Here are some other thoughts in this snowy, blowy, recession-ish kind of time:
When Americans earned less money following the Great Depression, they gave more. When income went up, they began to give less of it away.
Offering money, many Christians believe, should be like Hollywood's version of romance: spontaneous, exuberant, and impulsive. Financial gifts should be joyful, we think, so we give only when the urge strikes. "Structured systems" such as annual pledges "seem to strike many American Christians as rigid, impersonal, legalistic, and even unspiritual."
This attitude translates to giving from our wallets instead of our paychecks. When the offering plate comes by, we dig into our purses or pockets and freely, joyfully give of what we find. Meanwhile, nearly all of our income is spoken for.
One congregant put it this way: "God requires it, but...he also tells us that he doesn't want us to give if we don't want to." The proof text for this attitude is 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
The application, however, suggests that God prefers consumerism to generosity. If buying the bigger home or larger car makes it more difficult to give cheerfully, we will cut back on the giving until it's cheerful.
So we give our money like we spend it: haphazardly and without intention.
Giving should be a matter of intentional obedience, a joyful expression of returning thanks to God.
Martin Luther said "A man's pocketbook is the last piece of him to be converted." Money has a strange power, as the current economic crisis illustrates, that suggests humility and prudence are the appropriate attitudes toward it, not exuberance and impulsiveness.
Excerpted from an article in Christianity Today
Scrooge Lives
December 2008
Offering money, many Christians believe, should be like Hollywood's version of romance: spontaneous, exuberant, and impulsive. Financial gifts should be joyful, we think, so we give only when the urge strikes. "Structured systems" such as annual pledges "seem to strike many American Christians as rigid, impersonal, legalistic, and even unspiritual."
This attitude translates to giving from our wallets instead of our paychecks. When the offering plate comes by, we dig into our purses or pockets and freely, joyfully give of what we find. Meanwhile, nearly all of our income is spoken for.
One congregant put it this way: "God requires it, but...he also tells us that he doesn't want us to give if we don't want to." The proof text for this attitude is 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
The application, however, suggests that God prefers consumerism to generosity. If buying the bigger home or larger car makes it more difficult to give cheerfully, we will cut back on the giving until it's cheerful.
So we give our money like we spend it: haphazardly and without intention.
Giving should be a matter of intentional obedience, a joyful expression of returning thanks to God.
Martin Luther said "A man's pocketbook is the last piece of him to be converted." Money has a strange power, as the current economic crisis illustrates, that suggests humility and prudence are the appropriate attitudes toward it, not exuberance and impulsiveness.
Excerpted from an article in Christianity Today
Scrooge Lives
December 2008
It makes you think. How do I give? Do I give? Why do I give? Who is the primary concern when I give? What do I plan around when I spend?
It is my belief that generosity is as essential to spirituality as forgiveness. Although, ironically is not forgiveness simply another way to offer generosity?
It is not convenient to be generous. There will be many who argue against it. Do not, however, complain about your poor spirituality if you are not giving. What does it mean to have faith? How will you experience the true wealth of grace if you never risk and need it? Now there is a Christmas gift worth giving and receiving.
g-ram
It is my belief that generosity is as essential to spirituality as forgiveness. Although, ironically is not forgiveness simply another way to offer generosity?
It is not convenient to be generous. There will be many who argue against it. Do not, however, complain about your poor spirituality if you are not giving. What does it mean to have faith? How will you experience the true wealth of grace if you never risk and need it? Now there is a Christmas gift worth giving and receiving.
g-ram
1 comment:
This is very insightful Graham, I completely agree. Not to mention that it just feels right to give to people, especially when they need it and you do to. Something about sacrificing part of yourself just seems to be good when performed.
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