giving

On Sunday Matt Massey preached a good message on giving. I got nervous as he opened with an apology regarding teaching about money but he immediately recovered by adding "but"! Money is a topic that Jesus spoke on more than any other and for the church to be Biblical, we must teach regarding money.
Simply said, we cannot be fully devoted followers of Christ if we do not share his perspective toward money and "stuff". I'm looking forward to his teaching on the topic and I pray he would see fit to do so regularly.

I've spoken on this topic and while the discussion between tithing, first fruits, offering, etc. rolls on, I like Rich Nathan's summary to it all ... here's a version of it from my memory.

Let’s imagine you hired someone to clean your home and agreed to give them 10 EUR an hour, you go out, they work, you come back and find that the house was immaculate. But more. This person did far more than you asked, they mowed the yard, did laundry, ironed, prepared a great meal - a banquet. They went way beyond human expectation, more than you could have ever imagined could be done.

So you are very appreciative and you ask, “you’ve done much more than I expected, how much do I owe you?

"You do not owe me anything but give as you are led to give." is the reply.

How much would you give? Would you be led to give less than the agreed amount? Or would you give more?

Our position as new covenant believers is infinitely better than the old, we have Jesus. We have the cross of Jesus Christ. We understand what his shed blood means for us. We have salvation. We not only have the cross but Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us as the first fruits of what is to come. We get the assurance of eternal life. We who are under the new covenant would we give less? or should we give more?
The point is that regardless of any figure one might arrive at, we owe want to give so much more. Wrestling with the question of how much is wrestling with the wrong question.

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