“Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them – walking, leaping, and praising God.” (Acts 3:6-8, NKJV)

Years ago, a team of opticians and optometrists volunteered to visit the school that we partnered in the mission field. This school catered to teens with physical disabilities and was located in a low-income slum area where many residents were migrant workers, scavengers and rubbish collectors.

They were coming with 20 trainees and were also bringing  about 6,000 pairs of donated used spectacle frames. They were going to provide a much needed service of eye checks and prescription spectacles.

We were excited and thankful for the team’s arrival. We were sure that many would benefit from the visiting team and the free spectacles by the donors and the volunteers who had worked to sort the frames out.  

We prayed that all the equipment would be cleared at the airport on arrival.

Then one morning, while cycling to the school, I happen to stop at a row of shops and noticed that a local optician had set up his humble business here. It dawned on me that the visiting team with the 6,000 pairs of spectacles was bad news for this optician.

The influx of 6,000 free spectacle frames could well snuff out his business. And who would be using the prescription glasses after the volunteer team returned home? What would we do with the leftover stock? Perhaps we could keep the unused donations as a reserve resource for the next team. 

In the meantime, the optician would see a sudden dip in his business. Our provision of 6,000 pairs of free glasses could cripple his small shop.

“What I do have I give to you”

This dilemma triggered me to think about the many resources that the good Lord has blessed us with. We are thankful that many churches in Singapore have financial reserves, often because of sacrificial giving as well as prudent and wise stewardship.

On a personal level, individuals have set aside money for a rainy day. Many in the baby boomer generation in Singapore have been blessed with assets and financial stability. There is “never enough” but thankfully we do have “enough”.

In one of the anecdotes of church history, during the years when the church in Europe was expanding and growing in power and wealth, a church official, apparently glad for the splendour of the cathedrals, mentioned something to the effect that “we can no longer say with Peter ‘silver and gold have I none’.” 

To which a saintly priest replied: “Neither can you say ‘rise and walk’.” 

So, are we then like the early church father who admitted that we can no longer say as Peter did, that “silver and gold have I none”?  More importantly, are we able to support people who need a hand to rise up and walk? 

How do we use these precious assets that God has given us? Keep them in reserve for “the next project”?  

Back at the school, we already had other things kept in storage for the “next project” – wheelchairs, crutches, sports equipment – were still being kept.

Would storing up and then giving a large “inheritance” to the next generation help them to walk better? Or would it ironically cripple them?

“What I do have I give to you.” (Acts 3:6)

How do we apply this to our context in Singapore this Lunar New Year?

Walking and leaping and praising God

Back at the town we were serving in, I cycled back one evening to have a chat with the optician at his little shopfront. I explained the situation to him and asked about how we could work together.

We decided that instead of our giving free spectacles to everyone, the team would give free ones only to the students in the school. We would also give the optician part of the shipment of donated frames, which he agreed to sell at a good discount when customers wanted these frames. He also agreed to take in one or two interns with physical disabilities to be trainees in his shop.

Things became simpler then, and trust between us also grew in this small-town context. 

The team raised some valid questions – someone mentioned selling the leftover frames to the best bidder so as to raise money for the next project; another asked if it was kosher to give donated items to a private business. But in the end, we felt assured that, in our arrangement with the optician, we were using the good donations to prioritise sustainability and relationships. 

Now that I am back in Singapore, I wonder about how Christians, churches and Christian organisations should use our savings and reserves so that people, even our own children, can experience Acts 3: “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

How can we use these “frames” of silver and gold that have been given to us here in Singapore?

How many more “spectacle frames” do we need to keep in reserve ?

Do we sell extra frames to the highest bidder? Do we invest church and personal reserves  in funds that give us the highest returns? Or do we prioritise “walking and leaping and praising God” through our investments?

Profit maximisation is like fire. It is a good servant but a bad master. I suspect this applies to anything that we want to squeeze and maximise.    

I was glad to have the conversation with the optician – he helped me see things in a clearer way.

And I wonder: What would Peter and John do with the silver and gold (and spectacles) that we have in our churches these days? What would be conversation be about?

RELATED ARTICLES

“Talk to a man in his language, and it goes to his heart”: Dr Tan Lai Yong on the heart language in the book of Daniel

Who has God given you to be your “eyes” in the wilderness?

7 dads share spoken, and unspoken, lessons they learnt from their fathers