Gospel by Deed (no. 2)

Declaring God's Gospel of grace and kingship through deed is one of the non-negotiable essentials to the cross-bearing life of Christians and the Trinitarian Church.  Here is an excerpt from Jonathan Edwards' soul-shaking, idol-smashing little book entitled Christian Charity.  This section below is found at the end of the book where pastor Edwards endeavors to answer some of the common objections against helping others financially. I particularly was, and have been, haunted by Edwards' third answer to the stated objection which I've placed in italics. I hope you find it as challenging as I have.  

                                                                                                 
OBJECTION 6. Some may object from their own circumstances that they have nothing to spare; they have not more than enough for themselves.

I answer---
       First, it must doubtless be allowed that in some cases persons, by reason of their own circumstances, are not obliged to give to others. — For instance, if there be a contribution for the poor, they are not obliged to join in the contribution, who are in as much need as those are for whom the contribution is made. It savors of ridiculous vanity in them to contribute with others for such as are not more needy than they. It savors of a proud desire to conceal their own circumstances and an affectation of having them accounted about what they in truth are.

       Second, there are scarcely any who may not make this objection, as they interpret it. There is no person who may not say, he has not more than enough for himself, as he may mean by enough. He may intend, that he has not more than he desires, or more than he can dispose of to his own advantage; or not so much, but that, if he had anything less, he should look upon himself in worse circumstances than he is in now. He will own, that he could live if he had less. But then he will say he could not live so well. Rich men may say they have not more than enough for themselves, as they may mean by it. They need it all, they may say, to support their honor and dignity, as is proper for the place and degree in which they stand. Those who are poor, to be sure, will say, they have not too much for themselves. Those who are of the middle sort will say, they have not too much for themselves. And the rich will say, they have not too much for themselves. Thus there will be none found to give to the poor.

       Third, ....

A Christmas Emergency

My friend Mark asked me a thoughtful question (under my post "What Christmas Means to Me" by C.S. Lewis) concerning this gift giving time of year, and I thought his question was excellent and worthy of making it a post.  Mark also linked to a blog post by a woman named Nancy Wilson which you should read first before reading my answer to his question.  


Corey,
What are your thoughts on how to not offend in our culture, both family and friends, when gifts are expected? Also related to advent and some of your other posts (advent conspiracy) what do you think of this? http://www.feminagirls.com/2010/11/19/christmas-is-an-emergency/

Be seeing you,
Mark

                                                                                               

Mark,
On how not to offend, perhaps one way through the hysteria is being upfront with family/friends prior to Christmas by letting them know that you aren't in need or want of anything, and perhaps suggest a gospel outreach that all of you can contribute to.  It's something my family and extended family have looked into an ensy-bensy bit but have never got serious about it and actually pulled the trigger on.  We should.  Anyway, that's one thought.
       As far as Mrs. Wilson's blogpost, I really couldn't disagree more whole-heartedly. Not only with the silliness about blowing money reserved for emergencies ("Christmas is an emergency! Get a thousand bucks out of your savings and whoop it up with your kids."), but her bizarre rational for whooping it up with one's family.
       As Mrs. Wilson rightly wrote, "God sent His Son to us, to save us from the horrible plight we were in. He lavishes us with His generosity, His kindness, His love and mercy." Yeah, amen, that's right, and we're called to IMITATE that mercy and love.  Jesus emptied Himself, keeping nothing back, and gave His whole-life for those in NEED. This is where Mrs. Wilson goes off course and doesn't seem to grasp that "need" concept.
       Rather, what she advocates is spending yer dough on your kids, your family, and apparently others who don't need a stinking thing! The exact opposite of what Christ did! Quite frankly, I think she misses the whole dang point! (As you can see this kind of thinking fires me up a bit...)
       We USAer Christians need to grasp that we live in "christmas" our whole lives! What we really need to do, especially during the Advent season, is stop spending on ourselves, and give to others who are in actual physical or spiritual NEED just like our Lord did.
       In all likelihood, what most of us (my family included) all need to do is take a buying-crap-for-ourselves fast which would certainly be alot closer to imitating what Jesus did for us in the Incarnation than purchasing loads of useless junk for ourselves and our kids.

Hugs and holy kisses,
Corey

Notable Movie and Documentry

Of Gods and Men is a wonderful film set in Islamic Algeria, Africa where eight French monks reside  above an impoverished village in a monastery that has been there for decades. Under threat by Muslim terrorists the monks must decide to if they should abandon the village or stay which, if they do stay, they will likely be killed for being Christians. It's slow paced with English subtitles, but flat out beautiful in it's portrayal of our Christan duty to love our neighbors and be living sacrifices for the King.

Islam: What the West needs to Know dubs itself as "an examination of Islam, violence, and the fate of the non-Muslim world". Scary stuff, but Christians all need to get a handle on this! You can watch it here.