Why Am I Here?

Why did God choose to have you born in America when you could have just as easily been born somewhere else? This and other questions are explored in Episode 3 of the Rich Church Poor World Podcast.

Transcript

Rich Church Poor World Episode 3

Have you ever seriously reflected on why God chose to place you in America? Think about it. You could have just as easily been born in India, China or Ethiopia. Imagine how much different your life would look had you been born in one of those countries. Instead of driving to a well paying job each day you could be wandering dirty streets looking for any work available so your family can eat before the day is over. Instead of watching your children laugh and smile as they play in the backyard you could be holding them in your arms praying they don’t die from the infection the contaminated water they had to drink gave them. Instead of enjoying a rich devotional on the love of Christ, you could be living hopelessly in a nomad village where the name of Jesus has never been heard. Instead of casually walking into church ten minutes late every week you could be risking your life by sneaking underground to meet with fellow Christians.

            No doubt such thoughts lead us to great thankfulness, but for far too many of us that’s where the emotions stop. Think about it again. Why did God place you in America? Was it so you can enjoy every bit of the American dream and get a good warm up for heaven? Was it so you can enjoy all the blessings of living in the world's richest nation and keep them for yourself? Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We are not here by accident. God placed us here, in this time and place, so we can carry out the good works He planned for us long ago. Could it be that God intended for a portion of those good works to include sharing our abundance with those beyond our borders who have no hope and no future? 

1 Timothy 6:17-19 says “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.” Some of us may not think of ourselves as rich but the truth is, if you turned on your faucet this morning and had clean water coming out you are rich. If you went to the bathroom on a toilet today you are rich. If you opened your refrigerator and had non spoiled food to eat for breakfast you are rich. Studies show almost nine-in-ten Americans have a standard of living that is above the global middle-income standard. We may not be keeping up with the Joneses, but by global standards we are the richest of the rich. 

In light of our wealth, should we not be obedient to the instructions of 1 Timothy 6 to use our abundance to be “rich in good works and generous to those in need” or is this another part of the Bible we should consider optional? Jesus says “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21. 

Wow, here we are getting financial guidance from God in the flesh. The supreme being of the universe, the all knowing, omniscient God is telling us how to invest our treasure, yet in our “human wisdom” we have ignored His clear instructions and have poured our money into the empty things of this world. Rather than heavily investing in God’s kingdom, the average Christian in America only gives 2% of their income to the Lord’s work. The rest we spend on ourselves, because we are more influenced by our consumer driven culture than the commands of Jesus. Our actions show God the true desires of our hearts are not wrapped up in Him, but in the things of this world, for He told us our hearts will be where our treasure is stored, and clearly our treasure is being stored on earth, not in heaven with Him. 

The nearsightedness of our self indulgence will no doubt limit our blessings in heaven, but much more grave than that is the lost impact we could be having on those who have never heard the gospel or received a cup of clean water in the name of Jesus. Jesus loves these people dearly and so should we. He is the Shepherd that leaves the ninety nine in pursuit of the one lost sheep and if Jesus is really living in us, our hearts should have the same compassion for the lost.

There are approximately 3.2 Billion people still considered unreached with the gospel. The work is not done, yet it appears our resources are stretched too thin advancing our own earthly kingdoms to invest in God’s kingdom. Like the people of Israel in the days of Haggai the prophet we are living in “luxurious houses” while the house of God is incomplete. For the same reason God can justifiably say to us “You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are never satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot stay warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes” Haggai 1:6. 

What an impeccable image of our consumer driven society - no matter how much we have, we never seem to be satisfied. We constantly look for satisfaction in the “next thing” but always come up empty. We don’t realize that our actions amount to idolatry in the sight of God, for Colossians 3:5(NLT) says “Don’t be greedy. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” 

Hasn’t Jesus promised that if we seek first His kingdom we will have all we need? And doesn’t the Lord’s prayer start with “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done” before it says anything about getting our daily bread? Most of us have been living these teachings in reverse, chasing after the things of the world and fitting Jesus in where we can. As a result, we miss out on participating in the good works God planned for us long ago. 

