Through the years as a pastor, I’ve counseled a lot of people about their children, especially their teenagers. Imagine you are Kevin Salwen. He picked up his fourteen year old daughter, Hannah, from a slumber party and was driving her home. At a red light, Hannah looked out their windows and saw a homeless man on the sidewalk holding up a sign asking for money to buy food. On the other side of the car, in the lane next to them, Hannah saw a black Mercedes. She looked from the Mercedes, back to the homeless man, and from the homeless man back again to the Mercedes. Then she said to her father, “If that guy didn’t have such a nice car, then that guy could have a nice meal.” It made sense to her. A less expensive car for one person could keep another off the street.
Hannah was moved. She challenged her family. “What do you want to do?” asked Hannah’s mother. “Sell our house?”
Her mother was joking. Hannah wasn’t. Hannah thought selling the house was a great idea. They could trade their house in for a less expensive one, half the size and half the expense, and donate the difference to charity, and that’s what they did. They contributed half the sale of their house to a non-profit called The Hunger Project where the money has gone to impact the lives of thousands in a positive way.
Hannah and her father teamed up to write a book about the project, The Power of Half. Hannah told The New York Times, “No one expects anyone to sell a house. That’s kind of a ridiculous thing to do. For us, the house was just something we could live without. It was too big for us. Everyone has too much of something, whether it’s time, talent or treasure. Everyone does have their own half; you just have to find it.” Though some accuse the Salwens of grandstanding, Kevin told The Times, “This is the most self-interested thing we have ever done. I’m thrilled that we can help others. I’m blown away by how much it has helped us.” Their charity benefited their family; they gave away wealth and found health; they found addition through subtraction; through the loss of some of their stuff, they gained additional peace of mind; for them, for all of us, that is enough.
Jesus said, Matthew 6: 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
In this passage, Jesus doesn’t dictate how to live as much as ask a simple question, “Where is your treasure?” Said another way, “What do you value most?” Whatever is of most importance to us will define our actions more than our morality for where our treasure is will determine our actions, goals, and not just the quality of our lives, but the quality of our humanity. The Salwen family found their home in the world by leaving their house and claiming a greater treasure. See Kevin and Hannah’s talk at the TED conference by clicking below.
