Give and Take

This culture has a mindset of give and take. You give to me and then I'll give back to you.

But guess what? That's the culture, and, as New Testament Christians, we are called to be opposite of culture and what is popular with the world. Just look at Romans 12:2

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

So, if we're supposed to be opposite of the world, what does New Testament "giving and taking" look like? Well, if you look at scripture it's a whole lot more giving and very little taking, except for taking part in the immeasurable grace and lavish love of our amazing Father. Which, if you think about it, is enough to satisfy us for eternity. So give into His love and take part in His grace. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a win-win situation.

My wonderful brother-in-law, Whitt, has been sharing ways to "Give this Christmas Away" on his supremely awesome blog that you should read here. The inspiration for his daily posts encouraging giving come from Matthew West's book, appropriately titled, Give this Christmas Away, and the purpose of the devotionals is to recognize that God has given to us so we can give to others.

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." -2 Corinthians 9:11 

We are called to put others before ourselves and become servants, following the example of the greatest servant the world will ever know, Jesus Christ.

And, as I've been striving to live radically different from the world, God has heightened my awareness to different ways we can give to others, and as mom and I were standing in the check out lane at Walmart this week one of His ideas came to me.

Lets think about this, the Christmas season has become so commercialized that the hustle and bustle of the season have added two new buddies: stress and press (through the crowds). And who has to deal with these pesky little joy snatchers more than the workers in retail stores? They have to put up with inconsiderate people pushing and shoving, sometimes clawing their way to get to the best sale or to get that last toy on the shelf. Speaking of shelves, customers mess up the displays and don't put unwanted items back where they belong, they don't take the time to wait for others but are too caught up in the moment and the hunt of finding that certain gift to check off their list that they temporarily (or not-so-temporarily) lose even the simplest concern for the workers who must fix the displays, round up the carts left scattered across wintery parking lots and run the cash registers for them while dealing with a less than pleasant 'tude.

Okay, so not every shopping experience is like this. In fact, sometimes Christmas and the "spirit" of the season brings out the best in people (which the Bible says is like filthy rags...) and they're sweet, thoughtful and patient with every person they encounter, but, lets be honest, those occasions are few and far between.

But what if we purchased gift cards from stores or restaurants and carried them around with us and gave them to store workers who seem to be having a particularly rough day? Or maybe give one to the employee who seems to have joy unexplainable and isn't letting their stressful circumstances affect their attitude? Pray for the Spirit to show you who is to recieve the gift, sometimes it won't make sense but just be obedient and leave the results up to God.

Why should we give to others?

Most importantly because the Bible says too.

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." -1 John 3:17-18

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil." -Luke 6:35

"Give and it will be given to you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put in your bosom for with the same measure that you use, it will be measure back to you." -Luke 6:38

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." -2 Corinthians 9:11

We love because God has loved us. We give because He has given to us. When we didn't deserve it. When we thought we could live without it. When we didn't want Him. When we spit in His face. When we rebelled.

So why shouldn't we pour out what He has poured into us? We are called to love the world and extend a picture of the Gospel to them through our lives. And you might notice as you read through Scripture and follow God through the highs and lows of life, that He didn't just give to us one time. No, He gives to us over and over, His mercies are new every morning. So this whole "season of giving" should be a life of giving, I mean, Jesus gave His whole life. Literally.  

Will you join me in living and giving radically to the world Jesus died for as He has so generously given to us?

Let's take less and give more this Christmas and throughout the rest of our lives.

Jesus and Jolly St. Nick

In department stores all over town there are signs hanging everywhere reminding you it’s Christmas time, advertisements suck you in to buying this or that, all in the name of Christmas. You get drawn in by all the sparkles, pretty colors and the holiday specials. Of course we all know that Christmas is really about Jesus and His gift to us, but that gift tends to fade in all the glittering lights of the over-decorated stores. Adults get caught up in shopping and children get caught up in what Santa is going to bring them. This leads to the question:

What if Jesus was like Santa?

What if all we had to do was make Him a list of everything we wanted, then wait eagerly for it to arrive Christmas morning? Maybe leave Him a few cookies and milk as a thank you, but that would be it. No more Jesus until we wanted something else. Like Santa’s bottomless bag of toys, Jesus would grant our every want and desire according to the list we sent Him. And Jesus would always give us what we asked for; we would never have any doubts about that.

Unfortunately, for some people this distorted version of Jesus is not that far off from the Jesus they serve, or rather the Jesus that serves them. Their fabricated ‘Jesus’ is more like a fairy godmother, someone who appears only when they need something, and is not unlike children who think only of Santa at Christmas when they’re waiting for him to deliver their presents.

Like kids who think they earned their gifts from Santa because they weren’t naughty is also similar to the belief of some so-called Christians who think they deserve heaven because they’ve been good or because their ‘nice’ outweighs the ‘naughty.’ Yet the Bible clearly says it’s nothing we do that grants us favor with God; it’s not works that save anyone; no one is good enough to be called righteous, no, not one. However, those false converts are not to be deterred, their ‘Santa-ized’ version of God’s Son dilutes God’s judgment, replacing it with the sparkly, glittery, warm-fuzzy, “unconditional love” God has for everyone.
I guess they missed all the verses about how much wrath God has for sinners.

You see, Santa is seen as the epitome of everything good and pure.

Jesus is everything good and pure. Even His holy wrath is pure, perfect, and totally deserved by every sinner.

Let’s do some more comparisons:

Santa works based off a list we send him. Jesus already knows our most coveted desires before we even know ourselves.

Santa gives us what we want. Jesus gives us what we need.

Santa instills no fear in the heart of anyone. Jesus is to be feared.

Santa is a magical fantasy, one that is shattered with the realization that he is just that- a fantasy. Knowing Jesus, on the other hand, is often magical, but He is not an illusion. However, you do have to be on guard for the lies that say Jesus is also only a product of someone’s amazing imagination. But once you’ve experienced Jesus’ power you’ll have no doubts of His realness.

Beginning right after Thanksgiving, parents take their kids to the mall to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what they want, yet hardly any parents teach their children that God wants them to crawl up on His lap and talk to Him. But even that produces the thought of another good thing, on the endless list of good things, about Jesus; we don’t have to wait all year to send Him a letter in the mail or go visit Him at the mall, because we have a direct line of communication with the Father and the Son that is open 24/7 and is faster than email could ever hope to be. Prayer.

No, Jesus is not like the boisterous, Jolly St. Nick we so often see around town this time of year, but Jesus should be seen as approachable as Santa. He did, after all, give His life for us. The least we can do is boldly approach Him with our gratitude.

So the next time you’re out rushing around the glitzy department stores for gifts, remember there is one gift no man can manufacture; the gift of Jesus. And Jesus is oh, so much better than the fantasy of Santa Clause. Jesus is real, alive, and longs to be the focus of our lives.