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Don't Forget!

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Jesus:

When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:12-14).

This applies to more than just dinners and banquets. In all that you do, in all areas of life, we are to give special attention to helping those who cannot do anything for us in return.

It is interesting that in Matthew 7, the people who expected to enter the kingdom but were turned away had done many “mighty works” in Jesus’ name (Matthew 7:21-23), whereas in Matthew 25 the righteous who enter the kingdom are described as those who met the concrete  needs of “the least of these” (Matthew 25:35-40).

It is not the way you treat the great that shows the state of your heart before God, though it is of course important to treat everyone with respect. What truly shows the state of your heart before God is how you treat those who are in no place to do anything for you, if you do it for Jesus’ sake.

These are tough words, if you think about it. So don’t forget. Live your life in such a way that it is filled with all sorts of actions and activities and other good works that you will not be and cannot be repaid for here on earth. And, if you do this from faith and by the Spirit, “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

The Christian Ethic

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Jonathan Edwards:

Let us, to this end [that is, of love], be willing to do, or give, or suffer, that we may do good alike to friends and enemies, to the evil and the good, to the thankful and the unthankful.

Let our benevolence and beneficence be universal, constant, free, habitual, and according to our opportunities and ability, for this is essential to true piety, and required by the commands of God.

This is an incredible statement. Note a few things.

First, we are to do good universally. That is, we are not to show partiality, but are to do good for those who have something to offer us and those that don’t, the “great” and the “small,” in biblical terms.

Second, this includes our enemies as well as our friends, those who appreciate what we do and those who don’t, those who are out to wreck the world as well as those who are out to change it.

Third, we are to do good constantly. Doing good is not to be a rare thing we do every few months. It is to be the steady employment of the Christian.

Fourth, we are to do good freely. That is, without thought of return, and from delight and a spirit of joy. We are not to act under constraint, but because we want to.

Fifth, we are to do good according to our opportunities and ability. Which means we are to maximize our opportunities and talents and resources for the good of others. We aren’t called to serve people with what we don’t have, but very often we can do far more than we think. Further, we are to even suffer in the way of doing good for others. In other words, if we construe the need to stay within our abilities and opportunities to mean “don’t sacrifice,” we’ve misunderstood.

Seventh, this is not optional. It is “essential to true piety.” We cannot say that we love God if we are not diligently and proactively and freely and habitually seeking to serve and do good for others. This is the mark of a Christian.

This is worth emphasizing, because it’s easy to fall into the trap of simply praying for others when we see them in need. When you have the ability to help, simply saying that you will pray but not actually helping is akin to saying “be warm and be filled” and then moving on (James 2:14-17). Further, prayer is not by itself a mark of a true relationship with God (Matthew 6:5-8). It is possible to be a person who prays all the time and yet doesn’t lift a finger to concretely, practically help others (Matthew 23:4-7). God is not impressed with such people. Prayer is essential and critical (Matthew 6:9-15), but without an active disposition to do good for others, it is not a mark of a true and living relationship with God.

So, in conclusion: this is not optional! Let us be universal, constant, free, joyful, habitual, proactive, and energetic in doing good for others, without restraint or discrimination, for the glory of God.

Stinginess Results in Having Less Resources, Not More

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It’s counterintutive, but true:

“A stingy man hastens after wealth, and does not know that poverty will come upon him” (Proverbs 28:22).

On the other hand:

“One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered” (Proverbs 11:24-25).

This applies in all sorts of ways to all sorts of areas, and it’s not just about money. We are to incline towards mercy and generosity in all of our dealings with people.

Generosity means that when you do your work, you do it to the best of your ability — you do more than is expected, not less. When you lead others, you seek their welfare and building up, and not just the accomplishment of tasks. When organizations create policies, their disposition should be towards serving and empowering their people, not first protecting themselves.

In everything we do, in all realms of life, our disposition should be towards service and generosity, rather than self-protection.

Ironically, one of the biggest threats to this is the quest for efficiency. Sometimes, the quest for efficiency can simply become a cloak for stinginess. That’s why I don’t hit the note of efficiency much on this blog — I believe that the best way to be efficient is simply to be effective. There is a place for efficiency, but be careful of letting efficiency balloon in to stinginess. Make it your first priority to seek that which serves others and benefits them; let efficiency be the second consideration, not the first.

And, in the end, you will find that this is actually far more efficient. “He who waters will himself be watered.”

Not to Seek Your Own, In a Selfish Sense, Is the Best Way of Seeking Your Own in a Better Sense

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I love these words from Jonathan Edwards (in Charity And Its Fruits):

If you are selfish, and make yourself and your own private interests your idol, God will leave you to yourself, and let you promote your own interests as well as you can.

But if you do not selfishly seek your own, but do seek the things that are Jesus Christ’s, and the things of your fellow human beings, then God will make your interest and happiness his own charge, and he is infinitely more able to provide for and promote it than you are. The resources of the universe move at his bidding, and he can easily command them all to subserve your welfare.

So that, not to seek your own, in the selfish sense, is the best way of seeking your own in a better sense. It is the directest course you can take to secure your highest happiness.

I would say that this might be the second most important thing I have ever read.

Don't be a Mrs. Splitplum

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A great word from Todd Wilson:

I never tire of reading Charles Spurgeon. Virtually everything I read of his I agree with and enjoy and find profitable.

How about this encouragement I came across this morning in his little book, Counsel to Christian Workers: Don’t be a Mrs. Splitplum!

Who, you may be wondering, is Mrs. Splitplum?

She was the wife of a grocer who always cut the plums in two for fear that there would be an ounce more plum than the buyer had paid for. She didn’t want to give a fraction more than was bought.

“Ah,” says Spurgeon, drawing a lesson from this quaint anecdote, “there are many Splitplums in religion. They do not want to do more for Jesus than may be absolutely necessary.” Just so much, but no more. Just what is fair and equitable in their service to the Lord.

Don’t be a Mrs. Splitplum is Spurgeon’s point. Instead, be like the woman with the alabaster jar of perfume who spent it not miserly or calculatingly or cautiously, but lavishly, extravagantly, indeed even wastefully in the service of her Lord (Matthew 26:6-13).

“Christ’s servants delight to give so much as to be thought wasteful, for they feel that when they have in the judgment of others done extravagantly for Christ, they have but begun to show their hearts’ love for his dear name.”

Thank you, Todd!