If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3
“Generosity and love are complementary gifts from God. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says, “If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (NRSV). Love cannot be forced or legislated, but must be provoked by a love of our neighbor. I like to say, “When we truly love our neighbor as ourselves, capitalism as we see it today won’t be possible, but Marxism won’t be necessary. What we are talking about is a movement of people loving their neighbor as themselves. Jesus was not afraid to reach out and touch the poor and marginalized. He invites us to tear down the walls that separate us from the suffering in the world today.”
Shane Claiborne in “Generosity in Community” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, volume 18 (Richmond: ESC, 2016) 14-15.
One thing I love about Korea is how sharing is a deep cultural value. Unlike in America where the cultural norm is to focus on looking out for ourselves, on this my eighth trip, I am yet again blown away by Korean hospitality: a ride from the airport is set up for me, a room is provided for me, food is set before me in colorful and vast portions, and perhaps the biggest gesture is the love and respect extended to me as minister of the gospel. Why share this?
The Korean Church has challenges like the church in other countries, but more than any place I have ever been, it feels like a “movement of people loving their neighbors as themselves” as Claiborne notes. Today Dr. Wes Willmer (my mentor, friend, and fellow author) will spend quality time with Dr. Ho Chan Hwang of CCFK (Christian Council for Financial Transparency, Korea – the Korean counterpart to ECFA in the USA). Pray that we can love, serve, and encourage him well on our visit.
Ask yourself what it would look like to catalyze such a movement yourself. How would you handle possessions differently if your focus was to love your neighbor as yourself? Would you store up treasures on earth or deploy them to those in need around you? How would it change the use of “your” time (as if you possess it in the first place)? Living Christianly moves beyond ideologies like capitalism and socialism. It’s living life in the Kingdom here and now!