God’s love for you that makes much of his glory is greater love for you than if he made you your greatest treasure You will never, ever be beautiful enough, strong enough, wise enough, admirable enough, to be the bottom and to bear the weight of all the joy you want for all eternity. It will not bear that weight. It will give way and you will fall into the pit. Only one thing can bear the weight of all the joy you want to have and that is God.
– John Piper, at Passion 2011
(HT: Gregg Metcalf)
A week ago I emailed my wife at work after I read a passage from the book of Luke. Here’s what I read:
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (12:33-34).
And here’s what I wrote:
I don’t want to be one of those guys who meets Jesus face-to-face and says, “I thought that was a metaphor.”
Carly and I have been wrestling with what it means to live counter-culturally and be liberal givers. We are thinking and praying about what it looks like to reject the Christian version of the American dream. Things like a big house, nice clothes, luxury vacations, and retirement seem meaningless. This is what America wants. And I’m sad to say that it’s what many Christians want too; they just do it with a spiritual wrinkle and make it seem and sound like everything is “a blessing from the Lord.”
Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t perfect, of course. We wrestle. It’s a battle. Our sin nature tries to get the best of us. But our hearts’ desire is to live seriously, simply, minimally, and prepare to actually sell everything and give to the needy if and when God says, “Now’s the time.”
I know that I’ll hear Christians say, “There’s nothing wrong with having stuff and enjoying things.” I get this, and I agree. But we draw a pretty thick line here in America. Where does it stop? At the end of the day, I always end up at this point: if life is purposeful, and if eternity lasts forever, and if Jesus really did die for our sin, and if hell is real and awful, how can I be content with living in Disneyland and accumulating stuff and comfort? The answer is always: I can’t.
So that’s where we’ve been swimming lately. It’s a deep ocean and it’s hard to navigate sometimes. Great grace is needed, but great grace is provided.
James Pruch