So I continue….

It’s like when you were in grade school.  When it came time for sleepovers and play dates, you always wanted to go visit the kid who had the coolest stuff.  It was fun.  My neighbor was a great friend of mine, and he was also this kid.  In his house were treasures like a Nerf Gun, Slip-N-Slide, Atari, and an unlimited supply of Slim Jims.  The problem was, when visiting this house, you also knew who made the rules.  Inevitably, at the end of any game, the rules could be changed by the Keeper Of The Slim Jim, as it were.  You could be on the cusp of victory in the “Who-Can-Disembowel-My-Sister’s-Stuffed-Animal-Collection-The-Fastest” game, only to find that the object of the game was to go to the family room and put on a Village People record. 

Who is making the rules now?  After watching TV, reading the paper, and listening to the radio, I get the feeling that those with all of the shiny junk (and TV stations and advertising budgets) have decided that shiny junk is the goal. 

Coincidentally, they made these rules after they had already won the game. 

The question is, “Why does owning all of the TV stations and/or Slim Jims give someone the right to make all of the rules?”  I get this crazy feeling that we’re all playing this game of life without knowing the true objective. 
I read a really alarming statistic recently. Every week, the average American spends six hours shopping, and spends forty minutes playing with his or her children.  Working couples spend, on average, 12 minutes per day talking to each other.
Three minutes if you accidentally washed your wife’s favorite white blouse with your favorite red sweat pants.
Does this seem out of whack to anyone else?

We’re trying hard to be successful, but in the end, we’re gonna’ figure out that the key to it all was something totally different.  I don’t purport to know what the key is, but I feel like I’m learning that disemboweling stuffed animals ain’t where it’s at.   

One day I hope to meet God and ask all sorts of questions.  Stuff like, “What were you thinkin’ when you made the platypus?” and “How did the cast of Jersey Shore really get so famous?” But most of all, I want to get the final answer on what his purpose was for my life. 

If only we could redefine success and winning in life and pursue it with the tenacity of an Olympic athlete. Those same athletes who, when polled, 51% of them said that they would take a pill to win a Gold Medal even if it killed them in five years. We could just change the rules of the game so that the winner wasn’t the one who could accumulate the most the fastest, but rather, the one who understood “enough” the fastest, and worked the hardest to make sure everyone had it. 
The ultimate judge would be The Almighty.  I imagine it all looking a bit like the Price is Right.

God would be the Bob Barker of the Universe, asking us all to get as close to “enough” as possible, without going over.  Inevitably, in our world, the one who wins would be some grandma from Pomona named Ethel who bid $1, after she had seen all of us overestimate how much we really needed to survive.  She would then get to kiss and hug The Big Guy, while the rest of us were left holding our Year’s Supply of Turtle Wax and Rice-A-Roni – parting gifts for the overindulgent.  If only we knew what “enough” truly was, and worked hard to make sure EVERYONE made it to the Showcase Showdown!?
My guess is that God, my God and your God, probably has an opinion as to where He would like us to invest the blessings He’s bestowed upon us.  If I were to ask God if I should buy a fifth guitar, He would probably subtly remind me that the Second Harvest Food Bank could feed 2500 people for what it costs to buy that $500 guitar. 

Maybe that’s what Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 was all about.  We often see this miracle as some sort of magic trick.  I can see the headlines in the local paper.  “Bearded Man With Great Abs Turns Two Fish and Five Loaves Into Enough Food for 5000 People!”  Might as well have had just two guitars, eh?

However, when we read In the Bible, it doesn’t talk of magic.  The disciples saw a throng of people gathered to hear Jesus and learn from him.   After Christ had spoken, the disciples said,
 
“This is a very remote place,” they said, “and it is very late.  Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” (Mark 6:35-36)
 
The disciples thought it only fair to let everyone fend for himself.   Hey!  Concessions aren’t free at the JesusPalooza!  You’re on your own, bro!
 
But Jesus answered,
“You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
“How many loaves do you have?”  he asked.  “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five – and two fish.”

Then Jesus directed them to have all of the peoples sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.  Taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.  Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people.  He also divided the two fish among them all.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.  The number of men who had eaten was five thousand.  (Mark 6: 37-44)
 
In this entire passage, there is no mention of Jesus multiplying or adding.  No.  Jesus divided.  He broke.  Mathematically speaking, these are very different.  This feast was not about bread and fish magically appearing.  No, the miracle was that a small amount of resources, equally shared, could satisfy so many.

What will it take to satisfy me?  What is “enough” for me?  Will I share my abundance? 
God is asking me these same questions.  Will you share? Will you stop? Reflect? Own what you have? Love? Cherish? Savor? Give?

This Christmas, God is challenging me to live the simple life. 

Simple…. But not easy.

Guest Blogger Scott Dannemiller is an Accidental Missionary. A guy on a quest for meaning. Several years ago, he and his wife Gabby quit their corporate careers, sold their house and cars, and spent a year living with a Mayan family to serve as missionaries in the highlands of Guatemala. It was a life-changing experience.

Upon return to the U.S., they spent 18 months touring the country presenting a concert of original music and stories to raise money for various charities and promote service and outreach. Today, Scott continues to explore God’s purpose in his life as a father, husband, musician, writer, and church leader. When he’s not eating junk food or spending time with family, he’s usually perched at his laptop writing slightly irreverent, mildly-entertaining, God-centered stories for his blog – The Accidental Missionary. He makes his living as President of Lifework Associates, a training and development consulting firm. He and his wife Gabby reside in Nashville, TN with their two very loud and lovely children Jake (4) and Audrey (3).