One time, when I was a kid, I was watching a TV show about animals, monkeys in particular. There was footage of monkeys being trapped so they could be sold on the black market for everything from pets to ingredients for some sort of soup.
One of the traps used was a small cage with not just vertical bars, but horizontal bars as well. The square openings the bars made were very small, just big enough for a child’s hand to fit through...or a monkey’s. Inside the cage, in plain sight , was a piece of fruit. The footage showed a curious monkey (no, I don’t think it’s name was George!) who came up to the cage and reached in to get the fruit. The problem was, he couldn’t pull his hand back out while holding the fruit. The monkey’s inability to understand that to let go of the fruit was his means of escape, became his undoing.
Things that allure us, that please us, that spoil us, can indeed, entrap us. When we find that we cannot let go of anything, even something good, then we are truly undone. Jesus says that our lives to do not consist of the things which we possess, He also said that we cannot serve two masters, God and Mammon. Mammon was a pagan god of material wealth...he symbolized what we Christians call “blessings”. He also said that wherever we place importance or priority, that’s where our heart can be found.
Wealth is the easiest to point out because it’s presence is obvious, but it is not bad or evil; the often misquoted Bible verse actually reads, “the LOVE of money is the root of all evil”, not money itself. As I have said many times before, money is merely a tool with which we can accomplish a task, much like a hammer. But when a hammer is misused, like as a weapon, then bad things happen for which the hammer cannot be blamed...rather the user of the hammer is to blame.
When we become followers of Jesus we are shown by His words and the words of His followers, that we are to take care of those less fortunate than ourselves. We are commanded to do so. Jesus even emphasized that we would always have the poor among us. This was His way of saying, “Hey, no matter how good things might seem, there will always be someone who needs a helping hand...no strings attached.”
Jesus spoke more about money and the effect it has, than He did about healing, hell and even heaven, so caring for the helpless, the marginalized, the (as Jesus called them) “least of these”, is a HUGE part of the Gospel message. In fact, Jesus said at the beginning of His ministry that He was here to preach the Good News to the poor. Does that mean the Gospel is not for everyone? Of course not...because we are ALL poor in some way.
Jesus said that the gate we should enter is small and the path is narrow...just wide enough to have to go through in single file - meaning that you cannot bring anyone with you or anything, there’s not enough room. When we follow Him, we can, should and MUST invite others, but our salvation is just that - ours.
So, will we continue to hold on to the fruit and fail to escape the enemy? He may not get us yet; the fruit may even rot in our hand before we find ourselves in captivity.
Or...do we wise up and let it go and escape with our very lives? To then move forward living for Jesus and others is His plan for us anyway, for we are His masterpiece created to perform acts of mercy so that the world will recognize Him in us...and come to Him and be saved.
Think about it.
Showing posts with label giving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label giving. Show all posts
9/30/10
1/31/09
Money, the Church & Sacrifice
A few weeks back I attended a church "mortgage burning" event. It was a big deal...people who were charter members were there, former pastors, conference officials, etc. The current pastor had a few words to say about how they had gotten to that point; how there had been some serious sacrificial giving along the way in order to retire the debt on the building. Some very good points were made...but...
As with most churches (not all, but most) this is a building that is used approximately 10 hours a week. Wednesday nights for a few hours and on the weekend for classes and worship service. Maybe more if there is a special event going on. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases, millions of dollars, for a meeting place that is not utilized to it's fullest potential...this is a waste and very poor stewardship of monetary blessings.
I think about times when I was growing up that my family experienced some hard times financially...the church was strangely absent in our time of need. But when there was a new building program, everyone (including those who had very little) was encouraged to give "sacrificially" under the guise that it was for "God's glory" that we get a new kitchen or new classrooms.
I think about times that people have gone hungry under the shadow of a church steeple or grown cold because they couldn't pay their electric bill, while the church down the street had the heat on while there was no one on the premises."Sacrificial giving" to add on to a church, or increase the space it occupies.(?)
If the church boards were honest with themselves, they would ask the question, "If this church burned to the ground today, would the surrounding community miss it?" Obviously there would be a physical void, but what about a spiritual void or community void? "Sacrificial giving" to what end? Building up a church facility just so we can say, when asked, "Where do you go to church?"..."Oh,I go to that BIG church up on the hill." This is not giving God glory...just a black eye.
Brennan Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, said, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world is...Christians; who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.""Denying Him by our lifestyle" is far more than engaging in lying, stealing, using pornography or other of the more "obvious" sinful behaviors; to misuse or mishandle the monetary blessings He has provided is just as egregious in His eyes. Sacrificial giving is only sacrificial if it is what God asks for, not what we think He's asking for.
Think about it.
As with most churches (not all, but most) this is a building that is used approximately 10 hours a week. Wednesday nights for a few hours and on the weekend for classes and worship service. Maybe more if there is a special event going on. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases, millions of dollars, for a meeting place that is not utilized to it's fullest potential...this is a waste and very poor stewardship of monetary blessings.
I think about times when I was growing up that my family experienced some hard times financially...the church was strangely absent in our time of need. But when there was a new building program, everyone (including those who had very little) was encouraged to give "sacrificially" under the guise that it was for "God's glory" that we get a new kitchen or new classrooms.
I think about times that people have gone hungry under the shadow of a church steeple or grown cold because they couldn't pay their electric bill, while the church down the street had the heat on while there was no one on the premises."Sacrificial giving" to add on to a church, or increase the space it occupies.(?)
If the church boards were honest with themselves, they would ask the question, "If this church burned to the ground today, would the surrounding community miss it?" Obviously there would be a physical void, but what about a spiritual void or community void? "Sacrificial giving" to what end? Building up a church facility just so we can say, when asked, "Where do you go to church?"..."Oh,I go to that BIG church up on the hill." This is not giving God glory...just a black eye.
Brennan Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, said, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world is...Christians; who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.""Denying Him by our lifestyle" is far more than engaging in lying, stealing, using pornography or other of the more "obvious" sinful behaviors; to misuse or mishandle the monetary blessings He has provided is just as egregious in His eyes. Sacrificial giving is only sacrificial if it is what God asks for, not what we think He's asking for.
Think about it.
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