GRAIN, RAVENS AND MACARONI CHEESE - Beyond the Entitled Life: Christian Leadership in the Midst of Economic Crisis

GRAIN, RAVENS AND MACARONI CHEESE:
Beyond the Entitled Life: Christian Leadership in the Midst of Economic Crisis

“We are very early in the cycle. We are going to see the fury of the Old Testament for what we have done to the economy.”
Peter Morici, Professor at Robert H. Smith School of Business,
University of Maryland

I sat with my jaw dropped as I heard Brian Williams utter these words on Tuesday night regarding the current economic crisis (to hear this broadcast: Nightly News). I am aware that at times things can be over-sensationalized and that creating a ‘culture of fear’ can ensure increased ratings as viewers await the coming apocalypse. I began to ask myself: are we on the cusp of a second great depression?

Statements like these can quickly spiral into a spirit of self-preservation. What will happen to The Salvation Army? Will I be able to draw my salary? How will I pay my bills? Will I be able to provide for my family? The actor, Arthur Sommers Roche states, “Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all of our thoughts are drained” (Roche).

It’s easy for hope to drain from our beings and sink into a spirit of despair. Just this past weekend, my family visited the Palisades Mall only to find a growing number of the stores closed for business or on the verge thereof. For generations that have grown up only knowing a culture of excess, these days of recession are hard to fathom. Jean Twenge, the social anthropologist who has studied today’s teens and twenties culture provides insight into what has been ‘normative’ for the past twenty-five years:

So many products now cater to the tastes of the individual. Instead of listening to the radio and hearing what everyone else does, we program our own special mix on our iPod, put in the headphones, and enter an individually created world. We even choose unique ring tones for our cell phones. Instead of three or four network stations, we can watch cable channels dedicated to our own interests. Instead of watching our TV live with everyone else in our time zone, we TiVo it and watch it when we want to… Individualism has driven the increasingly large universe of consumer choice in other things as well… From clothing to cars to jewelry, consumer products are designed to exhibit the wants of the unique self.

Jean Twenge, Generation Me, 2006: 101

Many of us might grieve the loss of Circuit City or KB Toys, but do we really understand what it means to struggle financially? Are we aware of what it means to be destitute? I was recently quite shocked to see how wealthy we are in the United States when I visited the website Global Rich List. I can plug in how much I make in a year to find how much money I have in comparison to the rest of the world – talk about a reality check! The truth be told, having to pull the belt in a bit pales in comparison to the destitution that others have to live with daily – and yet it is so easy to bemoan our circumstance and ask why we should have to suffer…

In Luke chapter 12, Jesus provides a roadmap that will help us to navigate through such times by providing us with clear direction on appropriate and inappropriate responses to financial crises. In light of our theme of stewardship for this month, I thought it would be helpful to explore these verses to help remind us of how now we should live.

One day Jesus encountered a man who interrupted his teaching to ask him to settle a dispute which he had with his firstborn brother. (Luke 12: 13-31). He insisted that Jesus order his older brother to give him his fair share of their father’s inheritance. According to Jewish Laws of Succession, this man was entitled to receive this. Little did this man realize that Jesus could see between the lines of this request: he wasn’t asking that Jesus decide on the merit of both claims, but that Jesus would make a decision that would favor him getting his share. I find it interesting that nowhere in this passage does it state that this man was actually wealthy – in fact it seems like he really needed (or at least wanted) his inheritance. In modern psychological terms, we could say this man had an ‘entitlement’ complex!

