If you’ve been attending Redeemer over the past few months you will have likely heard Pete and others plugging the book - Uncomfortable: The Awkward Challenge of Christian Community. We’ve even written a review of it on the blog!
After reading the book, Mandy Hudson was inspired to go further, and to think about what it means for us at Redeemer to live uncomfortable lives. This month she has joined with Adele Dabrowski to write about Uncomfortable Wealth. We hope that you are challenged and encouraged by what she has written.
Uncomfortable Wealth
Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God.
Proverbs 14:31
One subject we really don’t like talking about is money, yet as western Christians we can easily take our wealth for granted.
There is poverty in the UK. By some estimates one in four people or 9 out of every 30 children is living in poverty in the UK. That’s a shocking figure for the world’s sixth largest economy. Three fifths of the population in the UK hold 80% of its income, However, globally there is much greater disparity. Most of us in the UK will still be in the top 25% of global income even if we rely fully on the UK welfare system. That’s still 3 times better off than most people in the world
Our relative wealth or poverty is an accident of birth, but how can we work to equalize the situation?
Taking wealth for granted
Adele and Richard Dabrowski lived in Mozambique as missionaries for eight years:
Before we lived in Mozambique, we had no idea what extreme poverty was like. Like most Westerners if I heard that a family of five or six were living in a two bedroomed house, I would agree with them that this was a case of overcrowding and they should be moved into a three bedroomed house.
Until, that is, we visited Noviane, the village next to our base. Here a two roomed house usually served as living dining and sleeping quarters for a family of up to 12 people, with an outside latrine - a hole in the ground surrounded by a bamboo screen. Cooking took place in the tiny patio over an open fire made of twigs. The richest people of the village were those who could afford a three roomed house made of bricks, unlike the others who saw their little mud and bamboo homes being swept away every year when the rains came, along with their few earthly possessions!
Eating one meal a day of rice, beans and possibly some tomatoes or tiny fish which Mama had managed to catch in her ‘capulana’ (something like a thin sheet) at 5 am that morning, was the norm.
I once took two ten year old girls out to a chicken and chips place, I noticed they ate half of the quarter chicken and a few chips. They then carefully wrapped the rest in the paper serviette and informed me that they were ‘going to share it with their family.’
I felt humbled! How much do we take for granted in our comfortable life-style? how often do we thank God for the food we have on our plates?”
I’ve learnt that we can never out do God in giving. He will provide for our needs as well as those we give to. To really appreciate the generosity of God we need to step out sacrificially just as Jesus was willing to do for us.
Gospel guided generosity
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
1 Corinthians 9:7
We recognise that everything we have, including our lives is a gift from God. He is open handed towards us so we must be the same towards others. Sometimes, there seem to be so many conflicting calls on our cash we feel overwhelmed and don’t know where it is best to invest the resources God has given us.
Here’s some good advice from Adele:
“As children of God, we cannot turn a blind eye to the poor of this world. But let us be sensible. First, let it be the Lord who guides us in the amount of our giving and supporting. Secondly, in the case of extreme poverty, it is a good idea to support projects that will change a whole village, or will provide people a chance to better themselves and eventually be in a position to be self-sufficient, plus help their own community. Projects such as well-drilling, farming or enabling students to undertake further education, thus guaranteeing them jobs, are well worth considering. Even a small amount on a regular basis goes a long way in poorer countries.”
In Matthew 25 v 31 – 46 Jesus tells us the parable of the sheep and goats. Let’s heed its message that, ‘Whatever you did for the least of my brethren, you did it for me!’
May we rise to the challenge to serve the Lord freely with the wealth He has given us.
Written by Mandy Hudson
Mandy is a member of our Redeemer Family, a teacher, and a contributor to Redeemer’s latest book - Stories of Hope. You can pick up a copy on a Sunday morning!
