Share Your Weed-Eater

When I started at Duke, our freshmen class was divided into spiritual formation groups, where someone older and wiser could guide a handful of students in staying connected to Christ and the Spirit during seminary. My group was led by Steve. Steve was a jovial, smart, simple guy, who loved students and loved Jesus.

I don’t remember much that Steve talked about in those meetings, but there’s one little story that I’ve never forgotten. He said that when he moved into his neighborhood in Durham, he suddenly had a yard to mow—but no lawnmower. And he noticed that none of the neighbors seemed to own a weed-eater. So, rather than buying a lawnmower, Steve bought a weed-eater. Then he went around the neighborhood, met everybody, and made them a proposal: you can use my weed-eater anytime, if you’ll let me borrow your lawnmower once in a while. Everyone thought that sounded good, so he borrowed their mowers in a rotation, and they all used his weed-eater.

At that point in my life, I was already convinced that Christians needed to be wary of buying and owning more stuff. And here, good ole’ Steve had discovered a lifehack to ease some of that consumer pressure: sharing. He gave, but he also received, so that everyone had what they needed—but everyone didn’t have to buy everything they needed.

I’ve tried to follow Steve’s example ever since. I’m not shy about borrowing a tool I don’t own, and you’re welcome to any book I have. (I’ve noticed that I need tools more often than people need books. Borrow a movie instead! And my DVD player, since you probably don’t have one anymore.)

I don’t think this kind of borrowing and sharing is universally appreciated. Some people probably assume I’m just cheap. But it seems to me like a very Christian way of inhabiting our consumer culture.

All these years, though, I’ve had nothing more to base that on than Steve’s example and a gut feeling. Until a couple weeks ago. I was reading for our Sunday school class, when I came across a quote from an ancient Christian writer named Tertullian. He used a phrase I’ve read more times than I can count, but had never connected to Steve’s weed-eater before. The phrase is from a verse in Acts chapter 4:

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. (4:32)

Everything they owned was held in common. Or, as the New Living Translation puts it: “they shared everything they had.”

In the early Church, each member didn’t need to own everything they needed. Because each member shared everything they had.

How much money could we redirect towards caring for others and supporting Jesus’s priorities in the world if Christians didn’t buy into the consumer lie that you have to own everything? How much more could we accomplish for Christ if we just learned to share?

Listen to this week's devotional right here: