The Christian Faith

DAILY READING

Luke 9:24

FIELD NOTES

The Christian faith is full of paradoxes. The least will be the greatest? That doesn’t seem to make sense in the rest of the world. An elderly, barren couple will become the progenitor of a great nation? Abraham and Sarah’s story would seem to defy science and sense! A person will save their life only if they give it away? What could Jesus mean with such a statement?

The Christian faith often does not seem to make sense to people because such statements don’t line up with lower-case-“t” truth. It’s true that those with the most resources are the ones with the most power; who are the greatest. It’s true that there is no scientific way that a couple at such advanced age could have children. It’s true that the quickest way to lose something—whether it’s money or your life—is to give it away for nothing.

But in God’s economy, these types of paradoxes are capital-“T” Truth. It is gospel Truth that those with the least find a joy that those with the most never know. It is Truth that God makes possible the impossible so that we know he is God and we are not. It is Truth that it is only in sacrifice that we find what is most valuable. 

Giving away what we have might seem illogical, but this is exactly the point: in giving we discover who God really is, and what our faith is really about.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD

• Do you live by the world’s lower-case-“t” truth; or by God’s capital-“t” Truth?
• What have you discovered is True about giving away what you have?

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• Take a minute and discuss the joy and benefit of giving; how have you been formed as a disciple because of your call to give?

PRAYER GUIDE

Lord, give us generous hearts and spirits; hearts that are willing to lose everything so that we might find you. In Jesus’ name, amen.