Materialism

The next time Kamera Youth Ministries will meet for Focus is, Thursday November 30th. I decided last night while I was in bed that I would start posting on my blog a general synopsis of our next Focus service at least a week out. I figured this would be a great way to let the community respond and help with the service if they choose to.

Materialism is what we’ll be talking about on the 30th. It will also be our last sermon for the Theology of Switchfoot Series. Our next series is A New Way. I am stoked about our service on materialism, Thursday night. It’s interesting how hard it is for me, at times, to dig into God’s word but once I do it rejuvenates me.

So, Philippians 4:10-23 is the section we’ll be working out of. Here’s my running commentary on it:

Paul is writing to the Philippians while he is in prison. The part of the letter we are looking at is the end of the letter, where Paul is giving thanks to the Philippians for the “gifts” they sent him through Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus was the messenger from the Philippians. No doubt, Epaphroditus showing up was probably one of the “gifts” that Paul was thankful for, but he also is grateful for the financial gift that was sent. We believe it was a financial gift because of the financial terms and metaphors he uses in verses 17 and 18.

Though Paul makes it certain that he is thankful for the gift he also is very clear that the gift was not necessary. Two reasons for this: one being that during the ancient times it would be normal to see Charlatan philosophers on the street corners of major cities, like Philippi. Charlatan philosophers were dressed like philosophers and were usually successful at gaining a crowd who would listen to them, do what they said and also provide financial support for them (reminds me of the “philosopher” in History of the World part 1). These philosophers were known as being “crude” and often people gave to them out of respect of their “cloth” or because they were afraid of what the philosophers would say about them. Much of what Paul did, could look similar to what the Charlatan philosophers did, because he often used philosophical platforms for evangelism. Paul did not want the similarities to cause misunderstanding, which it probably would have if he depended financially on the churches, though he undoubtedly believed receiving money from the church was his right (1 Cor. 9).
Reason two is that Paul wanted to make sure that the people in Philippi knew that he was content in all situations, not because of their financial gift or because of the visit from Epaphroditus, but because of God’s love for him. He also makes it clear that his work is not dependent or motivated by their financial support. His joy is not dependent on his physical comfort but rather he has learned to be content in every circumstance. Stoic philosophers used the word content (autarkes, in Greek) to mean “self-sufficient” which they considered to be the highest attribute or characteristic a person could have. Only, in Paul’s meaning, he finds sufficiency not in himself but in God (v.13).

“What does this all have to do with materialism?” you might be asking. I’m not for sure, but let me tell you what I think so far. There are generally two mindsets that Christians have towards money and wealth. Both are wrong J. One view is that money and wealth are given to Christians who follow God. I tend to believe that this is the kind of view that Joel Osteen would share (a giga church preacher…I hesitate to use the title, “pastor’).

The second view is a neutral view of money that says, “Money can be used for good or evil.” This view would say that wealthy Christians have a powerful tool which can be used for good. My actions tend to prove I believe this view, though I don’t want to and am working it out. Why don’t I want to believe this? Because the Bible tends to cause me to believe that Christians should be very cautious about entering wealth.

We are warned that wealth can tempt us to believe we are self-sufficient and are our own God. Proverbs 30:8-9, encourages us to ask only for our daily bread. God promises destruction to the King of Tyre (Ezek. 28:5-6) whose wealth has caused him to be prideful, God also reminds Israel that when he fed them in the wilderness they turned from him (hos. 13:6). Jesus is very clear about how Christians should be cautious with wealth. He blesses the poor, and states how difficult it is to reach heaven with wealth. Though there are wealthy people who are indeed Christians in the old and new testament, the list is short. Wealth is so cautioned because it has the power to sway people into acting unrighteous and can convince people that they are self-sufficient and takes away reliance and dependence on God. We should use the money we receive for good and pay attention to how we use it and to the role it plays in our lives.

