Monday, July 2,
2018
But thank God!
He has given Titus the same enthusiasm
for you that I have. Titus
welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact, he himself was very eager to go and
see you. We are
also sending another brother with Titus. All the churches praise him as a preacher of
the Good News. He
was appointed by the churches to accompany us as we take the offering to
Jerusalem—a service that glorifies the Lord and shows our eagerness to help. We are traveling together
to guard against any criticism for the way we are
handling this generous gift. We
are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to
see that we are honorable. 2 Corinthians
8:16-21(NLT)
Paul did more than preach,
establish churches, and write letters; he also helped oversee the collection
for the needy. That is a heady
responsibility. Having served in local
churches for a lot of years, I have seen a lot of good that has been
accomplished by the generosity of God’s people.
When you’re in a position to know the details, it is both a joy and an
honor to watch God at work through His people.
But sometimes the
responsibility of this handling of the responsibility can be either
misunderstood…or just plain missed. You
also hear the occasional story of how temptation overcame someone, and the
funds disappeared. It’s unfortunate that
you hear this kind of news disproportionately; good news fades quickly, and sins
are sensationalized so the news cycle can be interesting. Stewardship, however, is not about
sensationalism, or anybody’s news cycle; it’s all about God’s will being
accomplished through what He has put in our hands.
At our Annual Conference
each year an offering is received for a designated worthy cause. One year when I served on the ushering squad –
a very tedious job, standing through endless reports, meetings, and motions –
the pain in my back became unbearable. I
couldn’t wait for the offering…the last item before adjourning. Finally, it was time, and the KFC buckets
were passed, filled, and lifted in praise as we sang the doxology. Then all the ushers (including the old man with
the painful back) filed out to the counting room. With 20 or more ushers, several conference staff
and the treasurer watching, the cash and checks were separated, moved into
piles, and we were all directed to count our stack. Looking at the mountain of money (it seemed
like Ft. Knox), I was overcome with the emotion of just how many mosquitoes
nets this pile of green was going to provide.
And more than just nets; I was looking at a pile of lives saved.
According to the United
Nations Nothing But Nets
campaign website every two minutes a child dies somewhere in the world because
of malaria. These nets are lifesavers. Watching and counting, and then hearing the
report of some $30,000 given by the 1100 churches represented at our meeting, I
was struck by several realities:
1. I was humbled and awed by
having a first-hand look at God’s handiwork
2. I was glad our collection
was so transparent
3. I thought we could have done
a lot more
4. I was so thankful for the fact
that some 3,000 children were going to sleep under a net holding the malaria-bearing
mosquitos at bay.
In retrospect, it has become
clearer to me that the offering we took could not have been so successful
without honesty in two ways. First, the money
was for saving children’s lives, not promoting some politician’s career. Secondly, the process, with all the eyes on
it at every step of the way, was above reproach. This was like Paul’s informing the Corinthian
church that having Titus join him in delivering the offering was to…guard against any criticism for the way [they
were] handling this generous gift.
Walking back to my room that
night I realized I hadn’t thought about the nagging, throbbing pain in my back
for a few hours. And that’s when it hit
me (the thought, not the pain) – I had been in the presence of Yahweh doing
what He does…blessing His family. And
when you’re in His presence there is nothing better, or bigger than joy; even a
bad back can’t spoil what happens there!
For You Today
People go to chiropractors, surgeons,
acupuncturists, and the pharmacy on behalf of their deteriorating backs, and I
thank God for all of them. But, if there’s
anything that can take away what ails you, getting in the middle of an honest
account of a God-thing going on must be right at the top
of the list.
So, let’s do that…let’s take our bad
backs, bad attitudes, bad bank balances, bad relationships, and all the other
bad you’ve got going on, and let’s lose it all in His service.
Go to VIDEO
[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com
