Possessing Nothing

The following quote is from Commonprayer.net:

Fifth-century monk and bishop Paulinus of Nola wrote, “We have no right to our possessions; they have been entrusted to us for the good of all. Let us then invest with the Lord what he has given us, for we have nothing that does not come from him: we are dependent upon him for our very existence. And we ourselves particularly, who have a special and a greater debt, since God not only created us but purchased us as well; what can we regard as our own when we do not possess even ourselves?”

Paulinas may be called a communist or socialist by many Christians in the U.S. today but I call him beautifully in-tune with God. Richard Foster would probably love this guy (author of the classics Freedom of Simplicity and Celebration of Discipline). The concept of investing with the Lord is one we don't hear often enough. Surely we are stewards of all we have and we know we ought to serve God with all he has given us but we rarely use language that propels the idea that we are working alongside our Creator and Savior when we surrender all we have to him and when we acknowledge, praise, and thank him for being our provider. Every step we take away from materialism, self-focus, over-consumption, entitlement, or absolute ownership is a step we take towards the kingdom of God.

It is imperative that we realize that the world and everything in it belongs to God (Psalm 24:1), that everything we earn is because of God (Deuteronomy 2:7, 8:17-18) and that we are not our own but His (John 15:19) and all these truths result in the knowledge that we have no right to absolute ownership or selfish living. Christians have no justifiable reason to refuse gifting those who ask if all this is true. It also leads us to the conclusion that Christians should never ask back what has been taken from them (Luke 6:30) and that if what they have is taken it is no trouble to give what they have left, be it their time, their clothes, or their very flesh (Matthew 5:38-42). The generosity of Christians ought to shock the world for it is grounded in the kingdom that is not of this world!

If we are to live out our faith we must first be convinced of God's truth. We must be convinced in our minds of concepts behind the commands like Paulinus was. Perhaps this why the Apostle Paul writes to the Church in Rome, "...be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (12:2). Let us be led God's truth, the gift of reason, and our faith in Christ. If we will not be led by these things then we shall fall into the pit of legalism and see only rules when we should see love. We will surely fail without embracing truth, reason, and faith for we will be leaning on our own strength and understanding (which is actually weakness and foolishness).