BLESSED?

A man returning from a short term mission trip to Haiti said, "It made me realize how incredibly blessed I am". 

I have heard similar things from others. It's a common reaction to visiting the third world.

But it misses the mark.

I would have no problem hearing, "I realized how wealthy I am." 

"How comfortable I am."

"How much security I have."

In fact, every one of those insights would be worthy of applause even. Perhaps these are what the man meant to say. 

But when we say "how blessed we are here in the U.S.", our language reveals a misguided and unbiblical feeling in our gut: that material wealth is a sign of God's favor. 

Here are two major points about wealth and poverty we must always keep in mind:

1) Material wealth can be as much a curse as a blessing. 

    Jesus said, "How difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven"! 

    And he asked, "What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" 

2) There is more than one way to be poor. 

    Americans, with our abundance of possessions, tend to be poor in relationships. 

    And since the Bible frames the whole meaning of life in terms of relationship - "Love God with all you've got and love your neighbor too" - to be poor relationally is more dire than being poor materially. 

The sweet spot would be to become rich both financially AND relationally. 😉

(Of course, if you truly hit that sweet spot, most of those financial riches would be funneled toward the many people you care deeply about, close to home and around the world.)