Resolution to “Spending God’s Money”
There is a personal conviction of where the line of “extravagance” is with all of us. Some missionaries choose to live in gated, guarded compounds, others choose to build a hut and live with the people. The judgments on this are so unique I question whether a principle can be gleaned here.
We would all agree that there is a line that is blaringly obvious when it is crossed. Luxuries such as Starbucks, movies, etc. are all personal uses of God’s money. The best I can offer is that a lifestyle of honoring God’s resources is being lived. There is an immense about of accountability from supporters and the vision must be the same on both ends. It makes a missionary’s day to receive a gift specifically noted to be “”no strings attached, go have yourself a good time.” Other than that, it’s up to the Spirit of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
What Really Matters
I didn’t experience this first hand, but studied a similar case study in an Ethics class I took in seminary. It is truly a crisis of beliefs and falls into one of these “grey” situations where there is no clear decision to make.
In the Hmong people group, gender roles are highly pronounced and women possess almost no freedoms whatsoever. This makes it particularly difficult to talk through matters of religion because women are not viewed as being able to form their own opinions and beliefs. On top of all that, folk religion and superstition hold people in fear and traditionalism.
In this specific instance, a married mother of three is presented the Gospel and receives Christ into her life. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of Christ and desires to live a life pleasing to Him. She is discipled to the point of being able to understand Biblical truth and begins to see through some of the evil practices and traditions of her family’s folk religion. She realizes that the sacrificial systems, religious study her children are subjected to and superstitious/witchcraft oriented belief systems are strictly anti-Biblical and desires to live without them.
In her world, however, she is not simply allowed to stop living this lifestyle.
She could leave the family of her own volition. It would give her the freedom to live out her life in a God-fearing way. However, women have no hope of making any way in this society and her life would be doomed to begging on the street – a life-impacting sacrifice but one which supports her new worldview.
In the Hmong culture, however, any children born in the family belong to the family. They are not the parent’s children nor are they in any way the woman’s children. They are groomed by the older generation for their life in the world and to abide by the traditional folk religious practices of the community.
This woman’s family is not supportive of her new beliefs. Should she in any way try to proselytize, she will be banished from her family forever. Her husband is not supportive and reacts violently to the news – after all she is a woman.
What does this Hmong woman do? Does she abandon her family so as not to live under the oppressive Satanism? If she stays, what advice can she possibly be given?
