The Lies of Affluence by Wayne Jacobsen— Part I.

“‘Do you have any conflict enjoying the money you have in a world with so much need?’

I had been invited by a friend to attend an investment seminar and there were some high rollers in the room.  As I looked around, however, I was surprised to see so many facial expressions that seemed confused by the question.  Obviously they didn’t.  I do.  Every day.

When the speaker went on to ask why not, most responded they had worked hard for what they had and never thought twice about enjoying a disproportionate slice of the world’s pie.  The unspoken inference, of course, is poor people don’t work as hard so they are only getting what they deserve.  It’s only one of the lies wealthy people tell themselves so they can ignore the needs of others as they plunge headlong into their own amusements.  But you can only believe this if you don’t actually know people who have very little and not a lot of options to help them move beyond it.  And I don’t mean know about them, but actually know them individually.

I was raised a law-and-order Republican.  I grew up with a high regard for discipline, hard work, and respect for authority.  If you live responsibly and work hard you can get ahead in the world.  Disobey a policeman and you risk getting shot.  Do something illegal and the consequences should be severe.

But that’s before I caught a glimpse of life through the eyes of an African-American mother who not only fears the influences of the neighborhood on her son, but also any interaction he might have with the police and how it might escalate because of misunderstanding and fear.  And I’ve become good friends with a family of undocumented immigrants and see first hand not only the hardships they endure, but also how our culture exploits them for its gain without rewarding them for their hard work.

These relationships have caused me to reassess many of my lifelong conclusions and it’s helped me come to grips with the lies affluent people use to justify their own comfort and suppress their generosity for people in need.  Almost everyone screams unfair when they perceive circumstances have been rigged against them, but almost no one cries foul when they benefit from that rigging.

These are the lies you have to believe if you want to live callously in the world.  To be truthful, I’ve actually benefited from most of them and grabbed for them whenever I needed to suppress my compassion for those in need.  They allowed me for many years to live unaffected by the disproportionate distribution of resources in the world.  Having them exposed has been a great gift to my humanity and has allowed me to discover the joys of generosity.

Lie #1:  We all have the same opportunities; it’s just that some work harder.  This is what lies behind those confused expressions I saw at the investment seminar I mentioned at the beginning of this article.  We love the illusion that a child growing up in south central Los Angeles has the same opportunities as those who grow up in the suburbs or small town America.  Didn’t we solve inequality during the civil rights movements of the 60s?  Can’t every child go to school, apply herself, get a college degree, and find a better life?  We do have enough stories of people who have done it to think it’s true, not admitting that these are still the exceptional stories not the routine ones.

Without hope of a better life, the tools to get there, a support network to encourage them, they will never recognize the opportunities which may be at their disposal or be able to access them.  There’s a reason why there are neighborhoods we wouldn’t chose to live in and schools we send our kids to.”

{Editing and Italics Mine}  To be continued....

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

On Exhaustion and the Role of Play in the Life of the Spirit.

“The Child of God should not mistake worn nerves, physical weakness, or depression for unspirituality.  Many times sleep is more needed than prayer, and physical recreation than heart-searching.  ...To ‘rest in the Lord’ is one of the essential victories of the spiritual life.  ‘Come ye yourselves apart... and rest awhile.’  The Child of God is just as spiritual when resting, playing, sleeping, or incapacitated, if it is His will for him, as he is when serving.”1 

“How misleading is the theory that to be spiritual one must abandon play, diversion and helpful amusement!  Such a conception of spirituality is born of a morbid human conscience.  It is foreign to the Word of God.  It is a device of Satan to make the blessings of God seem abhorrent to young people overflowing with physical life and energy.  It is to be regretted that there are those who in blindness are so emphasizing the negatives of the Truth [Legalists with their legalism.] that the impression is created that spirituality is opposed to joy, liberty and naturalness of expression in thought and life in the Spirit.  Spirituality is not a pious pose.  It is not a ‘Thou shall not;’ it is ‘Thou shalt.’  It flings open the doors into the eternal blessedness, energies and resources of God.  It is a serious thing to remove the element of relaxation and play from any life.  We cannot be normal physically, mentally or spiritually if we neglect this vital factor in human life.  God has provided that our joy shall be full.”2 

1 :  Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. VI, Pneumatology, p. 295

2 :  Chafer, He That Is Spiritual, pp. 60-61  {Italics Mine}

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Abba’s Way of Evening Things Out.

