"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, it will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."(Luke 6:38)
Getting to church every Sunday is a difficult prospect; especially for a college student. The status quo is to drink to a black-out state on Saturday nights, chase members of the opposite sex, fall asleep around 4am, and get up the next day around 2 or 3pm. Thereafter, one must continue to lie in bed until the hangover has subsided enough to move again.
So waking up at 8:30am on Sundays takes a little bit of sacrifice. Not total sacrifice, mind you. I still drink regularly with my friends on Saturday night, but normally I'm in bed before 1 or 2am at the latest.
But I'm not alone in my trek to church every sabbath. 44% of Americans 18 and over go to a religious service once a week. That rate goes up over longer periods of time as (understandably) not everyone can get to church every week.
Going to church can be tough enough. But giving money to the church while you're there? As much as 10% of your income? Surely that is a sacrifice only for the truly devout!
If you think it's a bit much, you're not alone. This article outlines the tithing habits of Americans early this decade. Obviously, the economy is not in the place now that it was then, but I think the numbers still serve my point: Tithing is not the easiest faith leap to make.
It hurts me to think that so many people can go to church every week, yet so few of them pay an offering to their church. We look to the church as our source of spiritual guidance and empowerment, and we should be willing to provide that church with the means to continue empowering us.
Because tithing can be such a difficult prospect, ministers must preach on the subject to finance their ministries. Preachers have attempted a myriad of tactics to finance their ministries over the centuries. In the past, it was "Give or go to hell!" or "Pay to get your loved ones out of purgatory!". I assume a lot of preachers still use this tactic, but the prevailing wallet-opener of our day is "Give and get rich".
Judging by the rise of such ministries that preach this message like Kenneth Copeland Ministries, and Joel Olsteen Ministries, the message is effective. The reason it's so effective is because it's true!
There is scripture all over the Bible that supports it. The above "Give and it will come back to you..." and the ever popular "...A man reaps what he sows. [...] the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life" Galatians 6:7-8. These scriptures provide powerful spiritual proof that giving reaps rewards. However, I think it's a lot simpler than listening to God's command to give. Sit back and think about it for a second: God is the all-knowing, all-powerful master of the Universe. The wealth of this world is nothing to him. It is of no consequence for the Almighty to transfer a thousand dollars or a million dollars or a billion dollars from one location to another. It seems to me that a being with infinite knowledge and wisdom would be able to make lucrative investment decisions and soundly manage that wealth.
So why wouldn't you want him to trust you with that kind of money? That's really what it's all about. If you use your blessings to bless others; if you love people with your money; if you lift up others in the name of the Lord, why wouldn't you be continually blessed? If I was the one giving you the money, I'd see you as a good investment. God sees it the same way.
Building a relationship with God is all-encompassing. It's not just about a spiritual alliance or an emotional report. It's also a mental empowerment, a social tie, a creative resource, and, in this context, a financial partneship.
People hear this message and they like it. They think, "Alright! I'm going to start a financial partnership with God, and get filthy rich!" Well, there's a little more to reaping then just tithes and offerings.
While the scriptures and principles are true, one should be very careful with them when putting them into practice. While further financial blessings are a side effect of being generous, they should never be seen as more than that - a side effect.
If you start giving, you'll start getting. But once you've made that committment to give, you can't lose sight of the fact that you're giving to LOVE and NOT giving to GET. If you lose sight of that, then greed can begin to sneak in, and, although you may keep giving, the love in your generosity is gone. And when the love is stripped from spiritual acts, the power is stripped from spiritual acts.
How often do you here about it? Some billionaire will write a million dollar check to some charity, and it'll get all over the news. They'll even have celebrations! The charity will put on a concert or a parade or some such gaudy spectacle, and the climax of the show will put the billionaire up on a pedestal as he gives a relatively small portion of his fortune to the charity on a 3ft x 7ft novelty check. After publicity, tax breaks, and ego massaging, what has this individual given away? Almost nothing! The generosity in the giving is masked and anything resembling love emanating from the gift is severely compromised.
Giving in love is one of the most powerful things in which a Christian can partake. And it's not always going to church on Sunday and putting 10% into the tithe basket. Christians should finance their source of spiritual empowerment, but there are other forms of generosity too. Sometimes it's giving the rest of your hoagie to one of your roomates, or giving a friend a ride to the airport. Sure, you'd like to eat the rest of that grinder or keep playing video games rather then make the 90 minute round trip, but that is what generosity is! It's not giving a $2 million when you've got $57 billion, it's giving of your self and sacrificing part of yourself while expecting nothing in return.
That's what love is.
And love is what it's all about.
Tschüs!
Perennial Penitence
- I'm sorry for cursing so much in my rant against ESPN in my sports blog. That was not opperating in love, and I apologize.
- I'm sorry for bashing Dreamworks and Warner Bros. in my last movie blog. Just because I don't agree with their motive, doesn't mean I should bash them thusly.
- I'm sorry for all the bad things I've said about Paul Haggis and his work. He's a creative mind, and I should be nicer to him.