This encounter motivates Jesus to call this man’s bluff by telling a parable about a “rich fool”(Luke 12:16-21). In this story, we learn about a man who was consumed by greed. Already having an abundance of crops to take care of all of his needs, he tore down his barns to build larger ones in order to be able to horde as much grain as he could for himself. This man couldn’t see beyond himself. This man uses the word ‘my’ four times and ‘I’ eight times in this one parable! He had an aggressive, ingrained self-centeredness! His life was defined by what he had (or more appropriately, what he still wanted to get!). Unfortunately, his inability to see beyond himself made him myopic to seeing beyond this world. God looks at this man and says, “Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods – who gets it?” (v. 20, MSG). Obviously the rich man ‘didn’t get it’ – literally and figuratively! Gary Inrig says that, “To be a fool in God’s eyes is to have missed the point in life.” (Inrig, 1991) Eugene Peterson translates, “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.” (v. 21)

How easily we can find ourselves trapped in the same foolish myopia – not being able to see beyond ourselves. What really scares me about this passage is that greed is not conditional upon the amount of money we actually have – this is a state of the heart… In other words, we are all susceptible to the disease of entitlement.

Thank goodness, the story doesn’t end here. I can imagine Jesus shifting his attention from this greedy brother and gazing into the eyes of his disciples. He says, “Therefore…” In other words, he directs his attention to those who have been following Jesus for some time. “Therefore” means that this entitled attitude of heart is not exclusive to rich farmers and disgruntled siblings, but can also imprison those of us who are in ministry. “Therefore” (v.22), also means Jesus is saying, “Hey everybody! PAY ATTENTION, because the solution to the problem I have outlined is hinged in what I am about to say”:

"Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more.

"Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don't fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

"What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.” (Luke 12: 22-30, MSG)

Snap! I don’t know about you, but reading these words of Jesus is like putting on a pair of glasses and seeing reality for the first time! Sure, I’m not going to be able to pick up a latte from the Italian café that just closed (right by Bed, Bath and Beyond at the Palisades Mall…), and we could possibly feel the fury of an ‘Old Testament-like economic crisis,’ but how am I going to live and who am I going to focus my attention on? Myself, or others? My latte, or my Lord? I think when we weigh things up in the light of eternity and the mission God has invited to participate in, worry seems a bit overrated! As the saying goes, “Worry is like a rocking chair – it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

John Wesley understood this. He said, “Make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” As a student in Oxford, he received £30 per week. Of this, he lived on £28 and gave away £2. As he made more per year (60, 90, 120), he continued to live on £28 a year and gave away the rest. He stated, “I have two silver tea spoons at London and two at Bristol. This is all the plate [Old English = possessions] which I have at present; and I shall not buy any more, while so many around me want bread.”

My Mom also understood this. When I was a child, my family lived in Zimbabwe. This was before e-mail and internet – in fact, people still sent packages on ships rather than airplanes… (I know, I’m giving away my age!) God had called my parents to serve as missionaries in Africa and He had assured them that He would supply all their needs – particularly caring for their family of five.

One day, my Mom opened the cupboards to discover that there wasn’t a single bit of food left in the house (this was a country that when there were peanut shortages would use flying ants – yes, flying ants – as a substitute in their chocolate bars!). My parents had no money to buy groceries. We went to school that day and my Mom and Dad spent the morning in prayer. That afternoon, they went to the post office and discovered that there was a package that was sent from some Home League ladies in Canada who six months earlier had sensed the Lord tell them to buy six boxes of Macaroni & Cheese and send them to missionaries serving in Zimbabwe… I have never tasted a better meal than the manna we ate that day! That day, Jesus filled our barn with exactly what we needed for that day.

Jesus concludes his talk by stating, “But seek his kingdom, and all these things will be given to you.” (v.31)

In these days of crisis, let’s throw off the spirit of entitlement. Let’s abandon the spirit of me-first. Let’s surrender our meager attempt to control the future and entrust it to our loving Father who supplies all our needs. In the midst of this storm, the world needs a Salvation Army that will place others before self and Christ before a culture of greed. Let’s throw ourselves into the arms of a God who tells us not to worry about grain, takes care of ravens and even occasionally sends us a box of Mac & Cheese.

Not a shadow can rise
Not a cloud in the skies
But his smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt nor a fear,
Not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Song 397 SASB