I've been thinking about this, since my wife and I began ministry to seniors at Sonlight CRC in Lynden, almost a year ago. We want to redeem retirement by encouraging volunteerism. So why would a person give their very selves in service? It seems to me that the true blessing is that giving ushers us into the Deep Reality of the economics of Kingdom Coming. It gives us a taste of the delightful economy on the new earth, where there will be no need for currency. We need money now because we cannot trust each other. In our broken world, where it is each one for themselves, the only way we can exchange our goods and services is by charging money for them, so that, in turn, we can "force" our neighbor to serve us by offering money to them. In such a world, we fear the loss of income because there is no free lunch.
But imagine a world in which love is made perfect, and therefore trust is the new currency. Imagine dairymen giving their milk away in love, and to be able to count on the fact that the grocer is also perfect in love, and therefore gives his groceries away for free. Imagine a world in which all goods and services are done freely, prompted only by love. This is what is coming our way...on the other side, in the new earth. And giving now gives us a taste of just how fun that will be. That is the real blessing of giving--it lets us taste that economy early, already on this side. And it is indescribably sweet. -Ken Koeman
Posted in: So What’s the Blessing From Giving?
I've been thinking about this, since my wife and I began ministry to seniors at Sonlight CRC in Lynden, almost a year ago. We want to redeem retirement by encouraging volunteerism. So why would a person give their very selves in service? It seems to me that the true blessing is that giving ushers us into the Deep Reality of the economics of Kingdom Coming. It gives us a taste of the delightful economy on the new earth, where there will be no need for currency. We need money now because we cannot trust each other. In our broken world, where it is each one for themselves, the only way we can exchange our goods and services is by charging money for them, so that, in turn, we can "force" our neighbor to serve us by offering money to them. In such a world, we fear the loss of income because there is no free lunch.
But imagine a world in which love is made perfect, and therefore trust is the new currency. Imagine dairymen giving their milk away in love, and to be able to count on the fact that the grocer is also perfect in love, and therefore gives his groceries away for free. Imagine a world in which all goods and services are done freely, prompted only by love. This is what is coming our way...on the other side, in the new earth. And giving now gives us a taste of just how fun that will be. That is the real blessing of giving--it lets us taste that economy early, already on this side. And it is indescribably sweet. -Ken Koeman