What Does Our Debt Tell?

 

 

 

In his book Mark recorded a story of a young rich man asking Jesus "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" … And Jesus …said to him, "…go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."   The question we have to answer is if you believe what you call your possessions are provided to you by God does he provide them so you can buy nice cars, live in oversize houses, go on vacations, retire and not work or so that you can help others?

 

John Wesley (1703-91) provides an example of how to see our possessions in light of the needs around us. Wesley once purchased some pictures for the walls of his apartment. It was a winter day when the department store delivered them. During the delivery a Chambermaid arrived at his door wearing only a thin linen gown for protection against the cold. Wesley reached into his pocket to give her some money for a coat; he only had a little left, not enough left for the purchase. Looking at his recent purchase Wesley wondered if the Lord was pleased with the way he had spent his money. He asked himself, "Will the Master say, 'well done, good and faithful steward? Thou has adorned thy wall with the money that might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?'"

 

The pictures were not wrong in and of themselves. However, it was very wrong for him to buy unnecessary decoration for himself when a woman was freezing without a coat.

 

We do not need to feel guilty every time we purchase a commodity that is not an absolute necessity. The point we can learn from the event in Wesley's life is that, our perspective on our possessions radically changes when we open our eyes to the needs of the world around us. When we look at the faces of those who have no food what is important to us will change.

 

Christians and congregations have put themselves so indebt they cannot afford to help those who need help.  Since the term Christian means "follower of Christ" does our indebtedness show we are not following Jesus and therefore are not Christians?