Notice I didn’t say merely “give;” I said “sacrifice.” This won’t be easy, but the dividends it will pay—not just for the recipients of your sacrifice, but for you—are matchless.
You see, our hearts follow our money.4 As we saw in chapter 6, this is a dangerous reality for American Christians and a blind spot in American Christianity. We are an affluent people living in an impoverished world. If we make only ten thousand dollars a year, we are wealthier than 84 percent of the world, and if we make fifty thousand dollars a year, we are wealthier than 99 percent of the world. Meanwhile, more than a billion people live in desperate poverty, lacking food, water, clothing, and shelter. So how can we begin to fight the battle against materialism in an effort to spend our lives—and our money—on behalf of that which is most important to the heart of God?
In our discussion of how much is enough, we briefly explored what it would look like to set a cap on our lifestyles. We thought about how we might differentiate between necessities and luxuries in order to reduce our luxuries and give away as much as possible to meet dire needs around us. We looked at John Wesley as a historical example, a man who set a cap on his lifestyle for the sake of desperate need around him. So what might this look like in your life today?
What if you took the next year and set a cap on your lifestyle? What if you sought for the next year to minimize luxuries in your life? This might involve selling present luxuries or withholding the purchase of future luxuries or intentionally sacrificing resources you already have.
I emphasize that this would be a one-year commitment for you. I point that out because there are some expenses you could postpone for one year that you might not be able to postpone for ten years. There are some things you could do without for one year that maybe you could not feasibly do without for ten years. But what would it look like for you (or your family) to make intentional sacrifices over the next year for the glory of Christ in light of specific, urgent needs in the world?
The key word here, again, is sacrifice. The challenge is not just to give away excess stuff that you really don’t need anyway. That’s not sacrifice. Sacrifice is giving away what it hurts to give. Sacrifice is not giving according to your ability; it’s giving beyond your ability.
When you begin sacrificing, the question then becomes where you are going to spend what you have sacrificed. I certainly don’t want to recommend exactly where you should spend your money, but I will offer a few factors I believe are important when deciding where and how to give.
First, spend your money on something that is gospel centered. There are many organizations aimed at serving specific needs in the world, but people’s greatest need in the world is Christ. To meet people’s temporary physical needs apart from serving their eternal spiritual need misses the point of holistic biblical giving.
Second, and related to this, give in a way that is church focused. We will consider this in more depth in a moment, but suffice it to say here that it is not wise to bypass God’s primary agent for bringing redemption to the world in an effort to meet the needs of the world. His primary agent is the church.
Third, give to a specific, tangible need. For example, if you are trying to sacrifice your money generally “to give to the poor,” then you will lack a face on the need that reminds you why you must sacrifice to give. Related to this, give to someone or something you can personally serve alongside. The more you are involved with touching need personally, the more you will demonstrate the gospel to people authentically. So it’s best to connect your giving to your going.
Finally, give to someone or something you can trust. We are all aware of the abuses of charitable giving in our culture, and as stewards of God’s resources, we are responsible for giving to those who will handle our donation with integrity. Along these lines I also encourage you to give in sustainable ways. There are many wise and unwise ways to give to the poor. If we are not careful, we will spend our resources on short-term projects that do not have long-term effects. It is wise to spend on that which can promote long-term sustenance amid need instead of short-term satisfaction of need.
This is the third component of the Radical Experiment. For one year, sacrifice your money—every possible dollar—in order to spend your life radically on specific, urgent spiritual and physical need in the world.