hearts and treasure

I remember a conversation I had a long time ago with a private investigator. He told me the two things he did most of all were watch people, and look at their accounts. He said you can learn almost anything you want to know about a person by finding out where he or she spends time and money. 

I think that Jesus was getting at the same point in a little different way when he said these words, recorded by Luke in chapter 12:32-34:  "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Where I spend my time and money reveals my heart. Why, then, do I resist Jesus' admonition to sell my possessions and give to the poor? Shouldn't my heart be where Jesus' heart is?

The fact is, I have sometimes found reasons not to give to the poor. I can resent the amount that our social safety net costs this country, and decide they don't need even more. I can point to habits I think are wasteful and argue that the money will just go down the drain anyway. When I do that, I reveal my heart.

In fact, although I spend time in service and give to a number of causes, I don't know that very much of either is targeted at the poor, at least not directly. I tend to give both things to my church, to mission partners, or to our local Christian schools. 

I'm encouraged by the fact that there are individuals who struggle financially that I have helped, and it seems there have been a fairly steady stream of them through my life. I guess I just do better with individual poor people than the poor as a class. So in all honesty, I have to say I don't have the same heart for the poor that Jesus did. That shames me.

I wonder what other priorities Jesus had that get little or none of my time and money. Do I share his passion for justice? Do I share his hatred of sin? Am I committed to the saving of souls? 

I probably do better than I give myself credit for, but I think that PI would conclude that I'm not completely on the same page as my Lord. At the end of his investigation, he'd probably say, "There's a guy who loves his family, and thinks a lot of his new house. He's pretty committed to his church, but not any more than he is to his hobbies. He has planned pretty well for retirement, though."

That doesn't sound good enough to me.