Wednesday, October 8, 2008

10% God's

Christ told a lot of stories. He wove a lot of metaphors. Seeds on the soil. Prodigal sons. Vinyards, lambs, fish, lamps, treasures, camels. Jesus was always good for a story.

But when he said give away all you have and follow me, was that a metaphor? Was it his way of saying you should give up everything in your heart, and only love him? Was it a story about the man who gave up everything and followed him... teaching some other lesson?

I suspect not. He said it to a real person. A rich guy, who happened to be holy and good, who only had one last lesson to learn. Give it up. Follow.

Give it all up? I struggle with 10%! I don't know where the concept of 10% came from... but I've never managed to give away 10% of all I have. Sure, 10% of my time. That's kind of a tall order... 2.4 hours a day in service of others... but do-able. But I've never managed to make that shift to money and things.

And even if I succeed, what then? Can I then rest, knowing I've gone above and beyond? Paid my moral debt? Shouldn't what I give be based on, I don't know, what the world needs? Not some 10% rule? Hell, is 10% enough?

How much of what is mine mine? 90%? How much do I belong to God and the people around me? 10%? Perhaps I should give 90%, and keep 10% for myself. That sounds a lot more reflective of the reality of the situation. My success is about .5% my effort, with the other 99.5% being shared between the support of the people in my life, the systems in place within society, and the gifts given to me by the universe. Don't know if I can swing living on .5%. Not a bad goal, though.

Maybe I'll start with living on 10%.

2 comments:

SpinKick said...

When you say you are unsure where the concept of 10% came from, are you saying you just came up with it out of your head? Or are you referencing a 10% tithing? You went from ALL to 10% and I didn't follow. The question itself is good. So even though you have never been able to give away 10%, you are now going to try to give away 90%? I'm a bit confused.

Tim Huffman said...

Yes, the 10% is a tithing reference.

And its ok to be confused... so am I! There isn't really a conclusion. Its more just an open ended reflection on service.