…One is to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. — GK Chesterton

Samuel Kwon has written a great post, Poverty & Greed, about how we might, as the church, direct our anti-poverty movements. These are much needed words:

I wish the Christian movements would, in addition to calling us to fight poverty, call us to fight greed fearlessly, the love of money that tries to buy comfort in the form of nicer cars, bigger houses, newer kitchens, and (allegedly) better lives.

Of course, this is treading into dangerous territory — the realm of personal finances has become somewhat akin to the holy of holies into which others may only dare enter at great risk of bodily harm.

We have several friends who are involved in donor-supported ministries. Often, we hear from them that the stingiest donors are the wealthiest ones. While living in Orange County, we learned that many of the families who were in the most serious debt earned incomes that were well into six-figures. Our bigger! newer! faster! mindset pushes us until we have no margin left at all in our lives, and then we feel threatened or offended when asked to give even a meager amount to very worthy causes. Sometimes, it seems like Just Can’t Get Enough is the anthem we’re really singing in our heart and in our churches.

May we come to reflect the generous heart of God, living out the reality that Christ is our Shepherd and we shall not be in want.