Grace Community Christian Church

 

Archived Things Above

One Man's Home (8/25/05)

(By Paul Williams)

A wealthy man came to my house and I was embarrassed. Our three-bedroom home has only 1,500 square feet. The doors are thin and the kitchen cabinets have been there for over fifty years. The wealthy gentleman seemed surprised. Why would I choose to live in such a small suburban tract home? He has always been a man of means and his focus is limited. I was embarrassed because I wanted to make a positive impression. That told me more about myself than I cared to know.

A year later I served a church in Brooklyn and the members came to our Long Island home for a Christmas dinner. Over and over I heard them exclaim, "I can't believe how big and beautiful this house is!" Again I was embarrassed, but now for a different reason. The church members seemed genuinely pleased to visit our house though. They did not begrudge us our suburban comforts. They were very gracious.

Shortly thereafter we traveled to JFK airport to pick up an eight-year-old girl from Calcutta. She was on the way to her new family in Minnesota and spent the night at our home. Through an interpreter she asked, "Where are the other families who live here?" So much room. So few people. I was more than embarrassed. I was disturbed. How did my life get so comfortable while poverty forced her mother to surrender her cherished daughter for adoption?

I have a disability, an American-bred disability. I do not understand how wealthy I am, or the extreme poverty billions of individuals suffer in other parts of the world. I simply do not have eyes to see it, just as the wealthy man had no frame of reference to understand my life.

When Jesus said that he came so we might have life, and have it more abundantly, I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about walk-in closets or vacation homes in the mountains.

What will it take for me to understand the extravagant wealth I, as an American, enjoy?

I am uncomfortable. I should be.


(Paul Williams is president of Orchard Group, a Christian Church church-planting ministry that focuses on the Northeast US. A special offering will be taken on Sunday, September 11, to help support a new church plant in Manhattan, NY.)


Jim Dewar --