The world feels pretty mean spirited at the moment. From the low skulduggery of politics to the grotesque selfishness of banks & business, the picture looks pretty bleak.
So as Christians, how do we respond to this? Do we become sanctimonious and self-righteous, filling our social media timelines with protest and jibes about the evil’s of this world? I suggest this is NOT the answer. Christians can be very good at expressing outrage against selfishness & injustice whilst at the same time being outrageously mean & meagre minded themselves! (Ok…it’s a cheeky point…but you know it’s true!)
The best way to counter bad practice is to demonstrate good practice. It’s always better to be known by what you’re FOR than against. Truth is, if we Christians really want to seriously do something that will challenge the selfishness that exists in our world, then instead of being outraged – we need to be OUTRAGEOUS! How? By being outrageously generous, outrageously kind, outrageously encouraging, outrageously honourable, outrageously extravagant and outrageously counter cultural! That’s how we’ll make a REAL difference.
Outrageous generosity is not just an aspect of the Gospel. It is the very heart of the Gospel. John 3:16 says ‘For God so loved the world that he GAVE…’. Jesus was OUTRAGEOUS in his giving. Think about it. He gave EVERYTHING. He emptied himself. He didn’t just tell us that he loved us. He SHOWED love. It was costly. It was sacrificial. It was painful. But for Jesus, we were totally worth the price he paid at the cross. He literally could not have given any more. It was the most outrageous love that the world has ever seen.
The Irish missionary Amy Carmichael once said ‘You can give without loving but you can’t love without giving’.
I dare you to be more like Jesus. Instead of being outraged by selfishness – be outrageously generous. That’s how you’ll change your world.
