How Little Can I Do and Still Be?

I have been on a journey over the past 2 years trying to answer the question: What is the appropriate standard of living for a Christian. Hottie with a body raised a similar question in on of his/her comments. Is it ok for a Christian to have a $300,000 house? I have come to a conclusion. It is the wrong question. The question is not is it ok for me to have a $300,000 house, the question is: is it best for me to have a $300,000 dollar house. This may seem like a small change, but it makes all of the difference in the world. The first question asks a a question that has been detrimental not only to the Church, but to society as a whole. It asks the question, how little can I do and still be? It is the question that has haunted mankind for centuries. It is a lazy man's question. Yet it echoes today: "how much money do I have to give to the Church?", "Do I have to know this for the test?", "Is this going to be hard?". This question is the bane of Christianity. If a Christian seeks to find any truth, and starts from this point, he or she is destined to fail. It is a sell out. The problem with modern Western Christianity is that is has sold out. It has sacrificed its uniqueness and its challenge at the altar of accessibility and efficiency. The problem is not that we have made it too hard but too easy! C.S. Lewis says that we are like children content to play with mud pies in the cold weather because we have no idea how wonderful a vacation at the beach would be. We settle far too easily. We have been slowly eroded not by some powerful attacking force from without, but by complacency from within. One of my favorite prophets, whom always inspires me, is Tony Campolo. He tells a story that vividly illustrates this point. 

He was on a mission trip in Haiti with students from Eastern University. They were visiting a medical facility that was horribly understaffed, and lots of people were dying. One student told Campolo that one day, he would be a doctor and come back to this place and fix it. Years later, Campolo ran into him on the streets of New York. The young student had become a cosmetic surgeon. He made sure that women had "self-esteem". He was in the process of telling Campolo about the magnificent Church he went to where he tithed 10%. Campolo stopped the young surgeon and told him that he was a sell out.  He asked the young man what had happened to the dream that the Holy Spirit had inspired in him.

How many stories just like that has our modern Church produced? We must fight this question. It is dangerous. Christ said that He came to give us life to the fullest. It is essential that we stop asking how little we can do and remain a Christian. There is no answer to that question. It is like trying to divide by zero, it simply can  not happen. There is no answer because it is the wrong question. It is a selfish question, and there is no room for selfishness in God's Kingdom.

I know that this post is getting long, but I must tell one more story. I know a professor at a medical school(who happens to have the most beautiful, and engaging daughter on the face of the planet) who complains of his med students asking the same questions.  They interrupt his lecture to ask if this information will be on the test. The test?!? These students are studying to become doctors! How could they possibly imagine that information they were learning in medical school would not be important? How could they only want to learn the information that will be on the test? The test is people's lives! They are asking how little can I do and still be a doctor. 

In the same way that this question is preposterous for a doctor to ask, it is ridiculous for a Christian to ask. It is simply irrelevant wether the information will be on the test. Is it a sin to buy a $300,000 house? What is 456/0? The answer is unattainable because it is the wrong question.