Giving Part 2

We live in a culture that tells us to follow our hearts. You know the routine, you've heard the messages: What's really important is that you really believe in your heart that you're doing the right thing, that you are sincere.

We apply the same logic to the rightful use of our resources. We say, in so many words, what really matters is that you give your heart to Jesus and then you can do whatever you want to with your money and time.

I'm afraid such an approach leads too easily down the well-trodden path of self-deception. It's almost as if this language is a trump-card to avoid any call to obedience or any challenging conversation. To put it more forcefully, perhaps the church has reaped a harvest of souls, but we have not reaped many people who are willing to seek first the kingdom and restructure their lives in light of its coming.

Furthermore, the assumption that we can reduce everything to a personalized decision of what the heart is focussed upon misrepresents what Jesus taught. Jesus does not say, where your heart is there your treasure will be. Instead, he offers a more challenging statement: "Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also" (Matthew 6.21). Do you see the difference? The latter focusses upon something much more concrete. It forces to think about what we treasure more than anything else, what has captured our imagination, what's central in helping us make decisions. And part of Jesus' concern is money in this text. Just a few verses later, Jesus says, "You cannot serve both God and Money."

All of this leads me to a series of questions. How much influence does money have on our lives? Is that our true treasure? Is that what matters to us more than anything else? Can we look at our checkbooks and discern where our true treasure is? Or is that too simplistic? Those are great questions to ponder as we continue to reflect upon what it means to be disciples in God's coming kingdom.

Peace.

Giving Part 1

We had a great discussion in our small group last week about honoring God with our resources. It truly is a challenging concept but one we must take seriously. It is a frequent theme in scripture. Many have claimed that Jesus talked more about recourses and money than any other single subject matter. It doesn't surprise me. After all, the love of money is the root of all evil.

With that in mind, I want us think more about this topic with a series of blogs. Let's begin with Deuteronomy 8.

This chapter is one my favorites. It focusses on the temptation to pride and self-sufficiency. The concern is when the Israelites enter into the promise land and begin to taste success they will forget the Lord:

"Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (11-14).

The concept is easy to grasp. Once we taste success, we start to think, I've done it. Hence the warning: "Do not say to yourself, 'My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth'" (vs. 17). The temptation is pride and self-sufficiency. The call is to remember that God made it all possible. The warning is, "Do not forget."

This problem is still with us. David Bosch, a man who studied extensively the expansion of the church throughout history, stated that there has never been a significant movement of God in an affluent culture. John Wesley noticed that whenever wealth increased, the passion for God decreased. The lukewarm church in Revelation is probably the wealthiest; they're boasting that they don't need anything (Rev. 3.14-22). Do you see how it works? We become possessed with our possessions.

Perhaps one way to avoid this is learning to give sacrificially. Part of what the Israelites were called to do in Deuteronomy is to bring in their firstfruit offerings and their tithes. As an act of worship, this is a great way to praise God for making it all possible, a great way to remember.

What about us? What do we do? Paying God last, after we've taken care of everything we think important, hardly seems right to me. What if we learn to pay God first and limit our spending because of that commitment? Maybe we need it. What do you think?

Peace.