"The God Of North America"

In his book entitled, "Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger: Moving From Affluence To Generosity" (pages 184-185), author Ronald J. Sider, briefly talks about the frugal lifestyle of John Wesley, pointing out that Mr. Wesley firmly believed in Matthew 6:19-23 — so much so, that he believed that Christians should give away all but "the plain necessaries of life." He believed in giving all income to the poor after bare necessities were met; "and he lived what he preached."

On page 185 under the above titled heading, ("The God of North America"), Mr. Sider asks this question: "Why are we so unconcerned, so slow to care? [about the poor]. Because, as he points out, we have too many idols in the form of material possessions. This is why it will be difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, as our Lord pointed out in Matthew 19:23-24.

He goes on to say, "We have become ensnared by unprecedented material luxury. Advertising constantly convinces us that we need one unnecessary luxury after another. Affluence is the god of twenty-first-century North Americans, and the adman is his prophet."

With all of the pop-up and embedded advertisements on the Internet, I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Sider's above assessment. There's seemly a never ending barrage of advertisements, either by email, Internet, or television, that tries to convince folks to "spend, spend, spend" their hard-earned money on material goods they don't really need in order to survive (note the necessities listed in Matthew 6:25-34).

Beloved, how much do we really "need" in order to survive? Answer: Enough for one day  ..... for tomorrow is not promised (Proverbs 27:1; James 4:13-14). Today is all we have. Can we not afford to share what material blessings God has so abundantly blessed us with this day in order to help the poor in our community, both Christian and non-Christian? 

Indeed we can and must (2 Corinthians 8; Galations 6:9-10; cf. Ephesians 4:28). The spiritual principle of selfless giving that Paul repeated and our Lord emphasized in Acts 20:35, still holds true today.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets