The Paradox of Prosperity

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry
and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty
and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in;
I was naked and you clothed Me;
I was sick and you took care of Me;
I was in prison and you visited Me.'
Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?' And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.'

I don't think the message of Christ is primarily contained within the preacher's sermon on Sunday or the annual church picnic, or the thousand-attendee conference at the civic center. The building, chapel, sanctuary, or cathedral cannot contain God (Acts 17:24). And we all know Jesus' reputation for spending time with "sinners," the reviled, the despicable. I've never hung out with a prostitute. I imagine it would be a little unnerving, to say the least.

I'll get to the point I'm trying to make. Frustrated with my seemingly fragmented view of God, I spent the last year reading through the Bible, searching out God's character. I would read my little section each day and focus almost all my attention on what I could glean about God (or Jesus) from that passage, until I finished the Bible in December. As I progressed through the year, I learned I couldn't escape from this idea that kept being preached and taught through prophets, apostles, and Christ. I call it the paradox of prosperity.

The paradox of prosperity is all about the reversal of thinking from what the world values to what God values. Nowhere is this seen better or more directly than Jesus' beautitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Here, Jesus presents his followers with what is really important-what his Father in heaven values. Though the rich and powerful seem to hold full reign over the earth, they are far from the kingdom of heaven, which will be rewarded to those at the bottom of the food chain. Those who lead sorrowful and trying lives will be comforted (as opposed to the comfortable, who, frighteningly enough, don't need any comfort from God). In a world of brutal war and military might, where the sword and chariot ruled all, Jesus declared that the gentle would be the final conquerors.

There are many other examples of the paradox of prosperity in the Bible. The prophets preached it indignantly to Israel, the wisdom philosophers spoke of it by warning against the chasing after riches and pleasure, and God's son lived it. From his birth in an odorous stable to his death on an ordinary tree, Jesus lived and died humbly, weakly, sorrowfully.

As Shannen has said, this nation is by name a Christian nation, full of Christians. And yet I believe our ideals are far from our practices. Specifically, American Christians are affluent, to say the very least. I was speaking with a Muslim friend the other day and he told me about a "mega-church" he had attended in the area. He said that while the preacher spoke of charity, giving, and service, he could see that the church was all about making money. Why? He said all he had to do was walk through the parking lot filled with shiny expensive cars.

As we redefine Christianity for our generation, it is imperative that we align ourselves with Jesus (1 Jn 2:6). What does that look like? We must sink to his level. As I read the gospels, so much of Jesus' ministry was with those living in poverty, the unattractive underside of the Roman empire. This requires great effort on our parts in this day, age, and nation. When I lived in Ukraine, it was much easier to see poverty than it is here. Now, I drive from my suburban home to my suburban job, then to my suburban church on Sunday. I am realizing that I must be proactive. I must seek out those who need help. Limiting our contact with the poor to our financial giving would be a grave mistake. There is a difference between dropping money in a tray and looking a poor person in the eye. Christ calls us to give a far more valuable gift in compassion.

As we live lives around the poor we mustn't make the mistake of compartmentalizing our Christian acts. I like what Sarah said about the necessity of being Christians all the time. In the same light, Jesus' ministry was all about letting people see the kingdom of God. Too often we say "I'm going to share my faith" and then "I'm going to serve the poor" in different circumstances. Jesus never separated these two endeavors. Through his servanthood, he shined his Father. Through his testimony, he bore witness to his Father. Everything he did was connected to letting God shine forth. Jesus testified to the poor while helping them. A study of the gospels shows he called for repentance, forgave sins, healed maladies, and taught about the kingdom all together. We need to imitate this. What we have to give is one big package, not a separated set of defined acts of service.

Let us live and give by our love. Christ's love did not care about what people looked like on the outside. In fact, a macro look at his life might even lead us to believe he targeted the downtrodden, the dirty, the poor of the world for his ministry. The kingdom of heaven is easily accepted by these types (Mk 10:25). It has hit me a lot lately that if I want to walk like Jesus did, my path will probably be a lot less comfortable than my earthly nature would like, and it will include the underbelly of society, the untouchables, the addicted, the poor, the widows, the orphans, the sinners.

I believe our redefinition must include and zero in on the poor-serving them, alleviating their suffering, spending quality time with them, showing them God's word as it works in our lives, and ultimately loving them, thereby showing them the kingdom of heaven and revealing and bringing glory to Him whom we are really serving (Jn 13:34).

It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous , but sinners.

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

The Spirit of the Soverign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners...