"God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him in the midst of loss, not prosperity." --John Piper

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Objects in the mirror may be closer...

Radical, Chapter 6 (by David Platt)

Chapter 6 begins with a discussion of seeing our blindspots. The trouble with blindspots is that we generally can't see them, hence the name blindspots. The focus of this chapter is materialism, and is it a blindspot for the American Christian, especially are we turning a blind eye to the rest of the world.

I hate it when people are right.

The guilt of this falls both on the church and the individual. Jesus spoke to the Rich Young Ruler. He told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor. When he walked away sad, the Scripture says "Jesus looked at him and loved him." Jesus loves us, but I have to believe that our selfishness makes him sad.

He loved him enough to tell him the truth. He loved him enough to confront him. He loved him enough to let him walk away.

Why has God given us more than we need? Is it to use the excess to have a more comfortable life, or is it to use that excess to honor God? I think we already know the answer to that question. Now the next question, what are we going to do about it?

2 comments:

kc bob said...

"I hate it when people are right."

Ditto that for me. It is interesting what Andrew Carnegie wrote about wealth. My goal is to live generously but it is a lot harder than I imagine. Every day I come up with all sorts of rationalizations to be stingy.

Spherical said...

I read your post on Andrew Carnegie. When I read the line that his teachings weren't popular, I immediately thought of Jesus. Preaching health and wealth is attractive. Preaching carrying crosses and surrendering your life, n ot so much. The Rich Young Ruler walked away, and JEsus let him, even though he loved him. Or maybe it was because he loved him!