Okay, here it is for today.  I know I’ve quoted this on here before, but it bears repeating…and it is in order of how Jen writes it in 7.

“Give from what is within you to the poor, and then everything is clean for you.”  Luke 11:41

“I’m starting to wonder if Jesus actually meant that.  Was He serious about sanctification through extreme generosity?  Is He really advocating giving our goods to those without?  I don’t know if He knows this, but this would mean completely retooling the way we live and spend….

What if we’re buying a bag of tricks?  What if wealth and indulgence is creating a polished people rotting from the inside out, without even knowing it? 

Is there a reason Jesus called the rich:

Blind, Deaf, Unseeing, Unhearing, and Foolish?

And, dear readers, shall we stop imagining these sad, sorry, rich people belong to a different demographic?  A brave believer admits,

‘He’s talking about me.’

Look at our houses, cars, closets, our luxuries; if we are not rich, then no one is.

If we aren’t swept up in entitlement, indulgence, and extravagance, then Jesus is a fool and let’s get back to living. 

If tithing the minimum and consuming the rest is OK, then we can dismiss Jesus’ ideas and act obsessed about other stuff He said.

But what if?

What if we are actually called to a radical life? 

What if Jesus knew our Christian culture would design a lovely life template complete with all the privileges and exemptions we want, but even with that widespread approval, He still expected radical simplicity, radical generosity, radical obedience from those with ears to hear, eyes to see?

How could Jesus suggest that giving to the poor would make ‘everything clean’? 

Everything?

These Pharisees [in the previous verses in Luke 11] were a spiritual mess.  What does this passage communicate about the relationship between extreme generosity and everything else Jesus then called out

(Injustice, Pride, Spiritual Abuse, Unrepentant Hearts)?

Evidently just as money has the power to ruin, generosity has the power to heal.

This is big.”

The 7 Experiment pgs. 137-138

I know it’s a kick in the teeth.  Sometimes we need that.  I know when I’m starting to feel stingy or anxious, giving to others always helps.  It gets my mind off myself and – without excusing or minimizing my own issues – helps me focus on other peoples’ needs.

Have you found that to be true, too?