What is something you lean on for your source of happiness? Is it your spouse? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Food? Netflix? Your warm & cozy bed? Clothes? Friends? These are all great things. However, I have found myself leaning on some of these things for happiness a little too much. Food is a major one. I love cheese, pizza, Mac n’ Cheese, goldfish, cheezits, etc.. Living in the city (Kathmandu) I’ve been able to indulge myself with some of my favorite foods, it’s comfortable for me.
There are so many things we don’t even think about of which we are putting before Jesus, but it’s actually consuming our lives. American culture is obsessed with food, we’re always talking about it. We’re addicted to sugar and dairy products etc.. Face it, we are OBSESSED. God gave us food for nutrition to simply keep us alive and healthy, it is something we have corrupted. “Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry’” (1 Corinthians 10:7). I am starting to wean myself off of all livestock products (meat, dairy, eggs) for four reasons: Biblical reasons, health, environment, and compassion. I want to live off a plant based life style eventually so that I can live off of The Lord more.
In India there was this elderly woman that I prayed over who wore a Hindu idol around her neck. She said she was Christian but had been having nightmares so turned to this necklace for safety instead of Christ. (Side note: Hindu is the prominent religion in India and is in fact engraved into their culture. Therefore, when people convert to Christianity they often still inhabit Hindu traditions because it’s how they’ve grown up and it’s what they’re comfortable with. Many who become Christians struggle changing all of their ways). I explained how this idol could open a lot of doors to the enemy and that she should depend on Jesus instead. It was something that she had grown up knowing and it was hard to turn a different way.
That really is true for a lot of us, we don’t realize we have idols but we do. What if we were just stripped of everything: clothes, heated/air conditioned house, electronics, any kind of food, etc.. Which way would you turn? Would you turn to The Lord or would you become bitter? Job had it all and God allowed the enemy to take everything away from him. Still, Job stayed faithful to The Lord. Would you still find joy with all of your materials taken away? Do you have true joy in The Lord or is it because He has given you so much so you get joy just from what He has given you? Yes, we should thank The Lord immensely for providing, but are you worshiping those things? “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10).
My team mate, Makennah, and I were talking about how people back home tend to live equal to their means. Let me talk about the body of Christ, which is something The Spirit has been speaking to me a lot about lately. We are all apart of one body. Just like a human body, there are different units, but each part is needed for one reason or another. It has really grieved my heart recently how the body of Christ has become possessive of our money and other objects. We are supposed to help one another bring the kingdom as much as possible. However, there are those of us who are followers but are not acting as part of the body, they are being independent. “My money is mine, my big house is mine, my nice car is mine.” Nothing is mine, it all belongs to Christ. “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ Says the teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless’” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV). It all belongs to helping the body grow. The other day I was spending time with a little friend of mine here in Nepal. We went to a store and he bought us both some candies. He told me, “to give is to get.” He’s 10 years old. A big part of the Nepali culture is giving, it amazes me. If you GIVE here on earth, you will GET the kingdom.
Many of us can give more than the 10% every Sunday morning. “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And Gods grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were NO NEEDY PERSONS AMONG THEM. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses SOLD THEM, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4: 32-35 NIV). Yes, please provide and take care of your family obviously, for they themselves are part of the body. However, does a kid really need as many toys as the average American child has? Do you get and get and get? Or do you give and give and give? American culture is all about getting, we love to show others our new toys. But what about the other part of the body of Christ who are suffering? What about those who are willing to risk their lives in dangerous places to bring kingdom? Are we able to send them? In Acts, one who would make much financially would give financially to those who were willing to go out. In fact, the church was EXCITED to send Paul off to the field. They thought, “if someone else will go then I’ll gladly help send them.” Some people today think that being a missionary is fun or something. However, it’s really hard sometimes. I haven’t had a washer and dryer, oven, vacuum, or anything fancy like that for the past 6 months. I haven’t had a real shower in almost 2 months. I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss American FOOD. But I have become accustomed to this new life style and when I get home I’m going to use all the fancy things as much as possible while I can. There has been a movement of young missionaries and some see it as, “oh they just want to travel.” It’s a concept that makes my blood boil if I’m being quite honest. We are finally having this awesome movement in America and now some believers are turning their nose up. It’s the enemy getting inside of our head. Every tribe and nation, we are all one through Christ. All this to say, whenever you have the opportunity to give, I encourage you to do so.
Lately I’ve been seeing extreme poverty when going to the slums and I wrote a little bit about it from their point of view.
Just surviving.
Is eating an option tonight or will this stomach be abandoned once again?
The mud in the backyard is a reminder that this house is not on stable ground.
It would collapse at the breath of another earthquake, stirring up even more polluted air in this dust bowl.
Payments are due the land Lord concerning the four walls and roof, the nakedness prevails.
the streets will inherit another cracked ailment.
A few rupees a day, leave little peace in these streets?
Soles of these feet have evolved into calloused upholstery.
Souls are drained of every last bit of hope, only fear resides.
It’s getting cold, chapped legs turn to white ash, as does the rest of this corpse.
Scars share the story of a child who was abused like a dog by a drunk father, neglected like an orphan by a discouraged mother, beaten like a drum by peers.
Urinate wherever convenient, would there ever be enough finance for a hole in the ground?
It’s scary really, going days without eating, stealing became the resolution.
However, the victim finds out.
Ribs are bruised.
Scalps are lacerated.
The source of walking is broken in half.
But who is the victim?
Is it not the starving individual?
How much longer will this purge endure?
Glazed eyes unveil the secrecy of which caste.
Once on a tv in a shop, there were those who were living like kings in the West, no problem, everything desired is received.
This lifestyle is normal though, it’s everything known to this mind.
If only there were people who cared, who were generous, and kind.
The slums have literally just changed my perspective on life entirely. I am unsure if I could ever go back home and live there for long. There’s so much darkness in Nepal that I, being a believer, could bring light to. There’s so much hurt that I could help heal through Christ in me.
Dear family/body of Christ,
I love you all dearly. It’s time for us to all unite in the gift of giving. It is a privilege that The Lord has granted us. Are you willing to settle for a smaller house, an older car, clothes from thrift stores, less kitchen items? Are you willing to give so that kids in Africa can eat? So that children in Nepal can have shoes? So that the kingdom can grow? Let’s stop living for our short life on earth and let’s start thriving for the eternity to come. The Lord has blessed us so much and I am so thankful for my things at home. But I just hope I do not idolize them for they are all worthless in the kingdom of God. I hope this does not come off manipulative. It’s your own choice, but I just want to encourage you in the gift of giving.
