HOW DOES GIVING AFFECT RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHRIST

          We spend so much time talking about giving, and how it helps churches pay their bills and do mission work, and in the United Methodist Church, pay ministry shares (apportionments). Sometimes, we get really fancy and talk about giving back to God; and about tithing or proportional giving. And then, maybe, just maybe, we talk about generosity and how important it is to everyone’s spiritual journey.

          But, what if, we talked about giving, as intentional (on purpose), and proportional (giving specifically related to income), and how important those two aspects are to giving. Because not only does it:

·        Make our hearts sing; and

·        Enable God’s work to be done through our local churches; and

·        Change our relationship with money; AND

·        Strengthen our relationship with Christ!

          As Christians, we are New Testament people; we are children of God, and our sins have been forgiven because of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ said he was

·        The Bread of Life (John 6).

·        The Light of the World (John 8).

·        The Gate of the Sheepfold (John 10).

·        The Good Shepherd (John 10).

·        The Resurrection and the Life (John 11).

·        The Way, Truth, and Life (John 14).

·        The True Vine: (John 15)

          If Jesus is all those things, and all those things define our relationship with Jesus Christ and his relationship with us; when we are generous, and we think of money with our hearts instead of only our heads, then when our giving is intentional and proportional, our relationship with Christ is increased exponentially.

          For many of us, work on the financial aspects of our church and our church’s work is focused on the fall season. It is “only” summer; but now is the time to start talking and sharing about our relationships with money and giving. Don’t wait!

 

 OFFERING AS TRANSFORMATION AND THANKSGIVING

 

          How often do you experience the time of offering in church as either a hastily thrown out, almost apologetic time, or even a negative moment? I have to say, for me, too often.

          But the time of offering is as much an act of worship as prayer or sermon or song. Why don’t we treat it like that? Of course, the time of offering during a worship service is a time to share financial gifts that will allow God’s work to be done through that local church. But it must also be a time to offer ourselves to the glory of God and to be used by God.

          It can be a time of transformation. We are blessed by the grace of God. There is grace before we even know what it is; there is grace where we are pardoned, and there is the grace where we mature in our faith. That grace blesses us with everything. Everything we are and everything we have. We are transformed by God; we are transformed by grace; and that time, in church, where we offer ourselves over to God, can be a time of transformation.

          In addition to ourselves, we offer up a portion of what God has blessed us with. We aren’t giving our money to the church; we are sharing a small portion of what God has given us with the church so that God’s work continues and other lives are transformed. When we talk about giving our own stuff away, it starts to seem like a lot. But when we look at the fact that God has given us everything; and we can keep most of it to care for ourselves; giving a little bit back, 10% or more doesn’t seem like so much.

          Think of it like a basket of apples. There are ten apples. God asks that we give back the best apple for God to use; but God lets us keep the other nine to care for ourselves, our families, our homes and our lives. We can give thanks to God for that generosity, can we not?

          Our offering in church, or via online giving, or via a check put in the mail is done in thanksgiving to God. Let that moment, those moments, transform our lives!

If you have questions, ideas of comments, you can comment on this blog.

 

             INTENTIONAL AND PROPORTIONAL GIVING

          How often do people WANT to hear about tithing? How often do people actually TALK about tithing? On purpose? After all, it’s talking about the “bad T word.”

          Tithing is in the Old Testament, and it’s talked about a lot. Giving ten percent as the base of giving is something that was part of the Law in the Old Testament, of course. But do we really need to worry about tithing now that we have the New Testament.

          I agree that tithing appears several times in the Old Testament and doesn’t really appear in the New Testament. However, Jesus talks about caring for our neighbor and our world, so giving is vital to that.

          I think that talking about tithing is important and how giving just 10% isn’t all that much—after all, we get to keep 90% of what God gives us for ourselves! Studies say average giving is only about 2%. Jumping to 10% overnight can seem pretty overwhelming.

          Proportional giving is the way to talk about giving. If you’re giving 2%, consider prayerfully increasing that to 3% or 4%, and then increase again. Proportional giving is exactly that—giving a certain portion (percentage) to the church/others. The definition of tithing is giving 10%. Giving a different percentage is not tithing.