Christians who have wealth (practically every Christian in North America; Richard Foster says anyone who has enough money to buy a book is wealthy in relation to the rest of the world) and must use this “unrighteous wealth” to survive should follow the example of Paul and the church in Philippi. Each of the examples show people who are not attached to the money they own. The church in Philippi accrued an amount of money and gave it away to Paul, generously (Paul states that they paid over what “full payment” was) and Paul was content (despite being in prison) without the financial gift and without the gift of the presence of a friendly supporter (Epaphroditus, the messenger). Both examples show people who handled their wealth reflectively.

So often, in America, we accumulate wealth and bring it into our homes without reflecting on it’s potential unrighteousness. We bring it in without thinking about it, period. Paul reminds us that the best way to handle the possible deception that wealth brings is to reflect on it, and give generously to those in need, especially those in the faith (Gal.6:10) and then provide equality among God’s people. This makes us agents of God’s grace and blessings to others, not blessed “do gooders” who have earned wealth due to our relationship with God. Jacques Ellul states, “There is one act par excellence which profanes money by going directly against the law of money, an act for which money is not made. This act is giving.”

Take away the power of money by giving it generously to those in need and learn to be content in every situation.

I received a lot of help on this passage from the NIV APPLICATION COMMENTARY.

Swiss Family Robinson's Abode

This is a picture of "The Robinson Castle," I guess. We don't really have a name for our house, but if we did it would be cool to have a name from the middle ages that sounded kind of "knightish." We should probably build a mote before we start naming our house after a knigt or a castle.



Here's our living room...inside our castle. Castle's aren't as big as you thought they were. Next week we'll try and include a picture of the snow capped mountain you can see from our living room window...sweet.

Being Real And Alive

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be and feel "real and alive." We all long in some way to feel real and alive. Many students that I have worked with often have gone to things that cause themselves pain or cause other people pain. I do the same thing. I'm not a "cutter," or anything like that but I seek out pain for myself and others often in search of that feeling of being real and alive. It's weird that pain causes those feelings, it's weirder that we seek out other's pain to feel that way. I would like to share some different things that make me feel real and alive that don't cause me or others pain. These are the things that I will try to do and to think about when I am looking for that feeling of being real and alive:

- eating lunch with Kim at her hospital
- going for walks with Kim
- throwing the frisbee to Bailey and going for runs with him
- talking with my brother and engaging in conversations with him and my parents
- surfing with Drew (my brother)
- being creative
- spending time with students in our youth ministry
- "partaking in the eucharist" (taking communion)
- watching movies with Kim and sitting by the fire
- playing guitar
- riding my longboard skateboard (more on this later)
- hiking, backpacking, being outside, running, etc.
- journaling, writing
- taking Kim on a date
- looking at pictures of my beautiful and smiley wife
- spending time with good friends
- cold air on my face, driving the car with the windows rolled down
- listening to music

That's it for now.

Two Hands

Have you ever gone to the bathroom in an airplane lavatory? I have. I had an interesting experience in one here recently.
I had just finished up (#2) and I was attempting to take some toilet paper off of the role. Unfortunately the roll was so full that it was not unrolling easily. After a few minutes of tearing off a tiny piece of tp (it kept tearing off everytime I tried to unroll it) and bashing my elbow up against the side of the lavatory wall several times and after much groaning I finally figured out what my problem was. I needed to use both hands. I joyfully discovered that if my left hand rolled the tp and my right hand pulled that I could unroll up to six sheets of tp before it would rip (a personal airplane lavitory record). It was fun, I guess. It was certainly exciting to me.
I realized after I washed my hands and went back to my seat and held Kim's hand that there are times in life when we need two hands. Not necessarily our own two hands. Kim and I had received some "rough" news about "baby angus" (our baby due in April) and we were both having a difficult time getting through the day.
We needed each other's hands. Hands that offered comfort, encouragement, protection and hope. It was then, sitting in my seat holding Kim, that I realized how important community is. Talking with our family, church family, and friends was encouraging to us. They offered hope, prayer, and the presence of true love (God) when we needed it most. We needed another hand to be there with us and help us "wade through the crap," if you will. Sometimes we need two hands.