Money Habit 3: Spend Missionally

He's had the wrong person. Because he, in this story, is not the savior coming to heal a guy on the side of the road. He, in this story, is the man beaten, dying, left for dead. Jesus is the savior that has perfectly crossed cultural boundaries, that has used his resources, his power. He's the one that has brought salvation. And so we are the ones beaten on the road. And so at first reading of this story, it actually says nothing of what it seems to say, because at that level, it's not a story about going and helping people on the side of the road. [00:11:39] (51 seconds)  #WeAreTheBeaten

It's a story about being helpless and needing one to help us. We're the ones who the priest and the temple helper who's only interested in their own roles and responsibilities walk by and can do nothing to save us. This is a story where if we miss the point, we're looking at the wrong person. And so in that sense, the story says nothing of what it seems to say. [00:12:29] (38 seconds)  #HelplessNeedSavior

The question is, if that makes us uncomfortable, why are we comfortable that in a secular place we are free to earn the extra for our extra hard work? We have been taught things about a consumer world that we live in that we have just accepted and received and lived by those same standards. And we need to be careful of that. If we're the one who's called to give our all to God, then we need to break from the worldly identities that we often connect with. [00:19:01] (37 seconds)  #RejectWorldlyStandards

There's an idol of control, that we want to be the authors of our own destiny. And I think the more money people have, the more this is a temptation to believe the lie that they now have full control of their life. And the reality is, finances does give you some control over certain things in your life. And there are other things in our life that we will have no control over. [00:20:10] (25 seconds)  #IdolOfControl

One of them, Barefoot Disciple suggests what he calls the barefoot tax. That is, every time you decide to spend over and above luxury item on yourself, you pay the barefoot tax, and you give the same amount of money away. In order to break a consumer cycle, to say, I think I need this, or maybe I just want this, fine, but you need to save up twice the money now for that, so that you can also be generous in that moment that you seek luxury. [00:22:25] (32 seconds)  #BarefootTax

We do have those moments and we should be responding in those moments. We are the ones called to invest in mercy. This story of the Samaritan is not a story about finances, but on the other hand, it is because we see how he invests in mercy. He invests his social status. There's tension between Samaritans and Jews, but he doesn't let that be something that holds him back and he crosses over that cultural divide. He invests his own resources. It's his olive oil. It's his, well, he told he's bandaged his wounds. [00:28:05] (36 seconds)  #InvestInMercy

We have the consumer mentality as you go to the bank and find out how much you can afford for a house and then you buy a house based on how much you can afford. There's a challenge there to say is that the right question over what kind of house you should buy? Should you just be buying as much as you can afford or should you be buying what you need for the life of serving Jesus? [00:34:22] (25 seconds)  #BuyWithKingdomPurpose

It is important as we come to this story of the Good Samaritan that we come with the right recognisation that this isn't a story. The question, what must I do to receive eternal life? The answer isn't go and help people on the side of the road and then you'll be right with God. If you hear that in this story you've actually missed the point of the story. It's not saying what it seems to say in that regard that we truly are the ones beaten on the side of the road and the only way we can be saved is through the Saviour. [00:34:55] (36 seconds)  #GoodSamaritanReality