Saturday, July 17, 2010

Cheerfully Give Back

"But just as you excel in everything -- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us -- see that you also excel in this grace of giving." -- 2 Corinthians 8:7

A few weeks ago a very nice man became very unpopular at church. His great sin? He stood before the congregation and talked about money. Oops. People don't like to hear about money, especially when someone is telling them they might need to give a little more.

Many folks are happy to show up at church. They might even serve on a committee or volunteer at VBS. Some love to attend Sunday school or Bible studies. A few more will even give a little money to the church. But only what they decide to give and not a penny more. They are rarely happy about it.

Except God has called us to give -- and to give cheerfully. It's His anyway. Everything we have comes from Him. All He's ever asked is that we give 10 percent back -- and anything else that we feel called to give.

In this passage, Paul was commending the Macedonian churches for giving far more than he'd imagined. They gave to others in need, even though they were themselves poor. And they did it gladly. What does that say about our stinginess?

We all want to excel in our faith. We want to feel God's strength and peace. We want to have great knowledge of His Word. We want to be able to discuss Him with others in such a way that others believe. We want to be good Christians. Really we do. So why is it that we don't want to excel in giving back to God?

Because that's what giving to the church is. That's what giving to the poor is. That's what it's all about -- giving back to God what belongs to Him. Not become we "have to" but because we want to. That poor man smiled as he talked about commitment and faith. The sadness was that he had to give that talk at all.