There seems to be a Bigfoot sighting or scheme every now and then, just in time to breathe new life into the mysterious legend. Of course the latest scheme from Georgia was a national sham on the perpetrators and the media by the time it was exposed. But the legend of Bigfoot is of course named for oversized plaster-filled footprints, thus the name.
I saw a very cool set of sandals on a website. When the wearer walked along the sand on the beach, the right sandal left the imprint, "Jesus" and the left sandal left the imprint "loves you." So everywhere the person left tracks, the simple message of Jesus’ love was left for all who follow. Our actions and our deeds are like the sandals in the sand. We leave "tracks" for others to follow. And when they "track" us, they learn something about us and the God we serve.Ownership. This is an area where our tracks can get pretty rigid. Ownership of land or any other item has been a powerful statement throughout generations. Ownership of land has divided people for centuries in nearly every culture and certainly on every continent. It has been used to determine who would have a vote or say in the affairs and policies of a community or nation. Ownership has been a source of pride and self-esteem. And if you really want to know how fiercely we cling to the idea of ownership, just let someone steal from us.
In our old neighborhood we were vandalized five times over the course of about three years. Each time it happened I felt violated. One time I even ran outside without my glasses and clothed only in my...well, let’s just say it wasn’t much! I chased down four thieves and eventually caught them. Later on I thought to myself, "What a stupid thing to do! What on earth possessed me to put myself in that kind of potential danger?" I know the answer: Ownership.
So what do we do with passages in the Bible that challenge that traditional world-view? What about Luke 6:27-36? What do we do with Acts 4:32-37, or 2 Corinthians 8:13-15. The list could continue on, but they all challenge us at the same level. How do we understand ownership in the kingdom of Jesus Christ? There is a phrase in Acts 4:32 that just blows me away: "No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own."
What strikes me from the extended context in Acts 4 is that not everyone sold their land or homes to give it to the needy. And not everyone kept their homes. But regardless of whether they sold them or kept them, no one claimed "ownership." They understood that everything we have belongs to God, and it is for his use, pleasure, mission and glory. We are stewards of everything and anything we have. Our influence, finances, time, and service encompass every resource we have. So what will we do with them? When I leverage my influence to help someone else, I am confessing that I do not "own" my influence. I do not have the final say over how I will use it. God is in control, and it is not just for my personal advancement.
In fact, we may actually give our influence, finances, time and service to others simply as a sacrifice for the kingdom of God. But look at how Jesus addresses this in Mark 10:28-30. His promise is that everyone who gives up "ownership" (or perhaps it is actually personal control) of these things will...
"...receive a hundred times as much in this present age, (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life."The church has sung a powerful hymn for over a century entitled "This is My Father's World." The Psalmist confesses that the world is the Lord's and everything in it. The cattle on a thousand hills are his. Ultimately, everything belongs to the Lord and we give him but his own. But when we share with others, it is simply one child of God sharing with another child of God what their father has given them.
- Don McLaughlin
