SCARCITY OR ABUNDANCE
One of the really hard things about working for a small non-profit and about serving in the inner city is the huge disparity between the vastness of need and the dearth of resources. There's so much to do and never enough horses. My ambition is great but the bank accounts of the organizations I serve in are so miniscule. The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.
Whether it is as an executive vice president of a business development center, or as an elder of an urban church, or simply as a young Christian living in the city, I always feel like I have to feed 5000 with five loaves and two fish. Everyone under me at work is severely underpaid and overworked, asked to accomplish big hairy audacious goals with minimal or even non-existent budgets.
Meanwhile, at church we labor to keep up an old facility, nurture a growing cadre of young'uns, and fulfill the grand missions God has laid on our heart. But for as cheaply as we do everything, and for as generous as we are as a congregation, each year we spend a little more than we bring in.
I once heard a colleague of mine talk about "the abundance mentality" versus "the scarcity mentality." He argued that it is so easy to think that resources are scarce, and that when you think in terms of relative abundance, you can get down to the business of doing great things.
And I want to believe him. But I wonder sometimes. In following Jesus sometimes we end up in under-resourced communities, which, by definition, don't have enough to go around. God's miraculous provisions in such situations are, again, by definition, the exception and not the rule.
To be sure, it is a wonderful thing when God sends a grant in our direction at the last second, or a deceased congregant bequeathes her life savings to our church. But I wonder if God sometimes doesn't answer our prayers for miraculous provision so that we will learn to trust Him in times of scarcity, too.
In other words, maybe it's OK, instead of thinking, "y'know, we really do have it abundantly here," to sometimes just say, "y'know, we really are dealing with scarcity here." Sometimes, God does turn five loaves and two fish into dinner for 5000. But sometimes, I think, He just wants us to bring those five loaves and two fish, and know that even though they might only be enough for a handful of people, we're still willing to give them up for His purposes.
One of the really hard things about working for a small non-profit and about serving in the inner city is the huge disparity between the vastness of need and the dearth of resources. There's so much to do and never enough horses. My ambition is great but the bank accounts of the organizations I serve in are so miniscule. The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.
Whether it is as an executive vice president of a business development center, or as an elder of an urban church, or simply as a young Christian living in the city, I always feel like I have to feed 5000 with five loaves and two fish. Everyone under me at work is severely underpaid and overworked, asked to accomplish big hairy audacious goals with minimal or even non-existent budgets.
Meanwhile, at church we labor to keep up an old facility, nurture a growing cadre of young'uns, and fulfill the grand missions God has laid on our heart. But for as cheaply as we do everything, and for as generous as we are as a congregation, each year we spend a little more than we bring in.
I once heard a colleague of mine talk about "the abundance mentality" versus "the scarcity mentality." He argued that it is so easy to think that resources are scarce, and that when you think in terms of relative abundance, you can get down to the business of doing great things.
And I want to believe him. But I wonder sometimes. In following Jesus sometimes we end up in under-resourced communities, which, by definition, don't have enough to go around. God's miraculous provisions in such situations are, again, by definition, the exception and not the rule.
To be sure, it is a wonderful thing when God sends a grant in our direction at the last second, or a deceased congregant bequeathes her life savings to our church. But I wonder if God sometimes doesn't answer our prayers for miraculous provision so that we will learn to trust Him in times of scarcity, too.
In other words, maybe it's OK, instead of thinking, "y'know, we really do have it abundantly here," to sometimes just say, "y'know, we really are dealing with scarcity here." Sometimes, God does turn five loaves and two fish into dinner for 5000. But sometimes, I think, He just wants us to bring those five loaves and two fish, and know that even though they might only be enough for a handful of people, we're still willing to give them up for His purposes.
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