Trying to follow

This is the third time I am trying to write this post to clarify where my thoughts and views concerning my financial lessons come from. The reason I felt it was important to try and do this was because I feel like a few readers have misunderstood what I am saying and I want to try and make sense of it. Let’s just say I haven’t found the right words yet. Here is my third and final meager attempt.
I feel like some of what I have shared of views on finances have come across as a masochistic, vow of poverty, money is evil standpoint. That is not what I have intended by the things I have written.

I am not a masochist. I don’t like Pain. I don’t think Christ enjoyed pain either, yet for some reason he endured the cross. Like Christ there might be times we sacrifice at our own expense for the sake of others. When I say Christ calls us to give sacrificially I don’t intend 1) for that to be painful, nor 2) to do it for the pleasure of it being painful. If anything I am a hedonist. I believe God created us to love others and he has equipped us with the resources to do that in a lot of ways. I say we give sacrificially because we were created to.

I am not promoting taking a vow of poverty. Christ did say blessed our the poor, but I don’t think he meant we should all try to become poor in order to be blessed. I am not saying become poor for the sake of becoming poor. Yet, I should be open to the possibility that my following Christ call to love and give to the needs of others might result in my becoming “poor” by the worlds standards. Jesus did not tell the rich young ruler to “become poor” but he did tell him to sell all his possessions to meet the needs of those around him. I need to be willing to go there if I am going to carry out Christ call on my life to love those around me.

I don’t believe money is evil. When I say we should practice giving away our money with out so much concern for whose pocket it ends up in I don’t mean to do it because money is bad and you might as well stick it through a shredder. (I should have said buy a bunch of bottles of Root Beer and candy bars and leave them in odd places through out the town). Money is simply a means of trade. We should be sure not to elevate it too highly. God calls us to be a good steward of what he has given us, and I have every intention of doing so. God also calls us to love our neighbors and care for their needs, and I have every intention of doing that as well. These both involve money, but I don’t think they are in conflict with one another.

I’ll leave you with this word picture that hopefully will help you understand my perspective. One day your walking along and God shows up and says: “You are my child and you can have anything and everything in the entire world that you would like.” This is better then winning a million bucks, it’s better then getting a genie and three wishes, you can have ANYTHING. A couple of things to keep in mind though. God says you should love your neighbor as yourself and we’ve got 6 billion of them. He is also not going to make things out of thin air, what you choose is from what is available on the earth currently. The more I take the less that is available to others. And by the way there is a big line behind you (6 billion) of God’s children who are going to choose from what’s left when your done.
So what do you choose?

This week Ariah and Zach come to you very clearly (maybe even from the same room). The topic conversations are on Soulforce and Socially Responsible Investing, to unrelated topics (though they both start with “S”) but a very interesting podcast nonetheless.

Please send your feedback and thoughts to ariahfine@gmail.com or call and leave an audio message at (615)349-1210 (and now you can even leave a reply message at Odeo).

or download here. (right click and choose Save link as…)

Some Brief Shownotes:

• Zach and Ariah share why they sound so clear on this podcast
• We talk about Soulforce.
• Particularly about the Freedom Ride to Wheaton.
• Why’s all this so important to Christianity and us Wheaton alum?
• Live phone call from last podcast’s Friend of the week!
• Zach shares the Myth of the Week (it’s about an egg).
• A brief discussion about Socially Responsible Investing.
• Are SRI’s better then making lot’s of money and giving it to good causes?
• Friend of the Week: ____ _______ (You’ll have to listen to find out.

