TEACHING ABOUT BIBLICAL GENEROSITY

 

          Last week, I talked about generosity and stewardship being heart and not head issues. This week, I want to start a series to share ways we can change how we approach stewardship as a whole to a heart issue.

          The first way we can do this is to teach Biblical Generosity, and to do it regularly.

          By this, I don’t mean to ask for money all the time. Money is just a small part of generosity, that focusing only on the need of the church to receive will turn off folks and “turn off” generosity.

          Of course, we all know that money “makes the world go round” (or at least it seems to). And we know that Jesus talked about money more in the New Testament than any other topic. There are statistics that money was covered in 15% of his preaching; that 11 out of 39 parables were about money (or 16 out of 38)—depending on the source.

          But it’s not because money is the most important thing. It’s because WE (and the world we live in) place so much emphasis on money and what it can do FOR us (and TO us). Explaining to us through parables and teaching and preaching should enable us to view money properly and to practice Biblical Generosity.

          But we have to change how WE approach generosity. We have to stop placing our emphasis on the need of the church to receive money, and more on the need of the giver to give. Generosity and giving is part of worship, and it’s a spiritual discipline. So, as church leaders, we must talk about generosity when it comes up in Scripture, or a Bible study, or in conversation. We cannot avoid talking about it until the fall campaign.

          One of the ways generosity comes up all the time is through the offering moment. Most churches have a time when we used to pass the offering plates (although most of us don’t do that anymore for safety reasons). This is the time when we give folks the opportunity to dedicate themselves and their gifts to God. It’s also a great time to share what generosity means and how their generosity has changed lives. You can share a story, or a video, or music, or a skit, or…. If you’re struggling to find a story about changed lives, maybe prayer and conversation about discipleship in your local church could be in order.

          Biblical Generosity is the type of generosity we should all be focused upon and practicing.