Army of Priests

One of the great challenges I that has been raging on my mind is how to spend myself showing love to people. On Monday night I got an idea for a social experiment that I did yesterday. The details of it follow:

The following idea came to me. Write the message “I love you more that this money. You can keep it or pass it on.” On 5 pieces of paper which I would wrap around $20 bills and give to random people. Yes, I am insane.

This is what I like about the experiment: Firstly, in a world where everyone is looking after themselves, seeking to increase their own wealth, this makes a statement that at least one person exists that loves them more than money. It may be hard to believe. It also states that you don’t need to know me, for me to love you.

Secondly, it is a note that challenges human greed. If you’re handed some money, would you keep it or pass it on? This is money that has cost you nothing, not money you have earned; it should be much easier to give away. And if they do, then they learn about love both as a receiver and a giver. One of the hardest things getting people to understand is God’s love. It is contrary to everything that seems natural. The only way to understand it is to experience it in some small way; that small way can bring someone one step closer to God.

But there is an almost prophetic dimension to it. I live in Australia. Australians are amongst the richest people in the world. Because I was born in this place at this time I have naturally been given blessings and wealth. I didn’t earn it. God gave it to me. In fact, God has given everything to us. And it goes to show that even though we haven’t always known God, he has loved us. The words I think he has for us are, “See, I’ve given you this gift. Will you keep it or pass it on?”

And so, the experiment proceeded like this:

Firstly, I have been sick the last few days. On Monday I took a day of work (I am a uni student and only work on Mondays) from a bug. Thus, I will earn no money this week. As night approached it was looking like I would still be to sick to go into the city on Tuesday. After cutting up the notes I prayed two things: a) that they would find whoever needed to know they were worth more than a twenty dollar bill, and b) that I would be well enough to do it. My stomach got better pretty much as soon as I prayed that and I had a great night sleep and was able to go into the city yesterday. I am still battling the remnants of a head cold though.

Secondly, after I reached the city I went up to an ATM and withdrew a hundred dollars in $20 bills. I then sat down at a park bench and wrapped the first bill around the first note. I put it in my pocket and started heading towards my campus (conveniently located in the inner city). I stopped at a book store and stealthily slipped the first one behind the front cover of a book at the front of the store. I felt so clever. It was a popular book, so someone is sure to find it.

When I had arrived at my campus I had the second note all ready in my pocket. It was fairly quiet at this time of morning and an Asian student was alone, reviewing his notes before a class. I walked up to him, said “hey”, and pretty much dropped the note on his books. He called after me as I headed up the stairs. Real smooth (not), and, suffice to say, a bit outside my comfort zone (and I’m a budding evangelist). I started wondering what the heck I was doing; if I had truly gone insane and what people would think.

I didn’t get to distribute any more of them until night (I have classes all day). After deciding that I wasn’t really brave enough to hand them to people I decided to hide the last three. I hid them at bus stops and in newspaper stands. After hiding my last one in the groves of a seat at a bus stop a woman with pizza walked past me and sat there. I drew some satisfaction from at least seeing the face of one person who was sure to find it.

So this is the story of my daring foray into losing my mind. But as I planted these notes I started to realise this was not a social experiment to see what would happen. It was an experiment on me. The question was would I through away $100 on a week when I earned nothing? Would I have enough faith to believe that maybe God could use the foolishness of a mad man? It was about stretching my comfort zone and seeing if I was really ready to place just the possibility of helping other people over my income.

Yesterday I won a battle against the greed in my own heart. I may be a fool, but I am a fool for God and not my own good. If God can somehow use what I have done, that is awesome. But if he can’t, then I will still be more faithful to some crazy hope than a wallet full of cash.

Thick paper to write on: $1

5 $20 bills: $100

One small victory against my own greed: Priceless