When you are reading the bible, do you ever say to yourself, “So What?” If not, maybe you should try it. I think it’s a very important question to ask about the bible, quite possibly the most important question you could ask. You see, most of us have heard just about every bible story there is, many times over. We all know how Daniel made out in the Lion’s den. We know how David’s showdown with Goliath turned out. We know about the widow that gave much, even though it was only 2 mites. We’ve heard the story about the woman that poured the expensive perfume on Jesus head. And so on. But if we just continue to hear the stories, but never ask ourselves “So What?”, the stories are no more beneficial than watching re-runs of Cheers on TV (which is one of my pastimes fwiw). For instance, lets take the story of the woman (Mary) that poured the very expensive perfume on Jesus’ head. So what? Ask yourself, why did God decide to include this story in ALL 4 of the gospels? It must therefore be pretty important, huh? What did God want us to learn from this story? Well, the good “church answer” is that she gave generously. I hate “church answers”. They are usually worthless. Yeah, yeah, she gave generously, so we are supposed to give generously too… blah, blah, blah. Doesn’t that inspire you to go out and empty your pockets? But now ask yourself, “What would this look like if somebody were to take this lesson and put it into practice today?” Now that’s the beginning of a great, and useful, discussion.

So what would this look like today? John says the perfume was worth a year’s wages. Just to put a little more reality on it, we could probably conservatively guess at about $35,000 today. So Mary goes up to Jesus and pours out $35,000 in perfume on Jesus’ head and feet. $35K gone in a matter of seconds. And nothing to show for it. And we also need to mention that Mary was not a rich woman… at least not anymore. I’m going to guess that she didn’t have a 6-pack of those perfume jars left over at home. Sounds kind of like a waste doesn’t it? Actually, that’s exactly what the disciples thought. And Jesus rebuked them, calling it a “beautiful thing.”

So back to the “So What?” What would it look like today? I’m open for suggestions. Maybe it’s just as simple as giving $35K to God. That’s the easy answer, although not very easy in practice. Maybe it’s giving a year of service to God, serving on a mission field. Maybe it’s giving somebody a new Cadillac? Maybe it’s giving 3 people late model Honda Civics. Maybe it’s letting somebody stay in your house rent free for a year. Or maybe it’s more than just the financial aspect of it. Maybe it was what she did for Jesus that was important. Actually BELIEVING what He said would happen, and preparing His body for it, at any cost. Maybe what God’s trying to teach us is to just BELIEVE what He says, and then ACT like we believe it, rather than just saying we believe it. Maybe it was about worship, showing that worship should be extravagant. I don’t know. See how good a discussion like this would be, rather than just going with the typical “church answer”. Does anybody have any ideas??? Feel free to comment.