There’s an interesting thing that happens when we talk about opportunities to be generous. Something nags at our brains to ask: What if…?

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Every time I think about being generous, some voice in the back of my head asks Can we afford this? Another asks But what if there isn’t enough left for me? And, of course, Do they really deserve this expense?

Same goes for conversations with others about being generous as a group. We have to interrogate the generosity. Make sure it is “worth it” or financially appropriate given our own needs.

Two things are striking about this. One is that Jesus never condones this approach. And two: we work so hard to not be generous, but we rarely question prudence or consider the liberating side of generosity.

This all should give us pause. Given how many stories of Jesus reveal his radical generosity, we must honestly let go of our love of security and consider taking up radical generosity as an act of discipline.