          Intentional giving is making a commitment, usually at the beginning of the year, of what you intend to give to the glory of God, for God’s work, through the local church. It isn’t a last-minute thought, or checking to see what you have left in your bank account that particular day, or what is left in your wallet or the bottom of your purse. It is stating your intentions and then following through.

          Both proportional and intentional giving are important aspects of generosity and giving. Talking about those aspects regularly and clearly will help you (and others) identify the challenges, choices and outcomes involved. Talking about and answering the question of what are the challenges, outcomes and choices will be fruitful conversations to have!

 

                               GIVING AND VALUES

          What does money have to do with our values? Have you wondered that?

          Are you, in fact, wondering right now why I’m even asking that question?

          Gospel of Matthew 6:21 says:

·        For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NIV)

·        Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (NLT)

          What this scripture is telling us isn’t that we put our money where our heart is (although that can certainly be the case). What it is telling us is we value where our treasure is.

          If my treasure is all about keeping it in a savings account or under my mattress, all for me, me, me; then my heart is also going to be all about me, me, me.

Ø We must view our values. What is important to us? Who is important to us? Then our giving and how and to whom we give will match those values.

          If my treasure is concern and care for only myself, then my heart will only care for myself. In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens describes Scrooge as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint,... secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." Scrooge’s concern and care is only for himself, and that is what he values.

Ø We must view our values. Let’s revisit the questions from above. What is important to us? Who is important to us? We must care for our neighbors, no matter who they are or where they are.

          But that kind of discipleship and stewardship only happens when we “visit” our values and determine what they are and what God is telling us about them.

          What is important to you in your faith community? Those things that you view as important is where your heart is and where your giving will likely follow. And it’s not just you. It’s everyone. When someone looks at a budget, they often look for the lines about the “stuff” they like and they want to know what amount of money goes to that item. The fact that some of the other important work of the church may not be fancy or appeal to them gets lost when values “fixate” on one thing.

          I encourage you to view your personal values and then how your giving and generosity and care for neighbor match those.

          Then I encourage you to look at what you value at church, and what your church values and see how the giving and generosity of your folks matches that and how good you are at describing “what God has called you to be” as a church. Your giving, and your folks’ giving hinges on that!

 

                          TALKING ABOUT GIVING

          How often have you gotten up in front of a group and talked about giving? Were you comfortable? What topics did you cover?

          I think it is really difficult to talk about money sometimes, especially when the focus is on asking for money or talking about our own relationship with money. When we ask someone to talk about giving, often the follow-up question is “what should I talk about?”

          I am going to work on a series about talking about giving by covering different points that could be covered in a “talk.”

          The first couple of questions require us to consider our own relationship with money, particularly before we start doing an “ask.” These questions are important when you are working on a personal budget or getting out of debt or dealing with other personal financial issues.

• 1.   How is money a spiritual issue for you?

Too often money is viewed as a “worldly” thing, or an evil thing. But money should be a spiritual issue for us, especially as Christians. Matthew 6:24 says we can’t serve two masters: God and money. But that does not mean that money isn’t a spiritual thing. The very beginning of Genesis says that “God created”. That means that everything God created is good. We have money, yes, and it is used to pay bills and “make the world go round,” but it really enables God’s work to be done in the world. So we have to focus on the spiritual reality of money and what it means to us. How do we view money in our own lives?

• 2.   Who helped you think differently about money and faith?

Think about how you viewed money as a child. A lot of that will focus on how money was viewed in your own family, by your parents and others. Did you feel poor or rich? How was money talked about? Were they positive conversations, or did talks about money always lead to an argument? How we experienced “money” growing up usually says a lot about how we view money as adults. But, when money becomes a spiritual issue, consider how that happens. Was there someone who you knew or know that was a generous person, that gave generously at church or in other ways? How did their view of money and generosity and faith change your own views of money and faith?

          I admit talking about money can be hard, but we need to consider prayerfully our own relationship with money and generosity before we can ever talk about it, and especially talk about faith and money at the same time.

          What is your personal relationship with money?