Wealth and Freedom

I don't like wealth.

**Insert gasp and puzzled or dirty look here**

There. I said it.

Think what you will, about the ideas of freedom and opportunity so often promoted in America and among capitalist markets, about being able to make a life for yourself, and getting what you deserve...

I just don't like any of it.

For quite some time now I have tried to move away from American culture and live a life that is a stark contrast to the status quo. I champion the donations of time and money to people who need it. I try to live a life of self-denial in many aspects (especially in terms of spending money) that I might be able to better help those in need. I am often very disgusted around wealth and uncomfortable in the presence of it.

My problem is not with making a large sum of money. I am in contention with the lifestyle and society that compels us to hold on to our money and use it on ourselves when there are people all around the world who are dying. While we are buying (multiple) cars that are far more expensive than we need, most people don't have transportation. While we are going out to dinner and spending $25+ for two people just for a change or because we don't want to cook a meal, millions go without food. We get tired of our current clothing selection and go buy something more trendy while others are naked. "Not me. I'm not rich," you may find yourself thinking, but the numbers paint a different picture.

To put it in perspective, roughly 2.5 billion people (almost half of the world) live on less that $2 US a day. The bottom 50% of the world population accounts for only 1.1% of the global wealth. If you make more the $25,000 (US) a year, you are in the top 10% of the globe. If you own a car, you can just go ahead and consider yourself in the top 7%. If you make over $50,000 (US) a year, you are in the top 1% on the list of the world's wealthiest people. Take a moment and let that sink in.

Now for the hard part. Admission. I will be very transparent for a moment and talk about something that I don't really like to talk about. This year has been really tough for me. I moved to a new city, have had plenty of struggles, and haven't made much money. As of right now, entering December, I've earned less than $15,000 for the year. There are times when I wonder if I'll be able to pay bills. By all means, especially when compared to those around me in a city that loves to binge on food, drink, and image, I am not wealthy. I can't really afford new clothing, health insurance, or most entertainment ventures. But guess what? I have been extremely blessed this year to be in the place that I am. I still walk out to my kitchen and find food that I can eat. I have a car to drive when I want to go somewhere. I have a bed to sleep in. I am typing this from my laptop and home internet. I still have shelter, water, heat, and clothing. I have more than enough. I am wealthy. And you are too.

Once you come to grips with this, you have to ask yourself what you are going to do. When you realize that the richest 1% of the world accounts for 40% of the world's consumption, how do you feel? If you are a Christian, do you tithe? Do you give money away? Studies show that American church-goers only gave 2.58% of their income away in 2005, and only a whopping 9% of people who claim their faith is the greatest influence of their life and conduct even tithe. If we were to give away the full 10% that is asked of us by God, the result would be an extra $168 billion dollars.

For me, this admission isn’t just about action. I can certainly do more, but I have, at least since sophomore year of college, been good about tithing, giving, going on mission trips, being involved in my church, helping out at rescue missions, etc. I budget my money so that I am tithing 10% and giving away at least another 10%. I spend far less on entertainment and food than just about any of my friends. However, I have recently had to make a concession that was not easy. I realized that so many of the things I love to do are the direct result of being born in America. The very wealth and freedom that I have so often condemned stands before me as something that I have taken advantage of time after time. I love to travel and have been incredibly blessed to have seen so many places and people. I love sports and being active and have had the opportunity to pursue things like surfing, skiing, water sports, hiking, etc. I am passionate about music/drumming, have drums sitting in my basement, and have put who knows how much money and time into it. All of these things could have been drastically different if I would have been born somewhere else. No matter how much I try to fight the grain of our culture and society, the things I enjoy are inseparably linked to it.

So how does that affect me? How do I move forward from here? Can I still pursue other interests and continue to champion the causes that I have so long supported? Can I live in freedom without taking it away from someone else? Can I point out the evils of American culture when I am a beneficiary of them? Where is the line? I certainly hope that I am not a complete hypocrite in this matter, though it is certainly a possibility. I know that the passions God has placed inside me are not all misguided, I simply need to be careful in how I go about them. There has to be a way to use wealth to benefit others (rather than yourself) that doesn’t completely collapse the economic system that generates it...


While I attempt to find answers for my questions, I hope that you will join me in supporting causes that are much bigger than yourself this year for the Holiday season. Rather than over-stuffing a stocking that is already full, maybe this is the year that your gifts go to people who really need them. Gifts that come in the form of water, food, shelter. Gifts that bring life. I’ll be supporting Blood:Water Mission this year and giving clean water in the form of biosand water filters, I hope that you will join me. If you are interested, click on the image to learn more.

Alive and Twitting

The lack of posts to my blog in recent days certainly is not because of a lack of happenings. My life is never boring here as I am regularly forced to rely more and more on God and His provision. Nothing good that happens is of my own doing, but of circumstances that He has orchestrated and made sure that I know He still has control. I have plenty of questions and situations that I am trying to navigate through at the moment, however rather than sitting down and typing all of these thoughts out, as has been my habit for so long, I have found myself keeping many of these thoughts to myself and simply posting brief, and I mean the 140 characters or fewer kind of brief, to give insight into my daily happenings. So for those who are more accustomed to reading my lengthy updates on life and other ramblings, I apologize for the moment and encourage you to follow me on facebook or twitter, for at the moment it seems much more likely that I post something there than here. I've even incorporated a twitter widget here on the blog so you can see some of the more recent posts if you still haven't joined the twitter revolution. Anyway, that's all for now. More meaningful updates will follow at some point.

