Scarcity or Abundance?

Just heard Dan Wiens from Mennonite Central Committee talk this evening on the myth of scarcity and its dreadful impact on those impoverished in our world.

The myth of scarcity is believing that there is not enough money nor resources to go around, and this is why there are people who are poor. Believing the myth leads to great fear within the individual. Such fear causes thoughts such as these to take root, "I am going to run out. I'm not going to have enough. I must protect what I have." This kind of thinking, in turn, leads to tightfistedness instead of generosity.

Ironically, the myth of scarcity is lodged in the ethos of American culture which, as we know, is exceptionally well-to-do. We who are rich are the ones who worry most about losing what we have! This is in contrast to the abjectly poor in Mozambique who insist on sharing the little they have to eat - greens and native tubers discovered here and there in the countryside - with a group of Americans who have come to visit them. They will have nothing for themselves and their children tomorrow but they share extravagantly and with joy anyway. Most of us could do this for weeks on end without a single trip to a supermarket.

I suppose we lay under the syndrome of the farmer who built bigger barns to keep what he had and to store up more for himself (Lk. 12:13-21). God called this fellow a name, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" Jesus finishes up his lesson by noting, "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

A key for us who follow Jesus is to discard our belief in scarcity and instead embrace a new and biblical belief in abundance. Check this out:

• "See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance" ~ Job 36:31-32
• "How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights" ~ Psalm 36:7-8
• "You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance" ~ Psalm 65:9-11
• "You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing" ~ Psalm 145:16

Our God is about providing whatever is required for His Creation. He does not run out of gold and silver. He does not come up short on food or water or clothing. From thin air He can provide necessities for His children (Mk. 6:30-44). I think we believe this with our heads. I do not think we believe this with our hearts.

When we come to believe with our hearts that God is exceedingly generous, it frees us to be generous without worry. We can give and then we can give some more to those in need. And the Lord will replenish for us just what we need.

There is enough food in the world to feed the world. Distribution of food is the problem. Let us do our part in proclaiming the Lord's generosity by redistributing with joy, without fear, and with new confidence.

Evil III

I'm back already. I've been thinking more about this concept of evil being all about control. For instance, in biblical stories demons possess people against their will. The spiritual forces have control over behaviors.

The converse of this in the bible is the message that the Holy Spirit inhabits us when we are in relationship with Jesus. We become the temples of the Lord. If we give the Spirit permission and do not thwart His work, we are transformed over the course of years into Jesus' image and our behaviors become more like His. On the other hand, the Spirit does not work against our will. He will not control us. We can therefore choose disobedience.

God will not control us. What are the implications of this reality if indeed evil is about controlling human behavior and Good is not?

Evil II

I surveyed the New Testament in its use of the word, "evil." Granted, this was not an exhaustive search. However, I think I can make a few accurate observations about the nature of the word.

First, evil describes certain human actions. For instance, in James 4.13-17 we read, "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." Knowing that it is wrong to boast and to not rely on God's purpose for our lives and doing it anyway is an act of evil.

Second, evil describes spiritual entities that inhabit and subdue human beings. They wrestle personal control from people, cause them to be less than the Lord has created them to be, and incite actions that bring harm to the possessed and to others around them. We might say that these entities are all about control. (Is that the very nature of evil?) "When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones" ~ Mk. 5.2-5.

Third, evil characterizes the essence of the adversary. Jesus euphemizes thusly, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" ~ Mt. 6.13.

Fourth, evil describes behaviors that find their genesis in rejecting Christ and/or in embracing that which is of the evil one. Jesus says in Mt. 15.19, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." A heart out of step with the Lord produces actions that are outside of the will of the Lord.

Fifth, and somewhat more obscure, is evil that is personality-driven and intent on sabotage. Take a look below:

Mt. 13.18-19, "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart." The evil one recognizes vulnerability in a person who is on the verge of faith. He does what he can to keep that person from choosing the Lord.

Listen to Jesus' prayer for His disciples, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one" ~ Jn. 17.15. We can see in this that Jesus is concerned that His disciples will be hurt or misled by Satan and so He asks the Father to help them.

Romans 7.21-23, "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." Conscious wickedness is here appearing to keep Paul from doing God's will. It is unclear whether this is in the form of temptation, battling wills, or, most likely, that part of Paul that awaits sanctification.

Ephesians 6.16, "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." This reminds believers that life in the Lord is not without very real dangers. Trust in the Lord, however, is an antidote.

2 Thess. 3.3, "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." This final text seems to be frosting on the cake in regard to the idea that evil is real, intentional, and even bent on derailing us in faith.

Do you buy it?

My next question is about the reality of evil spirits - demons. Matthew through Acts are filled with stories of people being harassed or possessed by untoward spirits. The 21st century mind is relatively closed to this possibility. Have we really come to our senses in this regard?