The Grey Area

Have I ever mentioned that I love our Sunday School class?

We have obviously been away from our church for nearly a month now so it felt SO good to be back in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Our class is currently studying Radical, by David Platz.  This book challenges everything in our culture that we have accepted as the 'norm' to the truths of the Bible.  It asks questions that cut to the core of our comforts and dreams. (the American dream, to be exact)  Anyway, we always seem to come back to the questions of: how much are you supposed to give?  how much are you supposed to save? 

What I appreciate most is that we can engage in discussion that is honest, raw, and open.  It may sting a little, it may not settle well with our hearts, but it is truth and it is needs to be spoken and heard.  Well, on this particular topic there has been lots of heated debate and opinions on what giving should look like.

We have concluded mostly that each person is called differently to give according to what they have--to give according to what they feel lead in their hearts by the Holy Spirit to give.  I have followed suit with this idea up until recently.  And I think, well, I am sure my heart has changed on this issue in response to my recent experiences in Ukraine.  I was not able to put to words my feelings about this today in class during our discussion, but as I have prayed over this idea all day I finally feel like my thoughts are beginning to form words.  Here is what I wished I could say:

"We are to give until it hurts a little."

--We are to give until we have to think.

--We are to give until we have to begin to ask questions about ourselves.

--We are to give until we have to make some serious decisions about our priorities.

--We are to give until other people begin to ask questions or comment about our giving.

--We are to give until we begin to see a change.

--We are to give until we feel it. 

--We are to give until we are affected.

--We are to give until we are changed.

 The need is too great.  The calling is clear.  Living in faith requires placing ourselves in a position to have to fully rely on Christ's power, promises, and strength to get us through.  To say that God is enough to fulfill my needs.  To let go of all that this temporary life on earth poses as 'worthy' and to begin to store up treasures in Heaven for eternity--knowing the reward is great.  

I am challenged by the faces of the little children pleading for me to be their 'momma' each day at the orphanage, I am challenged by the babushkas begging in the streets for bread, I am challenged by the teenage girl with a deformed leg, hobbling on a cane, stopping cars in a busy intersection pleading for a few coins to live on.

I plan to give until it hurts from now on, because it won't compare to the hurt these children, women, and girl's have experienced in their lifetimes already.  There may not be a step-by-step guide to how each of us is to give based on what we have...but what I do know is we can always give more and do more. 

It's tough.

It's not going to be easy.

It's not going to be popular.

It's going to hurt a little. 

Just in case you are missing him as much as I am.  Here's the little face that is the reward of so many people giving until it hurts, a life saved and many lives changed.