Living Deeply

True Wealth (Rowan Williams)

Wealth is well-being. And well-being, for a mature human being, is the assurance of relationships that nourish you, the assurance of a future that is relatively secure, that is somehow protected against appalling disaster and deprivation. Wealth is the capacity to put down roots where you are and be at home with yourself and your neighbors.

If you understand wealth in those terms, then wealth ceases to be about endless material growth and becomes very much about how you create the kind of social cohesiveness and trustfulness that keeps societies going.

via www.trinitywallstreet.org

 

House Money

See, a funny thing happens when we really and finally realize our stuff is not really our stuff. We become free. Free from the pressure to impress (not just God, but other people too). Free from fear. Free to live and free to give. Free to give extravagently to our God and our likewise graced brothers & sisters. Free to risk everything, because we have nothing of our own. We are playing with house money.

The Untapped Power of Giving (Dallas Willard)

Churches that took seriously the kingdom of God would look a lot like training centers—training centers for life, a life interactive with God. Churches would be deeply immersed in giving every bit of their resources to doing good, to blessing their communities. It is pathetic, for example, that you cannot get people to give a tithe. If the Christians in this country tithed, the church would be awash in money and there would not be a single legitimate social need that couldn’t be met, at least in financial terms.