Being a Christian (6)

I remember my parents talk about how giving isn’t something we “have” to do but instead something that we “get” to do – this never really made sense with me until I got older. In fact as I went to college my dad encouraged me to continue this practice of giving… I worked as an intramural referee maybe 6-8 hours a week my freshman/sophomore years. I made $60-70 most weeks and my dad is giving me advice to continue to tithe off of that? What is $6 to God – at least that's what I would ask myself. I could use that $6 to go out with friends to Taco Bell or get a Large popcorn at the movie theater with my cute girlfriend (Lindsey)! I didn't feel like I had $6 to spare…

Come to find out, though, I needed to be giving that to the Lord because it was what I was expected to do. Above anything else, it was me being obedient to my God and trusting in Him to use that money for His glory and trusting in His ability to provide in my life. Ultimately trusting in God to provide more with my 90% than I could ever provide with the 100% on my own! As my dad told me, “You can’t afford to not give to God.”

Question: Jesus talked about money more than any other topic. Why do people not like this very much today?

We get uncomfortable whenever we talk about our money because it’s such a personal thing. There are some unwritten rules for pastors to never talk about and those are politics and money… While those things cannot become the dominant theme in any church/pulpit, if the Bible addresses something, we must too! If the Bible says it, that settles it – not in a bad way, but in a good way as we desire to become like Christ in all aspects of our lives and become obedient to all aspects of Scripture.

Dr. Allen shared a story once of a man named Ed Carrol who was an encouragement to him as a young pastor and his service in his first church. Ed told Dr. Allen to contact him whenever a benevolence request came to the church. Ed would help meet the need of the case! He'd give a bag of groceries to a person, give $ to the person, or even fill up a car with gas. Dr. Allen attempted to figure out how he did this. He supposed that Ed was extremely wealthy to meet these needs – but he was middle class, not super wealthy. He then thought that Ed was just really naive to give everyone money – but this wasn't true. He was a growing follower who knew that God could use money and resources for His glory and that God could use those opportunities with folks as a Gospel opportunity. Praise the Lord for generous saints like Ed Carrol who live out sacrificial giving… I’ve never met a person who practiced sacrificial giving who has regretted it.

Question: What do you think it looks like to have a “Gospel-centered” view of money?

Jesus talked a lot about money in the Gospels (16/38 parables reference our money) and we should view our money and resources the same way Christ talked about them. They are a tool that we can use to share the love of God with others and meet various needs. It’s not ours, it all belongs to God!

My grandmother has talked about this with me at times how she has been convicted as she’s gotten older that she has a responsibility to give more than a tithe and that a tithe is just the starting point - its the minimum. While we might not think we can afford to do it, trusting in God fully with our money and believing that He is going to use it to spread the Gospel far and wide has a funny way of impacting our view on money in general.

Let’s watch this video and see how exactly the Gospel impacts our money!

Lesson Video

- Money is a biblical topic!

o 10% of the verses in the Gospels talk about money!

o 16/38 parables, nearly half, talk about money!

- That which is important to Christ should be important to me as well!

o We should care about money as well and how we use it

- Money reveals the heart and indicates deeper issues/faith

o This is positive and negative – especially the desire for money

o Money is a tool and much can be accomplished through money/resources

- How can you use money to advance God’s kingdom?

- Matthew 6:19-20

Have an eternal mindset regarding our money

Let the Gospel impact your money

Trust in Him and in God’s provision, not ourselves

- Luke 16:13-15

Prioritize serving God over gaining money

Ultimately we can only serve 1 master… God or money

- 1 Tim. 6:6-10

o Appropriate use of money

o The love of money is the root of all evil

We are always called to love the Provider, not the provision

Pursue contentment, not gain

o It’s easy to think that there will be happiness associated with more money

o If you’re not content now, it’s likely you won’t be then either

Think carefully about the word stewardship

o So much is at stake in how we steward our money

- Prioritize giving to God

Church first, other ministries second

If you wait until you can afford to give to God then you’ll never give to God

Everything else will fall into place!

Forget not God’s provision

Document all the times that God has provided in the past in miraculous ways

This strengthens your faith in the future

Value work, saving and investing

Cultivate the heart of a cheerful giver

Don’t view tithing as a “God tax” rather give cheerfully!

View how we can bless others!

Don’t be surprised if in doing this, we begin to give abundantly and enjoy doing so

Question: What do you think of whenever you hear the word, steward?

Steward – someone who looks after something else. A person responsible for supplies or something else. I think of someone who is caring for something.

How can money be a tool for the church and for the Kingdom of God?

Tool as we use our resources to further the Kingdom! We send money to missionaries overseas and nationally. We strive to use our resources with wisdom for the Gospel to be shared - God to be glorified - and disciples to be made.

Look at money through the Great Commission lens - is our money accomplishing what Jesus wants?

Read Luke 16:13-15

Luke 16:13–15 CSB

13 No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him. 15 And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.

1 Timothy 6:6–10 CSB

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Why is it important to stress that the love of money – not money itself – is the root of all evil?

Money is a tool - a resource - an indicator of where your heart is at. A Christian who is blessed financially isn’t evil, in fact he might be able to do a lot of good with what God has blessed him with! Rather it is the love of money that is called evil in 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Why is there a temptation to love money, even for churchgoers, like the pharisees?

When you think of worship, what are some things that you think of?

Singing songs, praying, the Lord’s Supper, Baptism, fellowshipping, the preaching/teaching of the Word… Yet, giving is also an act of worship as we bring ourselves to God and give back to Him what He has blessed us with. We see this in Scripture with the example of the widow’s mite as Jesus said that she gave more than all the other people… What is his point? Giving isn’t to be a legalistic thing - it’s something done out of genuine love for Jesus Christ! 2 Cor 9:7 talks about this

2 Corinthians 9:7 CSB

7 Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.

Consider Valentines Day - couples often get one another a gift of some capacity. Say a husband gives his wife a rose, a box of chocolates, and a card and she replies and says that she loves them but that he shouldn’t have gotten her so much stuff! The husband says that today is Valentines Day and his obligation was to get those 3 things because that’s his duty as her husband… The wife gets a little upset… The husband brought her those things just because he felt like he had to. Now consider if the husband did this and told her this instead, “There’s no way I’d rather spend my money than to spend it on you!”

It’s the same gift - same money - but one is motivated by duty whereas one is motivated by love. Motivation makes all the difference and God calls us to give back to Him cheerfully and out of love - not legalism or resentment or obligation.

How can the church do a better job of talking about the importance of giving with our young ones or people who have never heard about giving to God?

Encourage them to start young as it can develop into a spiritual discipline.

Donald Whitney wrote, in my estimation, the greatest book on Spiritual Disciplines called, “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” and one of these days we might do a Bible study through that book because it’ll change your life - genuinely! One of the disciplines Whitney talks about in the book is the discipline of stewardship which is exactly what Dr. Allen has talked about the last 2 weeks. How do we steward our time and our money - these are important things and they are blessings given to us by God. Whitney shares this thought, “We own nothing, God owns everything and we are His managers… We just temporarily steward things that belong eternally to God.”

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