The Cattle on a Thousand Hills

The other night, Melissa and I had the chance to meet with some folks from our church who had also gone to Haiti on a short term mission trip.  Before that meeting, we hadn't really known each other beyond familiarity of names - and had certainly never sat down to chat over a cup of coffee before.  It was a joy to get to know them and to see their heart for the hurting people of Haiti. 

We were impressed to find out that one of this couple's responses after returning to the States from Haiti was to sell their house and move into a smaller home in order to simplify their lifestyle and free up funds for ministry.  That sounds pretty radical!  But upon reflection, it's obvious that it's not unprecedented ... in Scripture.  Just check out Acts Chapter 4. 

By "chance" the next day I picked up a book and found these challenging words from Steve Moore in Who is My Neighbor: Being a Good Samaritan in a Connected World:

"The Bible clearly teaches that we are stewards and managers of what God has entrusted to us.  Though we struggle to apply this principle, most Christ followers would acknowledge all we have comes from God and belongs to God.  But practically speaking we live as if stewardship applies to our money but not our property, as if cash that has been converted into stuff belongs to us.

"Imagine the following example.  You spend a few hours online paying bills and balancing your checkbook and are pleasantly surprised to discover an unexpected cushion of $600 after your tithe and savings.  (I know you may find that hard to picture, but as I said, imagine.)  You have been eying a sale on flat-screen televisions for some time and know you can purchase one for $595.  In a matter of hours you have converted cash into stuff and are enjoying a movie in full HD with popcorn in the comfort of your living room.

"The next morning while making coffee, you turn on the new big screen to watch the news before heading off to work, only to discover a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti, leaving more than one hundred thousand people dead and two million homeless.  An already stumbling economy has been brought to its knees.  Before the day is over you have received emergency appeals from trusted relief and development organizations along with a dozen Facebook status updates from friends pointing you toward practical ways to help.  And you know they are not exaggerating because you can see the destruction in real time, with full HD.

"For most of us, one idea that would never even enter our minds while sorting out how to respond to this tragedy is that God might actually want us to return the television in order to free up funds that could be used to help.  We view money differently than property.  Forget about recent purchases and just think about all the "stuff" in your house (never mind the garage).  How could any of us really look into the face of poverty, whether caused by crisis, corruption, or logical consequences, and say I can't afford to do anything to help?  God's ownership stake does not end the moment cash is traded for a sales receipt.  In spite of the fact that our connected world, with online services such as Craigslist and eBay, has made it easier than ever to turn stuff back into cash, we tend to view money very differently than property, and it greatly limits our options.

"This is an unbiblical worldview when contrasted to how the early church viewed property.  "There were no needy persons among them.  From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need" (Acts 4:34-35).  The apostle John would later write, "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).  Perhaps we have too quickly and easily taken the exit ramps of rationalization and justification enabling us to pass by on the other side [as the Priest and Levite passed the injured man in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan].

"We quote Psalm 50:10, affirming God owns "the cattle on a thousand hills" as a word of encouragement that He is not at a loss in providing for our needs.  That is true.  But in an agrarian society, cattle represented a business owner's inventory.  We might paraphrase that verse for our time, saying, "God owns the inventory in a thousand warehouses." Why is that important?  Because this verse says as much about God's ownership stake (100 percent) in my property as it does about His commitment to my prosperity.  Every time our connected world offers us the opportunity to be Good Samaritans, we need to prayerfully process the decision about involvement based on total inventory, not just available money.  This subtle but powerful change in worldview opens the door to a life of open-handed simplicity and generosity, empowering us to engage more deeply with the issue-based passion of poverty."

By the way - Steve Moore's book is short but packed with good and challenging stuff.  I might have to pull some other quotes for future blog posts.