Jump Start # 1855

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Our verse today talks about the attitude we ought to have toward giving. Giving is a touchy subject. Many preachers do not like to talk about it because they feel the audience will perceive that some how the preacher is pushing for a raise. And for those not really connected to the Lord, their outside impression is that the church is always asking for money. They may not care much about you, but they certainly care about what you are giving. Some of these feelings may come from misunderstandings and abuses that are common in the area of money.

Let’s be honest and frank, it takes money these days. You know this in your home. Things costs. Plan a trip to Disney—you better save a bundle. Do some remodeling—you’ll get sticker shock. Go look at the price of a car these days. And it takes money just to keep your house going—upkeep, insurance, utilities.

When it comes to the New Testament way, giving is the only way the church gets money. The church doesn’t sell things. It doesn’t engage in business. There are no fund raisers, car washes, raffles, pancake breakfasts that generate money—at least not if a church is going to stick with the New Testament pattern. If a church isn’t serious about following the New Testament way, then the sky is the limit. This is why some places sell sermon CD’s, books, and are involved in real estate holdings and even own businesses. Not the New Testament way. In the New Testament, it was the members of that congregation who gave that provided the funds to do things. We don’t see the apostles trying to solicit money from the community. Our verse, showing the spirit of giving, was written to the members of the Corinthian church.

Now, some things need to be said. Our church buildings take and use a lot of money. We have to meet somewhere. Most of us do not have homes large enough for the church to meet in our living rooms. A church could rent a place but that can get dicey and complicated at times. It’s most convenient and expedient for a church to own it’s own place to worship. That takes money. It takes money to keep it up, just like it does your house. Some do better at this than others. Some places are real dumps and are full of mold and are falling apart. Those that control the purse strings don’t want to spend any money. While they live in nice homes, they worship in pitiful places. We can do better than that. We are talking about the place we praise and honor God in.

It takes a lot of money to do things these days. I think about where I worship. We are heavily involved with social media. We live stream our services. There is a cost. We send out these Jump Starts. There is a cost. We have daily Bible readings we post. We have a daily quote we post. We crank out CD’s, publish class material and post articles and push them on our Facebook page. We have monitors in our entry way that flash messages. We have a picture directory of our members. All of those things come with a price. It costs to do things. To do things well, it costs even more. To make things attractive, colorful and useful, it costs. To bring in guest speakers, pay them well and to pay them their expenses, it costs. Many places do not give that much thought. They bring in a guest preacher and no one asks what his costs were. He may have flown or rented a car. You invited him, did you not consider that? His expenses ought to be covered, if you are inviting him.

It costs to have a preacher. Look at your salary. Things are expensive these days. If you want a preacher to stay, pay him. You don’t want him to be sweating each month about bills. You want him to focus upon kingdom work. Don’t go as cheap as you can, you wouldn’t like that when it comes to your paycheck. Remember, out of his paycheck must come taxes, insurance, retirement and many benefits you already have built in your income. You want a good preacher, pay him. Don’t ask him how much he needs, most are embarrassed and too humble to say. Have a number in mind when talking to a preacher. Offer a package. Be generous. Give him raises. If you want to keep him, pay him.

It takes a lot of money these days. Where is the money going to come from? From the members. Now, four attitudes found in our verse. Two are negative and two are positive.

Do not give grudgingly. That means reluctantly. You give, but you don’t want to. Given the choice, you wouldn’t but everyone else is, so you go along.

Do not give under compulsion. That means, under pressure. I love it when a guy proudly states that the Jews gave 10% and we are in the N.T. so that means we ought to do better than that. He has just “compelled” people to give more than 10%. He is doing the very thing this verse tells us not to. Compulsion means force. It means you have to.

There isn’t much joy in grudgingly or compulsion giving. You understand when the kid shows up with a school fund raiser. You really don’t want to buy anything but everyone else is and he comes and hands you the paper and you see all those names on there. How can you tell this kid, “No.” So, you purchase some popcorn or wrapping paper. You wouldn’t do it normally, but you felt the peer pressure. In that way, you bought stuff, but you really didn’t want to. Your heart wasn’t into it. That’s the spirit Paul is fighting. Don’t give that way. Be glad to give. Want to give. Look forward to giving. Understand where and what your giving does.

The positive attitudes are:

Purposed in your heart. Planned. You have planned to give. You have put some thought into this. You are sticking with what you intended to give. It wasn’t a matter of opening up your wallet to see what you had. I saw a guy once drop a twenty into the collection plate and then dug out a five and a ten and kept them. He wanted to give five, but he didn’t have a five. So, he made his own change from the collection plate. I thought he was robbing God. He hadn’t planned ahead.

So, here it is a Monday morning and why are we talking about giving? Because this is when it starts. By this coming Sunday, I will have already thought it out, planned and will be ready to give. Maybe more thought ought to be given throughout the week about what we want to give.

The other positive attitude here is cheerfulness. Happy to give. Happy to help out. Your giving says that you want things to continue. Your giving says that you believe in what is being done. Your giving says that you want the kingdom to grow in that area. Your giving says that you can count on me. Your giving is tied to your faith. The greater your faith, the greater you will give.

The question is always asked, “How much should I give?” Can a person answer, “How often should I pray?” Or, “How much of the Bible should I read?” Give.

And don’t forget that God has already given to you. He is generous with His blessings toward you. And don’t forget that there is nothing that God asks of you, that Jesus has not done Himself. Did Jesus ever give? What do you think the Cross was? He gave it all.

Let’s not be sassy in our spirit about giving. Let’s not be Scrooges when it comes to our giving. Lets give a lot and then let’s spend a lot in growing the kingdom and taking care of God’s people. The church is not in the banking business. Hoarding buckets of money is not God’s way. Bring it in and send it out. Spend it to reach the community with the Gospel. Spend it to help needy families in the congregation. Spend it to help other preachers. Spend it to keep up with the times and keep the place attractive. Give it and spend it—that’s the way it ought to be done.

It’s a blessing and an honor to help be part of something special, like the kingdom of God.

Roger