Making Nashville Move

Next Big Nashville ended this past Saturday and I'm still recovering from late nights at shows and bouncing from venue to venue trying to catch everything that I could. I saw a lot of great artists/bands, met a lot of people, and got to sit in on some very interesting panels. I definitely enjoyed the event and it was well worth the cost of a badge to gain unlimited access.

I'll leave you with one thing that stood out to me from the 4 day mayhem. A band named Space Capone. Nashville can often be a tough place to play as people sit back with crossed arms and think, "Impress me" but Space Capone brought the "disco/funk" (according to keyboardist Daniel Ellsworth) and had the whole room dancing. Any band that gets a room full of Nashvillians moving has my respect. Here's a video with a brief glimpse of Space Capone and their choreographed background vocals.

Phone Down

(Disclaimer: No, I do not have an iPhone. This photo was simply appropriate.)

My phone officially stopped functioning yesterday. The screen started by showing random colors and not displaying things properly, it transitioned to barely recognizable images through crazy colors, static, and diagonal lines, and now will not show anything at all on the screen. Fortunately, it seems to be under manufacturer warranty and I won't have to pay (as I couldn't afford to anyway) for a new phone, however for the next few days as I wait for the replacement phone to get here, I will most likely be without a means of direct communication. If you want to get in touch, try contacting me by email or facebook. Thanks!

My Turn Signal, Really?

Nashville police are notoriously dirty and sneaky. It isn't uncommon to see people pulled over, and often the car with the flashing lights is a car that you never would have suspected to be a cop. Last night I had my first run in with the law here in Music City, but for something I never would have expected.

There were two police cars with someone already pulled over on the left side of Charlotte last night as I made my way to JJ's. Charlotte has two lanes each way, and the old, white truck in the right lane was going especially slow due to the flashing lights on the other side of the road. (When I say especially slow I mean 10 mph under the speed limit as opposed to 5 mph under, which is painstakingly normal here.) So, I was approaching him quite quickly as I was going at the posted speed limit. I changed lanes to pass him, and as I pulled back into the right lane (I don't like left lane riders) I noticed a car behind me that wasn't there before. This car had only one headlight, and as it also pulled over immediately after passing the truck I knew there was a good chance that is was a cop. I was right.

The lights began to flash and I immediately pulled over to the right and sat confidently in my car knowing that I had not been speeding. The officer approached my window and asked if I had my license and registration. Knowing that I owed him nothing without a just cause for pulling me over, and probably a bit too confident at this point, before I handed him anything I responded by saying, "Yeah, what's up?" He seemed slightly taken back by my questioning his motives and proceeded to inform me that as I had passed the truck, I failed to use my turn signal as I changed from the right to left lane. I did, however, use it when I moved back to the right lane and completed my pass.

"My turn signal?" I couldn't help but utter.

"Yes. You have to use your turn signal when changing lanes if it directly affects traffic" came his response. Right, the necessity of using your turn signal is not something that I was unaware of, I was simply shocked that I was actually pulled over for this. In my head, I had many responses. Fortunately, as he had stated immediately that he was not issuing me a ticket when telling me why he pulled me over, I was able to let those all go unsaid.

But seriously, don't we all have better things to do? Was he honestly that bored or was he looking for something else? Did he honestly pull me over for failing to use my turn signal one of two times while changing lanes? And there wasn't even any traffic behind me at the time! Furthermore, how in the world is it okay for him to drive around with only one headlight, intentionally, and endanger others as a result and then pull me over for not using a turn signal? I find the double standards of the police quite frustrating. Next time I am going to make a citizen's arrest.

My Heart's Desire

I’m not sure when it first became cemented into my personality, but at some point, I became somewhat of an adrenaline and experience junkie. There is nothing that I long for more than to experience new things, push myself to new limits, and ideally to share those moments with others. I manage to include others into the scope of my goals, but it certainly is not the focus. The bottom line is that I am happiest when climbing mountains, jumping out of airplanes, or dropping in on waves. I am happiest when pushing my limits and experiencing God's creation.

But perhaps this is skewed. Maybe I am missing the mark. In fact, the more I study the Bible, or at least listen to the words of those who have, the more I find that the very focus of Christ’s ministry is not epic journeys, tall mountains, and perfect waves, but a relentless pursuit of relationship. He sought community. He sought love.

I say that I love challenges; that I enjoy pushing my limits. Well, guess what. Community is HARD WORK. Loving people is by far the most difficult thing a person like me could ever do. It’s so much easier to go climb mountains, jump out of airplanes, and drop in on waves than it is to know someone for who they are and remain relentlessly committed to loving them. To embrace their faults. To pour love on their wounds. To be vulnerable with my own fears, insecurities, and screwups. To openly put those in the court of someone else and wait for a response. I am beginning to believe that this is the real challenge. This is the real heart of life. Christ doesn’t ask us to climb mountains or push the physical limitations of our bodies, instead He asks that we would push the boundaries of grace, mercy, and love.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love you neighbor as yourself.”
 -Matthew 22:37-39

He doesn’t say that people will recognize His followers by how perfect we are. We won’t be known for how much we push ourselves and how high we can climb. The way we will be recognized is by how we can love.

So the question for me then, is how do I pursue this? How do I change my entire worldview? What will it take for me to really understand what matters? My head understands, but my heart is reluctant to respond. The greatest joy that God offers to us is not the feeling that envelops a person as he stands atop a mountain. The greatest joy we can experience, as well as our greatest challenge, risk, and journey, will be to pursue a life irrevocably committed to love, mercy, and grace. To fully know someone and to love them anyway. There will be nothing more difficult, and nothing more rewarding.

So why does my heart continually desire something else?

Interesting Read

Check out this post, I certainly found it interesting (as well as true) and I think you will too.

http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2009/08/bait-and-switch-of-contemporary.html