I Go Both Ways

Confession: I write half blog posts all the time. I get running on a thought or rant in my head and try to document it, but it's never fully developed and usually contains a few fragments from different things. So instead of ever posting... I just save all these drafts. Defeats the point of a blog I would say, but I'd post from time to time. So here's the first of a couple of my half developed/semi-linear thoughts.

I find myself in a completely different world than I did 6 months ago. Different, but the same. I don't run into the extreme poverty (or weather) as much as I did then, but really I do just in other ways. Honestly, I'm a little glad that I'm in a different setting than I was before, not because I don't consider my year in Chicago extremely valuable, but because my current location is helping me absorb a greater picture.

I think there is a constant struggle and questioning of how to honor God with money. Definitely in Chicago I saw generosity in my neighbors that was humbling. I observed giving that was selfless and biblical. It was like God was shining a spotlight on these times and saying, "Look, this is what I mean when I ask you to give." It's very cool to see the kingdom lived out! But this Saturday I went with a group believers to serve breakfast to some of the San Antonio homeless population, and this was equally as humbling. Every week without fail they serve and love. This past Saturday they even had a Christmas card table so people could mail their friends and families (very cool!). Again, the gospel lived out.

Coming from a post mission year mindset I think I, along with others, can unintentionally deem one circumstance more righteous than another. It's hard not to when you see the suffering people live through because they don't have enough money to get by and then others having more money than they know what to do with. But even so, there were some people in both communities I lived in who gave generously and some people who did not. Just because some one is living off a small income doesn't mean they are following Christ, and just because some one has a lot money doesn't mean they are disobedient. Would we shame the women in scripture who had financial means but used it to supported Jesus, his disciples, and his ministry (Luke 8:1-3)? Do you have to be on food stamps to know what extravagant generosity looks like? Paul said he had found the secret of being content with plenty or with want... that in both there is a way to glorify God (Phil 4:12).

I guess I just get frustrated at the sense of self righteousness that I hear/sense from others who come from the simplicity side. I get frustrated with myself as well for picking up that same self righteousness some where along the way. In Mission Year we learned not to be prejudice against people because of their circumstances, but since Mission Year I find I'm learning the same lesson in reverse.