sharing alike.
From the heart to the gut to the ends of the fingers and toes, it is essential that Christ’s body learn that they rely on each other, and that their jobs on this earth exist not just for themselves, but for their faith community as well. This interdependence is not only theologically sound, but also missiologically. If Paul expected this to be a sustainable movement, he would have to expect that followers of Christ would continue to keep their jobs, yet begin to think about how to view those jobs as a subset of their true vocation – disciples. “How does my Lord want me to use this money he has given me? How can he further the Kingdom through this insignificant offering?”
A church planting movement happens, like many chemical reactions, through catalysts. A catalyst is something that is used to cause a chain reaction that spreads throughout, but the catalyst is not used up in the process. In fact it is the chemical created through the catalyst that actually regenerates the catalyst. Sharing and sharing alike. We need catalysts in the Body of Christ today. People who are giving to the emerging church planting movement, but are not being depleted or burnt-out in the process. I am so blessed to have people like that in my life right now, and I am seeing the Kingdom expand through those efforts.
Can anyone be a full-time missionary who is supported by churches far and away? Sure, for a time Paul was! But he tried to keep away from that as much as possible, knowing that it would only lead to tainting his Gospel message. My prayer is that when I finish school, to enter the work force, but to leave some sanity in my schedule to devote to engaging people with the Kingdom of God. Not for my sake, but because
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Does anyone else specifically remember the first time you were told that you had to share? Wow, what an ordeal. An immense battle of the wills and you’re not even 2 years old.