But what can we really do? Most of us have families, jobs and responsibilities. Are we all supposed to give those things up and go into the mission field? For some of us the answer may be yes, but to say everyone must do so is a stance that is not consistent with scripture. The Bible makes it clear that full time evangelism work is a direct calling from God for specific people(See Ephesians 4:11). It’s true that we should all be looking for opportunities to witness, but we should also be in tune with our spiritual gifts and apply them accordingly. Satan has done a masterful job of limiting our perception of how we can contribute to the Great Commission in our everyday lives. Too often the only way we think we can share the gospel is by having awkward conversations with our neighbors and coworkers or inviting our unsaved relatives to church on Easter or Christmas Eve. There’s no question we should make these efforts, but if that is the extent of our strategy doesn’t it seem like the amount of spiritual fruit we produce for eternity will be extremely limited? 

The church is a body with many parts and those parts are to have separate functions. Are we all to be mouths or hands or feet? No, some of us are to perform valuable functions that are unseen, like a kidney or bladder. We seem to understand this when it comes to work within the church, but we fail to apply this when it comes to the great commission. All of us can play a part in the Great Commission and God has given us each a spiritual gift to be used in our joint mission. One of the chief reasons we have been failing is we’ve limited what it looks like to contribute. Those of us who aren’t gifted conversationalists or who have never been called into the mission field should not fall into the devil's lie of thinking we are sub par Christians because we’re not bold enough about witnessing in a verbal manner. If God hasn’t called you into the mission field or given you a special gift for witnessing then He has no doubt gifted you to serve in another primary way. 

On a broader level, we should examine our strengths as a whole within the American church. What do we have that so many other nations lack? What has God gifted this nation with that we can use to be a blessing to others across the world? How can the saints in America most effectively participate in the great commission? We’ve already accepted that most of us are not called into missions overseas so how can we reach the spiritual and materially destitute of Asia and Africa from Iowa, Kansas or Pennsylvania? 

            The answer is through financial giving. Think about it. All of us Christians in America are living in the wealthiest nation in human history. We have an economy, though it may seem flawed at times to us, that is the best in the world by far. We have access to jobs and high paying careers that should be used not only to provide for our families but to advance the gospel. This should be the object of our work, not to get rich or retire early. We should see the financial blessings we enjoy in this country as gifts from God that are to be used for Him in the same way someone who has been gifted with a beautiful voice should use it to glorify God instead of themselves. Afterall, who gave them the voice? And afterall, who gave us the money and the ability to make it? 

            Sadly, as a whole, we have strayed from this mindset in the American church. We’ve stopped seeing our financial blessings as a way to help others and we’ve grown addicted to consumption. We deceive ourselves and say the cost of living prevents us from having any extra to give to the Lord, but while the average Christian can only scrape up 2% of their income to give to the Lord's work, Americans find a way to spend 5% of our income a year on entertainment and 3% on apparel and services. Our cost of living hasn’t gone up as much as our desire for the things we think we can’t live without.  Our selfish living dishonors God, prevents the gospel from going out, and causes millions to go on suffering who could be helped in the name of Christ. 

            According to Empty Tomb, Inc, if Americans who profess to be Christian would have given a full 10% to the Lord’s work in 2015, and 60% of that was specified to go into international missions, there would have been an additional $109.3 billion available for international missions work, and most importantly a surplus of funds for reaching those who have never heard the gospel. Can you wrap your mind around what could be done with $109.3 Billion with a “B” dollars going into missions? Can you fathom how many missionary causes that would support? This is the incredible wealth that American Christians are hoarding instead of sharing.  All it would take is for the entire body of Christ in America to give the Lord the traditional tithe of 10% of our income. That’s it, just obedience to God on our part for an unparalleled world wide great awakening to take place.

            Let’s not stop there, it’s estimated that an additional $70 to $80 billion could address the basic needs of the world’s poorest people and with only $5 billion a year we could stop the 5.9 million children deaths that occur globally each year from preventable diseases. That’s over 10 million parents who could be spared from the horrible sorrow of seeing their beloved children die because we were too busy moving up in the world to use the money God has entrusted us with to help. I don’t know about you, but if someone came and provided medicine that saved my child's life in the name of Jesus, I would be very open to learning more about who this Jesus is. Keep in mind, we are not talking about every Christian in America selling their possessions to give to the poor, we are talking about the kind of impact we could have if every professing believer just gave 10% of their income to the Lord’s work.

            Doesn’t refocusing our mission on these tasks sound more like Jesus? He spent His time on earth preaching the good news to the poor, healing their diseases, and miraculously feeding them when they were hungry. Are we not called to follow in His footsteps as His disciples? As we consider these things and review where God has placed us, we once again see that for many of us the most effective way to participate is for us to give instead of go. To take advantage of our country's wealth and the lucrative jobs we have access to and use them for God’s kingdom through financial giving.