The Disciplines of
Christ - Part 6
The Art of Giving
Intro: I wasn’t sure what lesson to release on Easter Weekend, but then it came
to me quite quickly… Giving. That’s what
God did on Easter, “ For God so loved the world that he what?...He GAVE…his
one and only son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have
eternal life.
That’s what Christians are known most for…giving.
The world may call us hypocrites, but not because we don’t give.
The Discipline
– Giving for the purpose of Godliness.
The
Art of the Giving
Giving
consists of how much we tithe to our local church and how much we give to
others in need. Giving is techniquely a part of the spiritual discipline of
stewardship. Stewardship is the idea that everything we have (time, money,
talents) has been given to us by God and it’s our job to use them wisely. Stewardship
is the first reason why we give.
I
heard a story once of a church that used the parking lot of a grocery store
that was closed on Sunday for part of their Sunday parking. The owner of the
store agreed to let them use it except for one Sunday a year they were not
allowed. When they inquired why they were not allowed on this one Sunday, the
owner replied, "so that you remember who owns the parking lot". That’s why
tithing is so important in the life of a believer. We must remember who actually owns what we
have. Our money and possession are just on loan to us and we are to be good
stewards over what he has given us.
The
second reason we give is that it builds our trust in God. If we can trust God
with our money, then it becomes easy to trust him with the rest of our lives.
This is really the key to becoming a disciplined giver. You can be the best
financial planner, your budget can be as tight as a drum, but your giving will
be pretty lousy if you don’t trust God.
As
you look at today’s story, you’ll discover that not giving and holding on to
your money actually makes you a "poor man" in the kingdom of God.
The Story - Jesus and the Rich Man (Matthew 19:16-23)
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Questions to consider:
Our cultural and situation is quite
different than the disciples; however, have the rules changed for us about
money? Is really all about money? Does
this mean we have to sell everything we have to follow Jesus? What’s the real
issue here? Why is it hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven?
Helpful Commentary:
This guy would make
the perfect convert. He is young—he would
improve the demographics of the group.
He is a well-respected community leader—he would make a perfect board
member. He is morally impeccable and has
been raised in a religious family. He is
rich and he tithes. This is exactly the
kind of person preachers drool over.
Jesus sends him away sad and empty-handed. It looks like the master needs a lesson in
church growth. He’s not being very
seeker sensitive!
This respectful young
man kneels before Jesus and asks a very good question. No, actually, he asked the very best
question: “What must I do to be saved?” He asks about good deeds which are essential
expectations to salvation. Jesus
replies, “Only God is good, and he laid out his moral okay.” The problem is this: the young man has been following these
decrees since he was a little boy, and he still senses a critical gap. He longs for God but is still estranged. How can he bridge the gap?
From this side of the
cross it’s pretty easy to answer his question.
Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). He alone can bridge the gap and bring
salvation (Acts 4:12). If this young man
is to fellowship with God, he must first follow Jesus. That will be difficult because he has a ball
and chain about his ankle. His fortune
is his hindrance. It’s not that his
wealth is wicked, just distracting. If
he doesn’t shed the shackles, he has no hope of chasing after Jesus.
This idea of money
being a barricade to God is a new concept to the young man. You see, in the Old Testament, wealth was one
of the indications of God’s blessing.
Most of the money talk up to Malachi is positive. The righteous are rewarded. Once we get to Matthew, however, the tables
have turned. Money becomes a terribly
seductive detriment to one’s quest for God.
It teaches us to trust in ourselves rather than in the Divine (Rev.
3:14-22). It is the foundation of favoritism
in the church (James 2:1-8). It engulfs
us in worry for this world (Matthew 6:25-34).
Materialism is so dangerous, in fact, that Jesus says you have to choose
between it and him (Matt.6:24), for no one can serve two masters.
We still try,
however. We imagine that we can pursue
Jesus and seek money at the same time.
In fact, we print this strange sentence on our coinage: “In God we trust.” This will always be a true statement. The question is “Which god?” We have not believed Jesus when he said that
it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man to
enter heaven. Jesus’ call here is not to
ascetic poverty but to single-minded focus.
Therefore, having money is not the problem. It is allowing money to control us that is
the problem. Theoretically, a person
could control large amount of money and still be driven only by Jesus. However, most of us vastly overestimate our
ability to tame the beast of materialism.
The solution is not
likely a massive garage sale (although most homes would benefit from the
surgery of simplification). It is not
that selling our property is too radical.
