Did you know if you have running water, a roof over your head, clothes to wear, food to eat, and some means of transportation, that you are among the wealthiest 15 percent of the world? My guess is this is going to include just about every single person reading this. So, congratulations, welcome to a very affluent community. Perhaps you never thought of yourself as being rich and are excited right about now.
Would you maintain your excitement once I reminded you Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48)”? As you read through Scripture, you will find the unmistakable call for us to live with radical generosity. We have been made rich to serve the needs of others.
Are you still excited to be wealthy knowing the reason for your wealth is so you can give it all away? We are called to live radically in every area of our lives. We are to be a people who live differently from the culture around us. Instead of hoarding wealth, we are to give with radical generosity, a generosity so extreme it looks foolish in the eyes of the world. What a privilege we have been given, not because of our wealth, but because of the opportunity we have to give it away to others!
As I look around the world, I cannot help but fall on my knees and thank God for the blessings He has given me. He has placed me in an area where starvation is not a daily reality. Medical care and financial assistance are available to those in need. Shelter is available to the homeless, and I can freely worship, share Christ with others, and own a Bible without fear of serious repercussion. I’ve never known true hunger or thirst or been without clothes on my back or a roof over my head. I am blessed indeed.
Yet it is so easy to take all these things for granted. Unless we are intentional about remembering our blessings and giving thanks for them, it is easy so to not even consider how great our blessings are. One sure way to not take all we have for granted is to give it away. Radical generosity is about holding so loosely to the blessings God has entrusted to us we are not only willing to give them away but eager to do so.
The early church did not have a single member in need because the followers of Jesus didn’t consider anything to be their own, but rather as something to be shared (Acts 2:44-45). How might we change the world if we were to adopt the same attitude? What if we considered none of our possessions as our own, but rather tools to be used to build the Kingdom of God? What if we shared all we had with those in need?
You and I have been blessed beyond compare. About a third of the world lives on $2 a day or less. That equates to an annual salary of less than $800. We are indeed ridiculously wealthy. Since we have been entrusted with much, much is expected of us. It’s time we began thinking differently about our money and our stuff. It’s not ours to hold, it is ours to give away. Let’s be foolish in the eyes of the world knowing we are doing what Jesus has called us to do. Starting today, let’s all begin to give with radical generosity.