I’m back at my Bible reading and I’m currently finishing up the book of Job, which is no easy task. Like I’ve mentioned before I’m reading through The Message translation (or paraphrase) which is a little easier on the noggin when your trying to read through the whole thing. Even at a good reading clip it’s gonna take a little while to get through Job.
Job is a very long book (by my calculations it’s the sixth longest book of the Bible behind: Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Genesis and Ezekiel). Given that it has to be the longest dialog in the entire Bible, going a good 40 chapters. And it’s pretty much an argument no less. It’s full of Job pleading his case to his friends and questioning and doubting the ways of God. Job’s friends aren’t really the best examples of comforters, but they do hang out for the discussion. I guess I just sit back after reading this book each day and think, “you know it’s okay for us to have questions.” I think we need to acknowledge that and allow other people that reassurance too.

Mindy recently received the spring issue of Christian Journal of Nursing (the subscription, a gift from Wheaton College). The particular theme was about issues men face in the field of nursing. It seemed like it had potential for some interesting discussion, but a lot of what we read disgusted us both. I’ve decided to take two sections from the magazine (one today, one later) and post them along with my commentary. There was a lot more we could address, but I’ll just start with these.

Men [in nursing] report they have to be careful in their conversations and action with female colleagues because they don’t want to appear paternalistic or sexist. -Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner from “Reverse Discrimination?”

I find it fairly disturbing that a women would feel this is worth noting. I personally (regardless of my field of study or audience) NEED to be careful to not BE sexist or paternalistic. Let me explain. One, whether a man is in nursing or in the locker room should not be a factor in the statement above. Two, this statement shouldn’t even be exclusive to men; women also should not be sexist nor paternalistic. Three, isn’t it much more important that we not BE sexist than simply not “appear” sexist? You can “appear” as unsexist as you please, but if you really aren’t sexist, then the need to “be careful in their conversation,” should not be a problem at all. Is it just me or does that statement above reek of sexism?

Obviously, if I am going to critique that statement, I should make an attempt at providing an alternative that addresses the issue. The paragraph is hinting at the idea that there are biases held against males and that has made it difficult for those males in the nursing field. Yet, the reason those biases are there is because there is and has been a lot of validity to them. I think it’s important to acknowledge that first. Then it seems appropriate to note that many well meaning and very forward-thinking guys may have been perceived a certain way because of the biases in nursing. Finally, it’s important for those males to recognize that this is just a teeny tiny taste of what so many women had to go through and still go through in our society and that it is a small price to pay for their opportunity to join, grow and learn from these amazing women.

Here’s my quote:

Though there is still sexism and paternalistic tendencies in health care and in our society that reinforce our biases and stereotypes; some of the most well-meaning men have felt misunderstood and wrongly judged based on these biases. Fortunately, many of the males in the nursing field realize this is only a glimpse of what their female colleagues and predecessors have faced in sexism and they are more then willing to work through it and learn and grow from their experiences. I, especially with my women’s liberation tendencies, need to be more open to the fact that some men share my views, rather than misinterpreting and judging them.

Stay Tuned for part II

This seems to be book review weekend for me.

50 Facts That Should Change the World is one of the best “social awareness raising” compilations that I have seen in a long time. Jessica Williams does an amazing job of writing concise and thorough chapters on important issues you might not know about. Each article contains a ton of notes that you can reference if your interested in learning more about the issue, and there are usually practical tips on how you can get involved in making a difference in that issue.

What issues might you not have heard about:

• THERE ARE 27 MILLION SLAVES IN THE WORLD TODAY
• CARS KILL TWO PEOPLE EVERY MINUTE
• MORE THAN 70% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION HAVE NEVER HEARD A DIAL TONE

There are 47 more that will challenge you and convict you. I would highly recommend picking this book up from your library or bookstore and commiting to read one chapter a day or a week. It’ll be well worth your time and I don’t think you will ever be the same.

I’ve wanted for quite a while, to help put together a book similar to this. I’m still working on it and gathering interested writers. The final product would be somewhat similar to what Williams has put together except that there would be more personal accounts and an appeal to taking action that is directed specifically to Christians. Ideally we would create pamphlets about the different issues and encourage churches to put them at their information tables. If your interested in this project please email me.

Christianity Today Review of 50 Facts…

50 Facts Video