Rather, it will likely prove too shallow a surgery. We don’t need an amputation but a bone-marrow
transplant. We have been weaned on
Western materialism. We’ve bought into
the rampant accumulation of wealth. If
Jesus is to be our single source of sustenance, we must think very differently
than we do now.
It would be easier if
there was a single act or set standard for materialism. If we could just say a house of 80k or a car
of 10k is the upper limit and leave it at that.
Black and white rules and quick fixes, however, are obviously
unsatisfactory. This battle will be long
and arduous. We will likely fight
perpetually against the onslaught of materialism to the end of our existence in
this society. Our lack of precision,
however, should not translate into lack of action. This passage calls for vigilance in
incisively examining our prioritization of Jesus. It behooves believers to constantly increase
their sacrificial giving to the Kingdom both in time and material resources. We must relentlessly push the boundaries of
our budgets to attack excess and the false security of wealth in order to
tenaciously grasp simplicity. As the wealthiest
nation in the history of the world, it is nearly inevitable that we will
underestimate how closely we resemble a camel. Mark
Moore, Encounters with Christ, p. 145-147
Further Reading: Matthew 6:24-34; 19:24-30; Luke 16:1-31
The Application Questions:
1)
Why is so hard to
listen to Jesus’ warning about money?
2)
Do you think of
yourself as a generous person? Why or why not (is it a trust issue, poor
financial planning issue)?
3)
In the story, the
rich man’s fortune was a hindrance to following Jesus. In today’s culture the
opposite can be true, debt can be a hindrance to following Jesus. How does debt
play into the materialism problem and the lack of giving ?
4)
GROUP
DISCUSSION: How can being disciplined with our giving help us fight against
materialism? Give some group examples how it was hard to trust God in giving
when you first started tithing and give examples of how God has always
provided?
Strengthening your discipline of Giving:
The reason this story of Jesus and the rich man was used in this lesson on giving is because wealth creates a delusion of security. No matter how much we have we tend to trust in our money rather than trust in God. That’s why when we DISCPLINE ourselves to GIVE, it can keep us grounded and focused on Christ. Furthermore, if you lack the “joy” in giving like the scriptures command, you will find that discipline will come before joy. In others words, you can find your joy in giving if you first discipline yourself to do so. The following are a couple ways to begin strengthening your discipline of giving.
1) Make the
following scripture your prayer for the next 90 days.
Proverbs
30:8-9 (NIV) – 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from
me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give
me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and
disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and
steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
2) If you don’t already tithe, take the
God’s guarantee challenge. Pick up this card at any Adventure campus, ask your
greeter for help locating one. This is a challenge to tithe for 90 days and see
if God doesn’t keep His promise to
take care of you. SPECIAL NOTE: ONE OF THE BIGGEST EXCUSES THAT CHURCHGOERS GIVVE FOR NOT
TITHING IS THAT THEIR SERVICE TO THE CHURCH MAKES UP FOR THEIR GIVING. Nothing
could be further from the truth. As a partner of Adventure God calls you to do
both. He uses your talents and the resources he has given you to fulfill his
promise to take care of the church. Besides that, your lack of giving makes way
for distrusting God and it’s a breeding ground for being caught up in materialism.
Bottom line is that you limit your spiritual growth when you don’t learn to
become a disciplined giver.
3) Sit down and look at your finances
and make a plan on how and when to give. If you’re still paying off debt, make
some commitment to give something as you pay off debt and then as you pay off
debt make plans to give God more.
4) If you are a regular tither, consider
moving beyond your 10% to sacrificial giving. Techniquely, Jesus doesn’t require
a giving of 10%. And nowhere in the N.T. sets that precedent either. The only
examples the N.T. have on giving are extreme giving. Even when the widow gave her last
coin, it was still all she had. Point is this, O.T. giving is actually a cheaper
way to give, but Jesus comes along a breaks the lid off giving. Just like God’s
love, the sky is the limit. Remember, as you mature in your giving it will help
you mature in your trust in Jesus.
5) Finally, start a giving jar. This is
where you keep loose change and cash and you use it to bless people in need.
Praying through today’s discipline: Spend some time in
prayer over your finances and your attitude towards money and giving. If you
haven’t trusted God with your money ask for forgiveness and the courage to step
out on faith to start. If you are struggling with debt, ask God and/or other
group members to pray that you’ll start implementing biblical principles to get
out of debt and start becoming a more giving follower of Christ.
P.S. Adventure offers a class on getting out of
debt usually once a year at both campuses. If debt is not a problem, we can
get you help with setting up a simple budget plan as well.
Blessing,
Jason
No comments:
Post a Comment