I was reading my newest issue of Relevant Magazine, and in particular was reading the cover story article, “Laying It Down: Learning to Live with Less in a Culture of Excess.”
When we consider this idea of loving our neighbor as ourselves, and we try to reconcile that with the American dream, we hit a wall. Because right now the average American is consuming the same amount as more than 500 Africans. When you think, “How do I love my neighbor as myself?” it becomes just impossible to do that within the worldview of the American dream.
But I think what’s exciting is that Jesus has another dream, and Jesus is offering us another dream. Where it’s not even just this ascetic simplicity—give up everything and be poor—but it’s this idea that God created an economy of enough. God didn’t create a world of scarcity. But we’ve created poverty and need by not living out this command to love our neighbor as ourself.
