Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 9
When Clyde looks at Dhaka’s density and Asia’s 4.6 billion people, he asks, “Is God getting a good return on his investment?” regarding Western resources; what assumptions about stewardship, accountability, and God’s purposes are packed into that question, and how might it reframe how you evaluate your lifestyle and giving?
Another way to ask: When Clyde asks if God is getting a “good return” on Western resources, what is he assuming about stewardship and accountability? How might that change how you judge your lifestyle and giving?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
His question assumes Western resources are a trust from God meant to serve God’s larger purposes, and that God’s people should think in terms of stewardship and accountability, not entitlement. It reframes lifestyle and giving by asking whether our resource-rich lives are aligned with God’s mission in a world of immense need and population.
- He describes being in Dhaka and feeling overwhelmed: “Lord, how will they ever know about you? How? There's so many people.”
- He emphasizes scale: “Asia… has 4.6 billion people… 60% of the world's population.”
- He notes population growth like a “hockey stick,” concluding, “God is doing something. What is it?”
- He contrasts that with the West: God is “blessing us in the West with resources that are mind-boggling.”
- Then he asks the stewardship question: “Is God getting a good return on his investment?”