Show Me the Money!

Most churches (and people) tend to avoid talking about money.  Why don’t we talk about it?

1. We work hard for our money right?
2. There are so many examples of unscrupulous people exploiting people’s generosity for personal gain.  We can’t trust people, can we?
3. We’ve got mortgages, retirement worries and mouths to feed. We need to look out for ourselves, don’t we?
4. Honestly, we like to buy stuff.  We like expensive cars, fancy restaurants, cool gadgets, nice furniture and clothes and awesome vacations.

So given these (and probably other) reasons, we just don’t talk about money that often.  You wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Paul wasn’t shy about it though.

Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. 2 Corinthians 8:11-14 (NLT)

Paul says more than a few important things in these four verses about the almighty dollar:

1. We should be eager to give.  In fact, we should only give what we can give eagerly.
2. We should be wise in what we give, not putting our family in jeopardy in the process.
3. We should give to help ‘even out the playing field’, not to make life easy for others and harder for us.
4. We should give with the humility of knowing that someday we might need others to give to us.

So here is a three-part challenge for you to consider. 

1. Give 10% of your income to your local church.
2. Save 10% of your income for a rainy day.
3. Consider have how God would you use the remaining 80%.  Don’t have the attitude that it is yours to spend as you like.  It is not yours…it is God’s.  How can you check your attitude?  Are you as willing to spend His money on others as you are on yourself?  Really?  Would you buy them the same car that you drive?  Would you send them on the same vacation that you take?  Would you bless them with the same big-screen TV and PS3 that God has bless you with?  Would you dress them and feed them like God has dressed and fed you?

Whose money is it anyway?