I have one more topic I’d like for us to discuss and it may be the most sensitive. I would like to deal with the issue of money in the believer’s life and in the life of the Church. This can be sensitive because we bring an attitude of “my money, my decision” to the table. But that’s not the way the Church operates. In fact, when you give your life to Christ, your money ceases to be your property. Your life and all its contents belong to Jesus now. That means He can lead you however He sees fit. Some of the most awesome stories I know of Christians being used by God in incredible ways come when they surrender control of their possessions, including their bank accounts. Some of the saddest stories of Christians I know happen when they seize their funds like they would a life raft in the middle of the Atlantic. There are countless stories in the Word of people (very poor and very rich) giving God control of their funds and experiencing amazing things. And there are millions of stories today that mimic the same outcome. What is your story?

I learned to let go of my funds when I got married. Laura has a generous heart. My heart, on the other hand, is quite stingy. When needs appeared, I tended to be the one to rationalize, “Surely, someone else more suited can meet that need.” What I meant was, “I have plans for that money and don’t want to give it away.” But I knew my wife was right. So, we began to give. Now, I had always been a strict tither. I gave my 10% religiously. But I was also insistent the remaining 90% was mine. She was challenging this idea (and God was, too). At first the gifts were small. $100 here, $50 there. But then the Lord led us to give away our tax returns. That was a big gulp for me! And it just grew from there. I’d never experienced so much joy in giving! What an awesome thing it was for us to see God taking our gifts and using them for His glory! What an equally awesome thing it was to see Him returning the blessing to us! Not once
did I ever think, “Gosh, I wish we’d kept that money.” Every single need has always been supplied, with many wants and wishes on the side.

I always hesitate to step into this topic because of the way it’s been abused by money-hungry preachers and churches through the years. But honestly, they are in a small minority. We just hear about them like we hear about plane crashes. But we keep flying, right? Why? Because crashes are so rare. We shouldn’t let the abuses of the few keep us from being generous with our funds.

What does the Bible say about money? Actually, quite a lot. There are plenty of warnings against abusing it, hoarding it, loving it and misusing it. And there are plenty of encouragements to use it faithfully and wisely. Let’s look at those for a second. I love to read the stories of the ones who had so little, chose faithfully to give it away and were lavishly cared for as a result. I love the stories of people finding a treasure and selling everything they own to buy it. The Gospel literally urges Christ-followers to give up everything, their lives included, and Jesus set the example for us.

By the time we get to the book of Acts, the Church is born and boundaries are forming. Barnabas, Annanias and Sapphira lead the way in generosity. Barnabas sells a piece of property and gives all of the proceeds to the Church. Ananias and his wife Sapphira try to do the same thing. They sell a piece of property, they keep some of the profits, but act like the gift they give is 100% of the proceeds. God takes their lives as a result. Why? Is there anything wrong with giving some of your funds? Not at all. The issue was lying about it. Have other Christians lied and lived to tell the story? Absolutely. Why did these two die? Because God wanted to set the record straight right at the beginning. Generosity for the believer is
a non-negotiable trait.

Why do we give? To meet the needs of the people around us and fund the ministry of the Church. What is the ministry of the Church? It’s varied, but carrying the Gospel to every person on the planet is primary. How much should I give? Acts teaches us, we give until the needs are met. That statement is a little ambiguous. We’d much rather have a hard percentage that we can give and walk away. But ministry isn’t that way. It’s messy and requires us to plant both our feet in the trenches. Just like every other aspect of faithful living, giving is an all in expectation. Will you submit your bank account to Jesus or will you limit your giving? I am a living testimony. 100% generosity produces more joy and freedom than you can imagine. I challenge you to jump in and see if God isn’t big enough to meet all your needs and then some. If you do this, an adventure is just around the corner!