I don’t.
I wasn’t aware of my selfishness until last week when I was able to visit a home of a woman and became an emotional wreck (my tear glands are getting a serious workout!)
The ironic part about this story is I had read about the Acts 2 church the morning of the unplanned home visit.
And I believe that one of the biggest differences between us and the Acts 2 church is that they believed that NOTHING was there’s and consequently met EVERY community need.
We on the other hand are like the seagulls from finding Nemo…
We are convinced that everything we own is ours and so we tighten our hands on our stuff. We not only say no to each other but we say no to God because after all it’s OUR CAR, OUR HOUSE, OUR JOB, OUR MONEY, OUR TIME etc.
The reality though is nothing you have is REALLY yours. Nothing you’ve “worked” for is REALLY yours. It’s an investment. A loan. A blessing. Grace.
I know that sounds crazy so let me put it in perspective for you.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been living in Mutare, Zimbabwe and have been volunteering at an organization named Tafara. Tafara is in an area of town known as Sakubva and in Sakubva you will find high poverty and living conditions that are unlike anything most of us have seen or experienced.
Tafara operates by food donations, and ministers and feeds orphan children every day. A small group of women from the community volunteer to prepare the meal for approximately 70 children and you can only imagine how much food you have to prepare for 70 (literally) starving children.
During one of my final days serving the children at the Tafara, the women volunteers invited my team to visit their homes in Sakubva.
I was amazed and humbled by the living conditions.
We went to the home of Margaret, and upon entrance into her small house she offered us tea, bread and jam.
“How could she offer us EVERYTHING when she didn’t have anything?”
We went to the home of Tatinda. She is a widow, has 5 kids, and has both HIV and tuberculosis. She lives in a house that is just wide enough to fit a twin-bed. She mentioned that she and 2 kids sleep in the bed and the other 3 children sleep underneath the bed. At the foot of the bed is a small bookshelf that serves as her kitchen. Just beyond the twin bed is a bed sheet that separates her family from the living quarters of another family. I am able to touch her front door and the bed sheet that separates the families.
And she offers us tea.
She offers us bread.
She offers us jam.
“How could she do this? How could someone with a house that is 6 feet wide, offer me EVERYTHING?”
I often wonder what the world would be like if we all operated like Tatinda because I believe when you operate like nothing is yours, it’s easy to give and share everything.
I think this is how Jesus wants us to view the kingdom. Everything has been given to us, but nothing is ours. Everything we earn or work for is only possible because He loans it to us.
We all want to be like the Acts 2 church. Well, here’s one simple step. Let’s start by living like nothing is ours. Let’s loosen our grip on our stuff and see what God does.
I know it’s easier said than done but I want to try. I struggle with sharing [MY expensive camera, MY ipad, MY car, etc.] because well, they are expensive. I also struggle with sharing my time because I love to do what I wanna do when I wanna do it. What about you? Be honest.
What do you “own” that’s hardest for you to share?
Also, what do you think would happen today if everyone believed nothing they owned was theirs?
