Who's Money Is It?

On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.  When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem; (1 Corinthians 16:2,3 NASB)

I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking on your part.  For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men. (1 Corinthians 16:17,18 NASB)

Probably one of the most difficult subjects to discuss in church is money.  Simply put, there never seems to be enough of it.  On a deeper, more personal level, 'there's never enough to make me content'.  I don't believe we were created with the capacity to have money bring us contentment.  I just don't think it's possible.  Regardless of the psychological things involved, the bottom line is the same; no contentment from cash.

But it is probably equally true that we have the innate sense that money is somehow tied to our personal welfare.  So, while it may never bring contentment, it still captures our attention on the 'self-preservation' level, which is so basic and visceral that it defies reason.  As you might expect, this doesn't catch our Creator off guard.  Believe it or not, He's very aware of this problem we have.

So, the answer to this problem is a 'spiritual discipline' which is usually approached with a subjective sense of obligation.   All spiritual disciplines are supposed to bring us closer to our Savior by breaking down those barriers we create in our lives hindering our connection with Him.  Rarely are they the exact same for everyone, but there are normative categories, one of the most common of which is money.  Therefore the spiritual discipline involved in breaking down the barrier of focus on money is giving that money to the church.

It's a real fun opportunity to watch people give.  On the one hand, people find every excuse not to give to the church.  They will claim it's a human institution, that those humans running it are flawed, that the money given is being mismanaged, and so on.  All of these excuses, and any others, are just attempts to maintain the hold on that substance we have come to believe makes the world go 'round.  As you might expect, this sort of behavior and belief is somewhat irritating to the one spinning the earth...along with the rest of the elements in the entire universe.

On the other hand, those who's vocation it is to minister within the church are bombarded regularly with the constant needs of the church, the community, themselves and their own families, the world on some level or levels, and so on.  All that funnels through them into a 'supply' that is wanting, usually because of the above excuses taking precedence over the presence and power and love of our Savior.

With all the problems of Corinth (and there are 15 chapters full of them), giving was something they seemed capable of even when it was for a person (Paul) of whom they did not fully approve.  It's possible, and from 2 Corinthians even more probable, that they had a problem sending money away to Jerusalem.  But giving in general isn't part of their problems.  After the instructions in verses 2 and 3 comes a 'thank you' for their gift to him in verses 17 and 18.  Sure something was 'lacking' but it was made up.  They gave something.

So the problem wasn't giving.  It may have been immorality, pride, arrogance, foolishness, even dabbling in idolatry.  But it seems they were doing okay on giving; at least to Paul.  Perhaps it was the three people mentioned who gave any or at all.  I don't know, and from Paul's wording it could very well be. Or it could be that they hadn't, to that point in time, gave or contributed to Paul.  Either way, or any other way it could be taken, at that point, Paul received from this church.

So, the challenge is to give.  Giving is the exercise, even to a flawed group of people administered by a flawed group of people with the trust that somehow our Master and Savior multiplies it to meet needs.  The point is to give, and having given, to release our 'claim' on the gift.  Giving without 'strings', without a say.  Otherwise we've contributed to an investment where we evaluate the return on the investment, and demand a vote as if each dollar grants us a 'share' (the more shares, the more votes). 

For me, the challenge is more to not take my giving for granted.  Sometimes it simply slips through process, and here's how.  My wife and I budget, and in that budget we tithe.  But God has blessed us sometimes with excess and we know that the imperative to 'budget' that particular paycheck isn't necessary.  We can just set it aside and live off what is already there, or so we think.  So, in that situation, we also neglect to 'budget' the tithe.  Because I didn't do the one, I didn't do the other.  Truthfully, I need to do both every time.

So, for me, the lesson is to give as well.  The charge is to discipline myself to make the return to my Master the priority it must be to ensure no walls (or at least that wall) don't get built in my life with Him.  The purpose is His Kingdom, and taking my place in it.  The result will be a closer and more loving and powerful relationship with my Master.  Any other charge, purpose, or result is paltry and worthless.  Holidays are coming, the gifts are expected, the sales and 'things' are pushed into my face.  But my charge is to give, the purpose is the King being celebrated, and the result is a season of worship.  So, Happy Thankful Christmas!

Meandering Around Canaan

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."  So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.  Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.  The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.  Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.  Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev. (Genesis 12:1-9 NASB)

Abram completes the journey from Ur begun by his father years before (see Gen. 11:31-32).  He took with him the ones of his family who would go, all their stuff and headed out.  He left Haran, a place probably named for his little brother who died in Ur before they left, and he left behind his brother Nahor and his family.  His father had died, never completing the trip around the "Fertile Crescent."  So, in a real sense, he's not necessarily leaving "home" per se, but half his family.  It was still hard.

The promise begins as a promise that he will be a great nation; a nation that will bless all the families of the earth.  It begins there and begins to take shape as Abram travels the length of Canaan.  His descendants will possess Canaan; the land he walks through.  And as he passes through, he builds altars; stone object of worship.  These are things used to literally give something up to the One sending him through the land, away from his family; as if he hadn't given up enough, and he hadn't.

God speaks to him at Shechem, and he builds an altar.  He proceeds to Beth-El and God does not speak to him, but he builds another altar anyway.  He then proceeds to the Negeb, a more difficult, more arid place.  There he does not build an altar; at least not yet.  Could it be that the trouble he winds up in during the latter half of this chapter is due to him not building an altar in Negeb?

At what point do I need to stop giving stuff up to my Master?  When is it a good idea to not build another altar and send stuff up in smoke to the One giving it to me in the first place?  It's not that I would withhold the stuff, but the rather the attitude that doesn't see giving it up as necessary; it's just not important to build the altar at this point.  Is that as dangerous as it sounds?  Could the apathy that ignores the importance of offering as a part, the central part, of worship be devastating? 

It is easy for me to get caught up in "worship"; the elements of song and word.  But it is not always easy for me to see the part where I give up something as valuable, or at least as valuable as the other parts.  It was in worship at the Temple that the poor widow gave all she had (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4).  It was her Creator who made a point of stopping to watch what everyone else missed.  Isn't that the part of worship I want to leave off, or leave out?  It's the hard one where I do the expression instead of the worship leaders or preachers.  I like spectating, and I have a wonderful church in which to spectate worship.  But I must be the one making the altar, and giving something precious back to my Master.  Only then have I truly ascribed worth to my Master in faith.