Tuesday, July 3, 2018

A Baptized Wallet

Tuesday, July 3, 2018
I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem.  For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.  2 Corinthians 9:1-5(NLT)
Pastors have Facebook chat rooms – pages that are closed to the public, but open to the venting of frustration between the clergy.  Yup, that’s right; some clergy get pretty “venty” at times.  Sometimes it is over unreasonable expectations of church members.  Sometimes it is about trying to be in too many places at the same time.  Most times it is the frustration of wanting to be better than we think we are, so the church can grow strong and do more for the kingdom of God.  Sometimes we just think it’s up to us.
Unfortunately, sometimes those on the other side of the pulpit agree with us – if the pastor was just       (well…you just fill in this blank if you care to) then the church would be so much better off.  I’d like to say a kind word of correction about that, but time, space, and reality do not allow me to dig for bland kindness at this point – that is a blame game that won’t hunt.  Pastors may be charged with a difficult, important role of being a leader, but the success or failure of a church doesn’t rest squarely on the shoulders of any preacher…not any more, at least, than it does on those who occupy the pews.  We are all responsible for what our church is becoming day by day.
C.S. Lewis once wrote:  with our thoughts and actions we are becoming every day, more a child of heaven, or more a child of hell.  That’s also true for churches.
Now, while that is a thought-provoking truth, it spawns the ugly reality:  there is no fence to sit on when it comes to whose child you’re becoming.  There is no middle ground for humans.  Just like you’re either breathing or not, alive or dead, male or female, saved or lost, you are most definitely moving in one direction or the other.
Now this is true in many areas of our lives, but it very often shows most dramatically in stewardship…how we handle that which God has placed in our hands (which is the main reason many preachers stay away from talking about it like they stay away from the plague).  Isn’t it funny how preachers/churches are condemned so often for only being interested in money when preachers really say so little about it?
A few weeks ago, in one of the preacher chat rooms the discussion was all about stewardship, and how you introduce the offering time in worship.  There were some typical responses, then one of the contributors got giddy; she wrote:  I introduce our offering by saying ‘I want you to reach forward, take the checkbook from the person in front of you and write the check to the church you’ve always wanted to’.
YES!
Another preacher chimed in – Here’s how I do it; I say:  the good news is this church already has all the money it needs.  The bad news is that it’s still in your wallets.
The Good News is that God has promised His providence to every believer:
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19(NLT)
The Bad News is that some (sometimes many) people haven’t gotten the rest of the memo.  The memo says, in baptism our wallets are also supposed to get wet, covered with the splashy blessing of God’s Spirit calling us to holy generosity, not just supporting the church so the light bill can be paid, but making every treasurer and finance committee in the land work three times as hard trying to figure out how to spend the tremendous blessings God gives through His church.
Consider this – God’s standard for the follower of Jesus Christ 2is the tithe – ten percent of what you receive, given back to God in thanksgiving and worship, acknowledging His Lordship over your life.  That is a given…and it has not changed.  It is expected and required.  The joy in giving is different; it begins after the 10 percent tithe!
For You Today
If your wallet somehow missed getting baptized along with the rest of you…I know where there is water!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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