GIVING IS GOOD FOR YOU

And he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27).

But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God' " (Matthew 4:4).

Jesus countered the hyper legalistic critics of his time by telling them that the institution of the sabbath was to bless humanity, not to hinder it.  While I am not "Lord of the sabbath" like Jesus was, I believe that this principle could be applied to other areas of faith as well, in this case, giving.

It is strange that those who emphasize grace and Holy Spirit the most are the ones who are some of the most legalistic about money--at a minimum one must give 10% of his gross income, not his net income.  Often pastoral sermons on stewardship will speak of money as the Christian's treasure.  The thinking is that if one gives his treasure to the Lord, his heart will follow it.  Such theology is purely materialistic and thus undermines and distorts the message of Christ.  Often such pastoral sermons will lament what the church isn't doing because the church does not have the funding.  That is the problem with materialistic theology, it makes finances the determining factor on what can or cannot be done by the church.  When materialism is emphasized, there is always a shortage of money, whether it be in the church or the state.

All this begs the question: Does God need our money to accomplish His purposes?  If God does need our money, then He is not God.  Just as God can 'raise up children of Abraham out of the stones,' so God can raise up givers of money to accomplish His purposes--if He wants to use financial means to accomplish them.  I believe one of the reasons the Lord wants us to give is to increase our faith and trust in Him.  If we give that which is necessary to physical life to Him, how will we be sustained but by Him?  As we rely on Him more and more, we will find riches that money cannot buy--giving is good for us!

The truth is that man, or churches, or states, do not live by bread alone!  Those who do believe in life by bread alone are always in poverty.  If Jesus Christ is our treasure, if we are led by His Spirit, then the money will follow where He leads.  If it seems that the lack of money is the biggest obstacle in your life, or church life, then a radical reassessment of one's relationship with Christ needs to be done.

Finally, if one is not giving his money, and his time and talents, to Jesus Christ, he needs to do a radical assessment of his relationship to Christ too!  The truth is that all you have follows your heart--if Jesus has your heart, He has your money.

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom