[A_PoMo]

Dude, I'm w/ya. Don't think I'm advocating poverty. Far from it. I want to eradicate poverty. But, I also want to eradicate this whole idea of the need for stuff. Why stop at 51%? Give 99%. Set a reasonable income for yourself, say $50-75,000 a year and live w/in that and give the rest away. I never said I was going to be poor, just downwardly mobile. Believe me, I'll have a warm, dry, safe place to live, reliable vehicles, good food, a big TV w/cable, clean clothes to wear, etc... However, even w/all that I'm still living in luxury compared to the rest of the world. But I still am making a visible statement against consumerism and materialism that I believe is a spiritual cancer in our culture as my lifestyle is measurably less self-indulgent that the culture around me, even church culture. Each of us has a calling and a gifting. Some of us are called to give and sow our money and we are gifted (blessed) w/the means to do so. Others of us are called to give and sow ourselves and we are gifted to do so. For me the material wealth is getting in the way of me giving myself in ministry due to the time and energy it takes to pay for and maintain it. Thus, I make the choice to let it go in order to better pursue my calling. This is easy for me to do since I no longer place any value (other than some sentimental value on certain things) on the stuff. I believe this is the attitude Christ want us to have relative to wealth.