Affluenza
Speaker: Jeff McNairn
Date: Jun 20, 2010
Series: Elements of Generosity
Key Passage: 1 Corinthians 8:13-9:15
There's a story of a man who one day was being baptized, but what made this baptism different from the others was that while he went under the water, he managed to keep one arm dry. The reason for this was that in his hand was in his wallet. Sometimes the hardest thing for us to let go of in our journey with Jesus is our money and possessions. It's no coincidence that, of all the topics spoken about in the New Testament, money is one of the most talked about. The reason for this is that Jesus knows money can have a tight grip on our hearts. For Jesus, the only cure for affluenza is a life of wild generosity.
There are a number of reasons why many of us like to give; one of those reasons is that being generous has a good feeling attached to it. Some people will tell you that generosity is addicting. Yet for some, having a generous spirit is difficult because we fear that if we give away too much then we will not have enough to provide for our families. The other challenge to our generosity is keeping up with the Jones'. We live in a culture which has a strong focus on the accumulation of "stuff" which means that the more I give away, the less stuff I can have. Jesus, in the gospels, challenges us that it's not about raising our standard of living but about raising our standard of giving.
A life of generosity is a life well lived because God is honored when we are generous.