If I had a million dollars A.K.A Maybe I should not have a million dollars

  Every once in awhile I read a verse of scripture that I can not get out of my mind.  I will be walking down the road and it comes to mind (I don't walk down the road that much though).  I will be taking a shower and it comes to mind, eating and it pops up, playing a video game and it sneaks back in.  When that happens I usually need to write about it or preach it or  I will never be able to move on, so here you go, if you stumbled on this you get to hear about a passage of scripture that has been working on me for a few weeks now.

   "See that you also excel in this grace of giving.  I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." 2 Corinthians 7b-9

  I'm not quite sure yet why this verse has stuck with me, its not the first time I have read it, but for some reason this time the idea that Christ, even though he had everything he could possibly need or want, gave it all up to walk around with us broken sinful people for 33 years has really hit me hard.  I think one of the reasons is because God is really working on an ugly idea that I have had in my heart and mind for many years now.  The idea goes something like this, "Why don't those people just do it themselves?"

    Do you ever think like this?  It is a pretty popular mindset among people, but the problem is if we claim to be followers of Christ it does not fly, and in fact I would go as far as to say that you can not claim to be a Christian and have that attitude.  Here is how God is breaking this out of me.

me- "Why doesn't that guy just get a job?"
God- "Jonathan, though Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that Jonathan through Christ's poverty might become rich."

me- "That is ridiculous, how in the world do you expect me to to give money to her? She is probably just going to spend it on __________anyway"
God- "Jonathan though Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that Jonathan through Christ's poverty might become rich."

me- "I have already given all of my time to Church stuff this week I am not giving any more time or money or effort, today is my day off, they can do it themselves."
God-"Jonathan though Christ was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that Jonathan through Christ's poverty might become rich."

    What it really boils down to is this.  What if Christ would have had the mindset towards me that I often have towards those who are in need of my time, money, and general resources?  Somewhere a long the lines I bought into the idea that people who are well to do are well to do because they worked hard, and people who are doing poorly are doing poorly because they have not worked hard enough.  You know what?  Even if that is a true statement, as a Christ follower it does not matter.  We are not called to judge why someone is in the situation they are in, we are simply called to show the humility of Christ to others.  What if we applied 2 Corinthians 8:8 like this?

   "For you know the grace of (insert your name here) that though he or she was rich, yet for your sake he or she became poor so that you through (insert your name here) you might become rich."


    This is not a popular idea at all.  Christian's a lot of the time like the idea that God has blessed because of how good, and spiritual, and stylish we are, but here is the truth.  In God's eyes everything we do is dirty, broken, and poor.  It is only because we have been clothed  in the righteousness of Christ do we appear before our Father as rich in grace in mercy.  


  So how does this apply practically?  Here is one way I think it could.  We are all aware of the debate that is raging right now about the idea of government run health care.  There are arguments on both side that seem to make sense to me.  There are people who are dying in this country from stupid disease's that could easily be cured if they were caught quicker, and the only reason they are not is because they can not afford the coverage.  On the other end I can see what can happen when government has too much influence in an arena such as health care.  I have also heard the stories of other countries that do run their health system this way, and a lot of people are not happy about it.  So where do I land on this issue in light of 2 Corinthians 8:8?  It's pretty simple.  I think both sides are wrong, convenient right?  Really though, think about it.  According to the teaching of scripture who should be in charge of caring for those who can not care for themselves? THE CHURCH!  Who should be caring for the sick, the homeless, the poor, and the oppressed? THE CHURCH!

    Let me make my point very simple, I believe that if every Church as a whole was doing its job in the area of caring for the sick, hungry, poor, and oppressed  the debate over health care would not even be happening because we would not need it.    Now I know that I am young and idealistic, and there are some of you reading this shaking you head saying, "thats too simple."  I would agree with you to a point, it is too simple, because for far too long the Church has shunned one of it's greatest responsibilities and opportunities in this world.  All I know is this.  My stomach hurts anytime I ever hear a Christian say the phrase, "that's not my responsibility."because I always wonder to my self, "than whose responsibility is it?"

Imagine with me if you would a scenario.  A woman wakes up one morning and is sick, she has been sick for several weeks and it is not getting any better so she needs to go to the Dr.  There is a problem though, this woman is poor, she can not afford a Dr. and she knows that if she goes she will be paying the hospital bills for years to come.  What if instead of going to a hospital she could go to a Church that happened to have a hospital inside of it?  What if she could go to a building and find not only a professional staff of Dr's but also a professional staff of Dr's that follow Christ and administer what ever health needs she may have, completely for free!  The Dr's are Christians, the nurses are Christians and they take to heart the words of 2 Corinthians 8:8 and simply heal because that is what Christ would do.  What if those Dr's and nurses were being funded by the tithes and offerings of people like you and me who have no medical training at all, but realize that the words of 2 Corinthians 8:8 apply to us as well. If that scenario ever became a reality on a global scale a lot of debates that are going on right now would be silenced, and a lot more people would see the reality of the Kingdom of God here and now.

So how about you?  How do you apply the words of 2 Corinthians 8:8 in your daily life?  What steps is your Church has a whole taking to battle the problem of sickness and healthcare in your community?