The $100 Experiment

I've been meeting with an "apprenticeship" group of eight adults, training them how to follow Jesus, so that they can train others to follow Jesus, who can...

You get the idea.

It's a pretty "heady" group -- scientists, tech people... and me, the artist.  (Yup, God has a sense of humor).  I've been trying to get them out of simply "studying" the Bible like it's a college text, and instead shift to listening to the Word of God.

But listening is an active thing.  And sitting and discussing a book can be pretty inactive.

So a week ago, I turned up the spiritual temperature a bit.  I taught on the Parable of the Talents (the story that Jesus tells about "investing well"), and then I handed each of them a $100 bill.  The looks on people's faces were pretty interesting:  fear, shock, excitement.  I explained that this $100 was God's money... and that in the next couple of months, they'd need to be listening to God on what to do with it, in order to spiritually invest it.  (This isn't my idea... I'd heard of other churches doing this).

I told them that they should be praying, "listening" to their Bible, looking at the needs immediately around them, and looking for a "person of peace" to partner with (more on that in another blog).  I also told them that they should be looking for a place to invest where:
1.  they can watch their money grow (no throwing it into a Salvation Army kettle, even though SA is one of the best organizations out there)
2.  their investment has the potential to multiply (in people's lives)... giving $100 to a person in need is good, but is there a way to use it as seed money for something bigger?
3.  God may be inviting us to invest long term (for example:  a group of people with a particular need).

Last night we gathered again... one week in.  I have to say that there was more active participation in the group than I ever remember.  People are working to pay attention to the world around them, looking for where God is at work and inviting us in.  I look forward to seeing how our total of $800 multiplies in the lives of those around us...