Jesus and Foolish Generosity

We were always told to leave any cash or anything of value behind when we went out on the streets in the Cass Corridor area of Detroit. Over the period of three years in high school I took three trips to that section of inner-city Detroit, where we spent time serving at homeless shelters, talking with people on the street, and more. It was an eye opening experience for a kid from small town Minnesota. I learned a lot about serving the Lord and took some huge steps in my spiritual growth during those times. But the rule about not carrying cash and not giving to the homeless always felt somehow off to me.

On those trips and in general church life we were taught that you really shouldn’t give money to a homeless person. More than likely they’d spend it on drugs or alcohol or something along those lines. Be generous, sure – give them some food, the coat off your back, a ride somewhere, just don’t give them money. Doing that would be unwise since they probably won’t use the money wisely.

This training, along with so many others that I received both explicit and implicitly from the Christian culture that I grew up in seems to pit “wisdom” directly against the words of Jesus. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus says:

To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Luke 6:28-31

Give to everyone

The sermon on the mount seems to be Jesus’ vision of what a world looks like when people walk in step with the Spirit of God. He outlines a radical counter-culture that pushes us past what makes sense in a world where wisdom needs to be completely redefined. I mean, you don’t get much more radical than a statement like, “give to everyone who begs from you.”

I can confidently say that the word everyone actually means everyone, so Jesus literally means that every time someone begs for money or food or help from you, give to them. There were drunks and drug users and people who were homeless from sheer laziness in Jesus’ day, yet he says “give to everyone who begs from you.”

Where the leaders of the synagogue advocated wisdom and caution in generosity, fiscal or otherwise, Jesus simply says, “give to those who ask of you.”

But he doesn’t stop there. Jesus gets even more radical, declaring, “from the one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.”

Wait. What? When someone steals from you don’t insist that they give it back? What about restitution? What about the rule of law? What kind of society could function if the caught thief was allowed to keep what he stole?

Our idea of wisdom screams that that kind of living is foolish. There needs to be punishments in place to keep bad things from happening. There needs to be justice. People need to be held responsible for the bad choices they make.

The problem is, our idea of wisdom is wrong.

Wisdom vs. Jesus

Biblical wisdom can be boiled down to rightly applying God’s truth to daily living. Our wisdom is generally fear disguised behind good principles wrongly applied.

We don’t give money to the homeless person because we fear somehow being complicit in providing them access to drugs or alcohol. We fear being taken advantage of in the future so we demand restitution when stolen from. We fear further abuse so we refuse to turn the other church and instead demand justice.

The truth is that Jesus is wisdom. Following Jesus’ commands and imitating his ways is rightly applying God’s truth to daily living. Paul makes this explicit in 1 Corinthians 1:30 when he writes, “because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

Jesus became wisdom to us. For us. Let’s not pretend we have a right to pit his words against some plucked-out-of-context Proverb or culturally conditioned opinion and call the one that makes us more comfortable wisdom.

If Jesus truly is the son of God, living the life of God on earth then he’s the one who knows how to live wisely. If he says “give to everyone who begs from you,” then that is what it means to live wisely.

Being Wise

Let’s not let our cultural assumptions define how we live. Let’s be people who take Jesus at his word. Let’s walk in wisdom and obey him even when it seems foolish and ridiculous. It wouldn’t be the first time God asks his people to do something weird. And it certainly won’t be the last.

Keep some cash on you this Spring and Summer. When you come across someone begging, don’t hold back. Give to everyone who asks of you. If someone steals from you, be radical. Don’t demand it back. Instead, call it a gift and give them even more, then pray God’s goodness on the thief.

Bless indiscriminately, just like Jesus does. Be like your Father in heaven who gives good to both the wicked and the good.

Let’s be people who, in the wisdom of Christ, live with foolish generosity.