"With my genuine needs met but so many dollars yet unspent, shopping has become a stronger marker of freedom that voting, and what we spend in the mall matters more than what we're accomplishing together as the church. I am part of the problem, a contributing member of inequality. Every time I buy another shirt I don't need or a seventh pair of shoes for my daughter, I redirect my powerful dollar to the pockets of consumerism, fueling my own greed and widening the gap. Why? Because I like it. Because those are cute. Because I want that.
These thoughts burden me holistically, but the trouble is, I can rationalize them individually. This one pair of shoes? Big Deal. This little outfit? It was on sale. This micro-justification easily translates to nearly every purchase I have made. Alone, each item is reduced to an easy explanation, a harmless transaction. But all together, we've spent enough to irrevocably change the lives of a HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE. What did I get for that budgeting displacement? Closets full of clothes we barely wear and enough luxuries to outfit twenty families.
This is hard to process, so it helps to imagine standing in front of the families of my Ethiopian children, who were too poor and sick to raise their own beloved babies. As I gaze upon their hopelessness, I imagine them calculating what I've spent on clothing alone, realizing that same amount would've kept their family fed and healthy for thirty years.
What if all my silly little individual purchases do matter? What if I joined a different movement, one that was less enticed by luxuries and more interested in justice? What if I believed every dollar spent is vital, a potential soldier in the war on inequality?
The average human gets around twenty-five thousand days on this earth, and most of us in the United States of America will get a few more. That's it. This life is a breath.... We have this one life to offer; there is no second chance, no Plan B for the good news. We get one shot at living to expand the kingdom, fighting for injustice. We'll stand before Jesus once, and none of our luxuries will accompany us. We'll have one moment to say, "This is how I lived."
More than thirteen thousand of those days are over for me. I'm determined to make the rest count."
This is from a book titled "7" by Jen Hatmaker. A book that I put down a few weeks ago so I could finish "Kisses from Katie" (which I was enthralled with.) I opened "7" up tonight, and although I was supposed to be sleeping an hour ago, I continued to read.... God is changing me, claiming my heart, and my focus. I know that I am not where He wants me, but I know I am on the journey. What am I really willing to do, to give up, to sacrifice? What does God have in store? Jen Hatmaker's few paragraphs capture what my spirit is screaming, but my flesh can't understand....
What I budget for my groceries for 2 weeks would send over 600 children in Uganda to a Christian school, complete with supplies, uniforms, basic medical care and 3 meals a day... OVER 600!!! Seriously? And what's even crazier is that my family could be sustained for those 2 weeks on what we have in our kitchen right now!
God strip me of the excess. Help me to see it for what it really is and to not believe the lies. Silence Satan, so I can only be moved by you. Break my heart for what breaks yours, and use me in any and every way to expand your kingdom.
http://www.amazima.org/sponsor.html
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