About a month ago my wife's family came to town. One night they were able to treat one of our housemates and her baby to dinner out. They started in their hotel room, where baby "Naomi" fell asleep immediately on the cushy bed, the likes of which she had never known. Everyone thought it was adorable how she sprawled out on the covers, as blissfully passed out as she'd ever been.
That is, until her mother, "Marina", tried to pick her up. The second she left the bed she started crying. Marina set her back down, and she fell blissfully asleep again. Tried to pick her up, and she cried again. This scenario repeated itself several times. Naomi could not stand to leave the bed - she had never had a resting place so soft.
It's sort of a cute story, but sad too. Naomi has spent all six months of her life in our home. It's not a bad place to live - probably middle-class by Thai standards - and many of our friends in Thailand are raising their babies in much more difficult circumstances. But it will never compare to the lifestyle our American friends enjoy. Naomi might never get to rest on a mattress like that again.
Since Naomi's time on the bed I've been thinking about the place of luxury a lot. What kinds of comforts do I desire for Naomi's life? What should I be praying for? What does God want for her life? How does he want me to respond?
I believe God wants us to have joy in this life. He wants us to enjoy the good gifts of His creation. But I don't think that means He wants a life of luxury for us. There are many warnings about the dangers of wealth in the Bible (Amos 4, Matthew 19:23, Luke 6:24, Luke 12, James 2 and 5, 1 Timothy 6:6-10). Christ asked wealthy men to give up their lifestyle to follow him, and warned that luxury may not be found on that path (Luke 7:24-26, 9:58).
In practical terms, it would not even be possible for the rest of the world to live like many of us do - Americans alone already use a quarter of the entire world's energy supply and a third of its automobiles, even though they are only 4% of the population. The rest of the world cannot be raised to "American" standards - there will never be enough water, food, metals, energy, etc. for everyone to waste stuff in luxury the way that the richest nations do.
So again, how do we respond? I still want good things for Naomi. So what do I look for? In Luke chapter 3, John tells the crowd, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” In Acts chapters 2 and 4, you see the new Christian community acting this out, for "all the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need" so that soon "there were no needy persons among them." Paul expanded this freely giving community across churches, imploring the richer congregations to give to those churches that were in times of need (2 Corinthians 8-9).
I don't know what kinds of beds God desires for Naomi in her future. I do not know what "comforts" He wants for each of our lives on this Earth. But I do know that if I am living in greater comfort than my neighbors, His desire is that I share that with them, all of my excess going to serve all of their needs, until all those I love are being blessed with those gifts at least as much as I am.
That is, until her mother, "Marina", tried to pick her up. The second she left the bed she started crying. Marina set her back down, and she fell blissfully asleep again. Tried to pick her up, and she cried again. This scenario repeated itself several times. Naomi could not stand to leave the bed - she had never had a resting place so soft.
It's sort of a cute story, but sad too. Naomi has spent all six months of her life in our home. It's not a bad place to live - probably middle-class by Thai standards - and many of our friends in Thailand are raising their babies in much more difficult circumstances. But it will never compare to the lifestyle our American friends enjoy. Naomi might never get to rest on a mattress like that again.
Since Naomi's time on the bed I've been thinking about the place of luxury a lot. What kinds of comforts do I desire for Naomi's life? What should I be praying for? What does God want for her life? How does he want me to respond?
I believe God wants us to have joy in this life. He wants us to enjoy the good gifts of His creation. But I don't think that means He wants a life of luxury for us. There are many warnings about the dangers of wealth in the Bible (Amos 4, Matthew 19:23, Luke 6:24, Luke 12, James 2 and 5, 1 Timothy 6:6-10). Christ asked wealthy men to give up their lifestyle to follow him, and warned that luxury may not be found on that path (Luke 7:24-26, 9:58).
In practical terms, it would not even be possible for the rest of the world to live like many of us do - Americans alone already use a quarter of the entire world's energy supply and a third of its automobiles, even though they are only 4% of the population. The rest of the world cannot be raised to "American" standards - there will never be enough water, food, metals, energy, etc. for everyone to waste stuff in luxury the way that the richest nations do.
So again, how do we respond? I still want good things for Naomi. So what do I look for? In Luke chapter 3, John tells the crowd, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” In Acts chapters 2 and 4, you see the new Christian community acting this out, for "all the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need" so that soon "there were no needy persons among them." Paul expanded this freely giving community across churches, imploring the richer congregations to give to those churches that were in times of need (2 Corinthians 8-9).
I don't know what kinds of beds God desires for Naomi in her future. I do not know what "comforts" He wants for each of our lives on this Earth. But I do know that if I am living in greater comfort than my neighbors, His desire is that I share that with them, all of my excess going to serve all of their needs, until all those I love are being blessed with those gifts at least as much as I am.
1 comment:
There was a lot more from the Bible that I wanted to share regarding this, but the post was long enough as it is. Please please ask questions if you have them and I'll talk more. ;)
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