There’s a profound lesson of faith in 2 Corinthians 8:14 for those of us longing to live in and from the Kingdom of God.  Abba has a way of evening things out.  Paul writes, “At the present time your,” Corinthians’ and Achaians,’ “plenty [Perisseuma means ‘your abundance, your fulness, your overflow’] will supply what they [Jesus’ Followers in Jerusalem] need, so that in turn their plenty [The wealth of the Word, their passion in prayer, possibly even material and financial support when you yourselves face the onslaught.] will supply what you need.  Then there will be equality.”  “Equality” implies ‘fairness, equity,’ but fairness and equity don’t necessarily mean equal amounts.  And this, my friends, is vitally important in an egalitarian society where we’re constantly being told ‘everybody deserves an equal amount of everything’— whether they deserve it or not!  The only thing we all equally ‘deserve’ is condemnation: the remedy God made equally available to all is redemption!  So get this down.  ‘Equality’ in the Kingdom of Grace means having what you need to survive.  Get it?  Survive.

Let me lay out a couple of concepts for you to consider.

First off, giving generously to others does not relieve them of the responsibility to do something about their own situation.  You may be their remedy in the present, but Jesus may have a job, a position, a contract for them in the future.

Secondly, there is a ‘cycle of need’ in Jesus’ Body, at all times in human History.  Abba’s “equality” means your ‘abundance, your fulness’ may “supply” someone else’s “need.”  It also means one day their ‘overflow’ will supply your need.  Here’s the point— for all of us.  We need to learn to receive graciously, as well as give graciously, and vice versa.  For those on the receiving end, we need to learn to give graciously and joyfully.  There is a balance between givers and receivers in grace.  We get in on this perfect balance by our willingness to follow the Wild Goose {Celtic name for the Holy Spirit}!  In the end, everything we have, everything we are, and everything we ever will be, is courtesy of grace.  Courtesy of grace.  Thank You, Jesus!

Third, this beautiful balance which Abba achieves— and only He can achieve— is rarely, if ever, going to occur simultaneous with giving.  I.e., giving today doesn’t guarantee I will receive today.  You need to comprehend this.  I may give, generously, this moment; but I may not receive in return until I have a “need” one of Abba’s Children can “supply.”  Those of us who give today may need to receive tomorrow.  “Equality” in Jesus’ Kingdom does not mean you’ll receive a gift like, or the exact amount of, the one you gave.

Again, who is your Provider, who is achieving the balance here?  Your Father is.  Are we getting a little clearer picture of equality in the Kingdom of God?  When governments try to do this, they fail miserably!  But not the King of All Creation, not our wise and loving Abba.  He never fails.  His faithfulness never fails to provide for His own!  This is Hallelujah-inducing, isn’t it?  “You don’t have to fear and you don’t have to worry.  I got this”— Abba.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Finish Strong.

Opportunities come to each of us, obviously, at a point in Time; but the “desire” and “willingness” to give— as an example of a divinely ordained opportunity, to use Paul’s language in 2 Corinthians 8:10-12— may be waiting all along.  “Willingness” is from prothumia meaning- ‘zeal, spirit, eagerness, inclination;’ it speaks of a ‘readiness’ to act.  The Lesson for Life is a simple one.  Finish what you started ...whatever it is!  The Highway to Hell is paved with the good intentions of an unbelieving world.  Likewise, among the Children of God, those trying to slink away from Jesus unnoticed are often filled with what they imagine are ‘good intentions,’ and just as often blinded to the reality of their motives by an enormous amount of self-deception.  The point is, and I want you to ask yourself this question.  What have I been putting off, shoving aside, burying beneath my ‘busyness,’ or procrastinating over, that needs to be done?  Answer this.  Then do it, and do it now!

One thing I know to be unequivocally true in this realm of our spirituality, our intimacy with Abba: You will never experience the joy of generosity and graciousness until deep desire takes hold of your heart.  And when it does, follow it through, walk it out to the Finish.

And where does this deepened desire going to come from?  It’s going to come from the Word of the Living God taking hold by faith in our hearts!  The Word deepens our desires: for Life, for love, and for grace.  The Word of God will give you the desire to give, whether you have or don’t have, a little or a lot.  The “Word of God is living and active,” remember?  It’s keen enough to penetrate and divide between the “soul and spirit,” critiquing both our “thoughts” and our “attitudes,” both what we think and why we think it {Heb. 4:12}.  And it’s the only thing on Earth with this kind of power of perception.  When it goes to work in the deep places of the human heart, “nothing in all Creation is hidden from God’s sight” says the author of Hebrews {4:13a}.  Our faulty motivations get exposed, and our desire to glorify self gets redeemed, transformed into a hunger to see Jesus lifted high!

Your desire to give will deepen as your love for Abba grows.  Conversely, if your love for Abba isn’t growing, what do you think is going to happen to your desire to give, to serve, to be engaged in the Cause of your King?  It’s going to fall off the face of the Earth.  Quite simply and quite literally.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously