Rethinking "Reformed," Part 3Aaron BelzBill Rice asked how we know when we've given enough to ministry and to reaching the needy, and Ben Kaufmann wrote, "You have an awful lot of should in these essays without much how. Part 3?" So here are some thoughts: (1) Pray. No sacrifice should be made out of a feeling of guilt or compulsion. The Holy Spirit will lead you in the right direction if you pray faithfully and ask him, and your acts will arise as a natural response to God's grace. For me personally, the Holy Spirit has convicted me to assess my gifts. Hence the following… (2) Assess your gifts. Look for the ways in which you have been blessed. In my case, God has blessed me with creativity and linguistic intelligence, rather than with a lot of material resources. So I have come to believe my primary role should be to write, teach, and give counsel. Pray that you will find ways to satisfy God's warning, "to whom much is given, much will be required." Know that there are many ways to be a "rich man," and that the onus is on you to find out how God has gifted you, and to make your blessing available to those in need. I believe the Spirit desires to crush everyone's heart (lovingly) in one way or another. Somehow, you must be broken and have your priorities reset. (3) Remember that there are many legitimate gifts, within and outside of the Church. It is encouraging to read I Cor. 12. The question is not "is my gift legitimate?" but "How can it be put into service for Christ?" I now believe that it is not okay to put your gifts and talents into service for just anyone, in any capacity – you must assess the telos. See what the end product will be, what it is you have contributed to. The members of the body are many, and diversely blessed, but the bride's purpose is not complicated. (4) Know that it is not wrong to work in a trade for a time. Remember that Jesus himself was a carpenter until he was 30 years old. All the while, the Spirit was preparing him for three blazing years of ministry. A good friend of mine, Jonathan Barlow, likes to talk about the "seasons of life." Jon is 26, and working full time to support his family; one of his boys is autistic and needs care six days a week. Pray for them. There is nothing wrong with Jon's decision to support his family; he is ministering to his son. (5) Ask the Lord to examine your lifestyle. In my experience, no matter what a person's gifts are, there is never a good reason to live in comfort when your neighbors are deprived. We must learn to live frugally and by humble means if we are to be an effective witness for Christ in this world. I sense that the question will arise "How humble is humbly enough?" Just pray that the Spirit will give you peace. If your heart is going in the right direction, you will not be comfortable living well, because you will remember the poor. (6) Don't hold yourself to high standards. Let the Holy Spirit take care of that. You will never be able to live up to your own standards, no matter how scripturally sound they are. (7) Live by the Fruit of the Spirit. It is critical to remember that no gifts are properly exercised without love, joy, and hope. Mercy is never to be done as an act of self-justification or human religion. It should flow supernaturally from Christ in our hearts. The fruit of the Spirit are inextricably intertwined with our acts of mercy. I have spent a lot of time over the past few months researching family history, in the hope of writing some essays or a book on the life of my grandfather, Max Belz. Grandma handed me a shoebox of letters from the late forties, before Grandpa went into "full-time ministry." He was a student at Dubuque at the time. Some of them are fascinating. (I mentioned them in the second essay.) Anyway, here's a quote from a 1946 letter; I think his theology was on target: "This afternoon the Bible class ended in a vigorous argument on the Tithing question. Two were angrily denouncing the advisability of Tithing, and about ten, including Smith, were red behind the ears in defending the principle. How close to our hearts is the subject of money! "The nineteenth chapter of Matthew, dealing in particular with the rich young ruler, teaches a strong lesson. It is a lesson for you and me. Al Sigafus, my roomie, last night told me he was troubled about his savings . . . since he felt at times that all or most of them should be given now towards foreign missions. We search in vain for any leniency from Christ on the giving question. The tenor of all his teachings is DO MORE DO MORE DO MORE. He came not to destroy, but to fulfill the law." I hope we will recognize that the question is not "how do I know when I've given enough?" but rather "how do I know where to start?" Life is all about getting the ball rolling, prayerfully following the Lord's guidance on such matters.
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