GIVING OUT

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The king of all reality television is "Survivor." It was one of the first and it remains one of the most popular. For nine years American audiences have watched players outwit, outlast, and outplay one another in a game in which people are “voted off the island.” Double-crosses, alliances, tricks and strategies are all part of getting rid of others so that the winner is the last person left – the Survivor, who takes home a prize of $1 Million.

I wish I knew what it was about "Survivor" that bugs me. Maybe it’s the fact that it seems to tap into the “Survival of the Fittest, Dog-Eat-Dog” mentality that brings out the worst in our culture.

It’s not just a game. I wonder if we don’t sometimes think that to get ahead we have to compete. Outwit, outlast, and outplay is more than a catchphrase for a game show. It’s tapping into our worst fears as we struggle for our own way and for (what we think are) limited resources.

"Survivor" ends wrongly also. After all the alliances and backbiting, the game comes down to two people. A jury decides who will get the $1 Million. That’s revealed on a big final episode in New York, and the winner celebrates and all the losers are there to act like good sports. If "Survivor" is going to be true to its creed (Outwit, Outplay, Outlast) then I think the final "Survivor" should be left alone on the island with the $1 Million. After all, if the point is to get rid of everyone else, then really do it. Leave the winner with the cash and a note that says, “You got rid of everyone else. You outlasted them all. Here’s the cash. Now use it to get off the island.”

That would be a more fitting conclusion I think.

You won’t see a lot of giving encouraged on "Survivor." Not unless there are strings attached. I could comment on a game show and we could all walk out of here lamenting how horrid TV is and we won’t gain a thing. But let’s stop and ask ourselves how we escape the corruption of mindsets and worldviews that make us think the goal is to outwit, outplay, and outlast. For if we do stick to that sort of mindset and behavior in family, work, society, or church, we will find ourselves stuck alone with cash – and no one to share it with, spend it on, or buy things from.

The antidote to the poison of selfishness is giving. Giving is a discipline that develops our godly character. Last week we mentioned how we are blessed when we give in. We participate in heaven’s economy when we share freely with one another. Sharing with one another as church is the mission of God at work in this world. But God’s kingdom is always larger than his church. God is drawing in the outsiders and adding them to his church.

Giving Out means ...

Outflowing of God’s Grace

• It is a troublesome misconception that giving out is simply the rich sharing with the poor. Giving out is a grace that we all must participate in. If you have two cloaks and your neighbor has none, then you are the rich one. Give.

• 2 Corinthians 8. Paul praises the Macedonians for giving, not because they gave out of excess, but because they were poor. And Paul let them give because they had God's grace. Not because they were rich.

• Too often we apologize for asking people to give because we don't want to burden people who are poor or on fixed income. Etc. This is our misunderstanding of giving. We are never asked to do what we cannot do. We are simply being asked to do what we can do.

• How dare we not encourage each other to give because we assume that someone cannot afford it! Will we also say that we don’t want prayers because we aren’t sure someone has enough spirituality?

• When we make giving into a country club sport we are exalting our own abilities and focusing on the gold rather than the grace. Share what you have and are able – it’s the outflowing of God’s grace that counts.

• Billion dollar philanthropist says he had enough. His story would be the same if he had a thousand to give away. He had enough. He was giving out.

Caring about the Outsider

• Alien and stranger texts (Exodus 22:23, 23:9, Leviticus 19:33) – Israel was charged to treat the alien and stranger with respect. Don’t make them work on the Sabbath. Don’t enslave them. Don’t use them. You were once outsiders, so treat the outsider among you lovingly.

• Showing love to enemies and hostile - Matthew 5:44 – Love your enemies and pray for those who mistreat you.

• Samaritan being a neighbor ... The question is not “Who’s my neighbor?” but “How do I act like a neighbor?”

Outrage at poverty and injustice

• In God’s Law are little statutes that are to be obeyed not just because they are right, but they also discipline us to turn outward and pay attention to what’s wrong with the world. It rouses us from our slumber and the numbness that causes us to ignore what’s just not right with the world.

• Leviticus 23:22 – Don’t harvest the very edge or corner of your field. Leave it for the poor and the alien (outsider). It flies in the face of greed and gain and gives out. It leaves room for God’s Grace to Flow Out. When Ruth and Naomi are left without means they find a field owned by a man named Boaz who kept this rule and it made a way for them to survive. Boaz paid attention to what isn’t right about the world and gave outwardly and challenged the philosophies of greed, gain, and limited resources. We can too.

• Baby Bottle Campaign – a simple way to create a different kind of culture. Create an option for life.

• Service Camp – "First is Third." Why did our kids do that? It roused them out of the status quo of the world and pushed them into God’s Grace (not guilt) and it moved some of us too.
  • Why fast for 30 hours? Why sleep in cardboard boxes? Why spend time doing service work? Why eat the food that is served to people in starving nations?
  • They did it to understand and share the experience of the poor and others they’ve never met. They did it to get outside themselves and identify with those in need.
  • That sounds sort of like Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11)

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 7 June 2009

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