How do you read that title?

Have two? Give one! or (I) Have to give one.

Which is it? Probably both.

Today’s post is inspired by the work of Mark Scandrette and his book Practicing the Way of Jesus. He and his friends tried an experiment based on Luke 3:11, the invitation of John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Messiah by giving away half of what you have.

What I love about the experiment is that he took the Gospel call seriously and practiced it in community. But I also like the two ways of reading it:

Invitation: Have two? Give one!

Challenge: I have to give one.

Sometimes the call to follow Jesus is gracious invitation; sometimes it is a deeply rooted impluse (I have to do this.).

I first encountered Scandrette’s work through the Animate: Faith video series and his book Free: Spending Your Time and Money on What Matters Most. The Free book helped crystalize some thoughts that I’ve been wrestling with since we have begun downsizing our possessions as a family, such as:

What if the Gospel call is a call to downward mobility?

What if God has given us far more than we can imagine, but we are often poor managers?

What if when Jesus invites the rich man to sell all he has and give to the poor, he is speaking to us too?

What if in living the hard sayings of Jesus, we experience the freedom Jesus brings?

Scandrette’s community did the Have2Give1 experiments for 8 weeks. That’s about as long as a summer these days.

Do you have two of something? Give one away. 

Who’s in?