How Crumby is Your Theology?

 

For The Citizen newspaper "From the Minister's Study"

                Is your view of God, your theology, crummy? Or is it crumb-y? Perhaps I’d better explain the difference.

                I was environmentally friendly before it became a “thing”. Those three R’s? I am by nature a conserver, looking for ways to preserve and repurpose resources. It is a challenge for me to make a trip to the dump and not bring home something that looks just too useful to be thrown away. Does anyone else out there share this struggle?

                As a member of the Boomer generation myself, I grew up with parents who weathered the Great Depression as children. This left its mark indelibly upon them, prompting them to be conservers. My Dad had a welder – he built his own milking parlour – so of course any extra metal was kept in reserve: “Might have a use for that some day!”

                Perhaps genetics had an influence as well. My forebears originated from Scotland, and the people of that nation have a reputation for being frugal and thrifty (if not downright cheap!). Perhaps a result of having to survive in the relatively inhospitable climes of the rugged highlands or the windswept barren Hebrides.

                So my go-to approach to life in many cases could be labeled a “scarcity mindset” as opposed to an “abundance mindset”. I am prone to accumulate clutter, to hoard; it is very hard for me to throw things out that have become a little damaged or worn. While this might help me survive as a castaway on a desert island, it can be hard to live with a family member who is a skinflint, who never wants to spend if one can “make do” with what one already has, someone who is always looking for the least expensive way to do something, who finds it hard to be generous. A conserving attitude can quickly deteriorate into greed, covetousness, resentment, and miserliness. Our children suffer if we never open our hands and bless them by lavishing love on them, and there are many times when ‘love’ of course translates into material provision.

                We can even be tempted to project this frugal attitude onto God. But that would be a mistake... The Bible does not portray the Lord as a skinflint. God is the Creator of all that is, He “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment”. (1Tim.6:17) To suppose otherwise would be to have a crummy theology.

                Jesus taught that His Heavenly Father was good and giving, seeking to bless His creatures. We see glimpses of this in Jesus’ seminal Sermon on the Mount. He says God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. He prompts us to just ask to be given our daily bread. The Heavenly Father feeds the birds and clothes the grass which is so impermanent, so will much more provide for us. Jesus confidently speaks of a heavenly Father who gives good gifts to those who ask Him. (Matt.5:45; 6:11,26,30; 7:11)

                One of Jesus’ classic parables features a vineyard-owner who hires workers at various points throughout the day. When it comes time to give them their wages, those hired last, who worked only an hour compared to those who laboured all day, are paid just as much. When those hired earlier protest this perceived injustice, the owner points out he paid them as expected: “I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you... Are you envious because I am generous?” (Matt.20:14f)

                At one point, Jesus tests a person who turns out to have the correct perspective on God’s generosity. A foreign woman begs Jesus to drive a demon from her daughter. At first He resists, because the primary focus in His earthly ministry has been to preach and minister to God’s Covenant People, the Jews in Palestine. He uses a word-picture, that it’s not right to toss the children’s bread to the dogs. Yet the woman has too profound an insight into God’s nature to be put off. She replies, “Yes, Lord – but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” (Mark 7:28)

                In other words, God is a God of generosity: He offers a surplus that spills over to others. There are crumbs to spare. He lavishes love unstintingly. This is not crummy theology but crumb-y theology: the Mighty One has crumbs abundant to spare. God is kind and good, not stingy. He calls us to be generous too. As Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)

                C.H. Spurgeon once said, “God is satisfied with Himself, and sufficient to His own happiness. Therefore, surely, there is enough in Him to fill the creature. That which fills an ocean will fill a bucket; that which will fill a gallon will fill a pint; those revenues which will defray an emperor’s expenses are enough for a beggar or poor man.” The Apostle Paul clung to a similar promise of a God who is good and giving: “...My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Php. 4:19) Let’s experiment – let’s share some of our “crumbs” with others as we have had our own needs provided in the past.