Helping themselves

On a podcast I was listening to this morning the narrator read Matthew 10:5-14. These verses talks about Jesus sending out the disciples. He instructs them "Don't carry a traveler's bag with an extra coat and sandals or even a walking stick. Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed".

In our century, people we are aware of, Ghandi and Mother Theresa came closest to what Jesus instructed His disciples to live like. But there is a breed that have arisen in our American materialistic culture with an insatiable sense of entitlement. I have known people who have used Matthew 10:10 the verse about accepting hospitality from others, "a workman worthy of his hire," as justification for preachers and evangelists being able to help themselves to resources from the local church and it congregants.

It seems to me that getting all the latest new toys, giving themselves large pay raises, buying fancy cars and expensive houses, isn't what Jesus had in mind when he sent off His disciples. These greedy souls seem to have forgotten Jesus' injunction about not carrying "stuff" with them. They seem to look a lot more like evangelical panhandlers, than disciples.

I hesitate to even post this blog because I know there are christian workers who continue to rigidly question their expenditures and hold themselves accountable to others for how they live. I would not deny those who have given up so much, to have comfort in their lives, and the opportunity to raise their family. They are not extravagent, but live realistically within their means, and sometimes even below their needs when support doesn't come in. I have nothing but admiration and respect for them.

Those aren't the ones I am referring to here. The ones that trouble me are the ones who have substituted getting for grace.