no one is blessed, everyone is blessed
Blessed. It's a careless word thrown around to describe something we've received. But, a blessing is something we are, something we share, given freely. Who needs you to be their blessing today?
2 Corinthians 6: 7-8
Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
Ugh. “You should put your money in lots of risky endeavors. But be sure to be cheerful about it, or you’ll upset God! And if you do this, God will bless you with more money.” … has to be the worst take on this message from Paul.
These are not instructions for the church, they’re commentary on the character of God.
Paul is saying, “Since God refuses to compel us, greedy people can’t be forced to share. But if God gave blessings sparingly, giving them only to the deserving, there would never be enough extra TO share to make much of a difference.
Instead, God sows bountifully, blessing indiscriminately and overwhelmingly, knowing that when enough of us choose to share, it makes a HUGE difference.”
When the profligate love of God meets our love of one another in sharing, God’s will gets done. For Paul, that’s the entire point.
What have others compelled you to support, claiming it would upset God not to do so? What do you have plenty of that you already share freely with no ask, and no expectation?
—Kate Davoli
I hate when people throw around the word blessed. It feels icky or exclusive to me. At the same time, I'm trying to be a little more patient with ideological differences (at least the ones that don't cause violence or harm). Being a blessing might help solve some of that initial ickiness, but it will take time.