The people of our small network of house gatherings have made the decision to focus our way of doing on the teachings of Jesus and the way He and His early followers lived.
That decision is a primary foundation of our identity. Because of the focus on Jesus, specific things we do that are radically at odds with the traditions and practices of declining Western Christianity, don't have a radical feel for us. In fact, I have found that it is only in moments of reflection that I, at least, am even aware of how different we are from others around us who name Jesus as savior.
This week has been a week when the differences have become evident in a specific way as far as one particular practice is concerned.
To be brief: Our understanding of financial stewardship is radically different than it was when we were run of the mill CGGCers.
We find authority in Jesus' affirmation of tithing in Matthew 23. So, speaking only for me and my house, we respect that authority. We also find guidance in Paul describing the gift of giving, in 1 Corinthians 13, in terms of giving all I possess "to the poor."
Quite some time ago, we discontinued the practice of taking an offering on our gatherings. But, we ourselves continue to take the matter of giving very seriously, not to the church, but to the poor.
Yesterday, we became aware of a young couple, we believe to be in their twenties, with two children. The wife, we have been told, is dying of cancer. Her husband is taking a lay off from his job to care for his wife and children and they are facing eviction from the house they are renting.
In our gathering last night, we spent a lot of our time discussing how we can respond to this situation in the most biblical way.
We have money available and, if the story pans out, these people clearly would be counted among Jesus' "least of these".
As I have mentioned in the past, we often struggle with the question of what mercy is. Part of the answer to that question has to do with how you act in very specific ways in particular situations.
We are still working on understanding what, specifically, the Jesus follower would do in this time and place.
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The last part of the gathering was devoted to conversation about a traumatic event which will impact our group of gatherings as time goes on. More about that, perhaps, later.
Living lives of grace and mercy in community definitely has power.
ReplyDeleteAmong the people of the Thursday gathering, we raised a substantial amount of money and, because there is no congregational bureaucracy necessary to approve official actions, we were able to act immediately. Our financial gift was delivered within a day of the time the need became known.
AND, with the promise that it is very likely that more will be coming after our Sunday gathering meets.
Now, here's an amazing offshoot of our action. These people rent from two guys who are in business together. When the landlords heard what we did to help the family, they decided essentially to match our gift out of their own pockets
I have two thoughts:
1. This strikes me as the teaching of Jesus that we are the salt of the earth in action. That is a blessing to us, others in our gathering feel that even more than I do.
2. It also suggests to me the silliness of the suggestion in the CGGC scorecard that churches tithe their time, talent and treasure in mission. This teaching is not biblical. We will, as the song says, "give them all, give them all, give them all to Jesus."