“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:20
“Jesus calls us to be generous global Christian disciples because we worship a generous, loving, global God. The church is now a global, multicultural reality, and there will always be room for and need of a multiethnic witness to the reconciliation that has come in Jesus Christ…
God’s presence of healing and hope carries the church through all the challenges of daily life. Small mustard seed gifts can grow into great works of holistic witness. We are called to establish global connections and share of ourselves. There is great power in the stories of what God is already doing around the globe, sharing the dreams of global leaders that may not yet be fulfilled…
The good news is not that the Church has a mission but rather that God’s mission has a Church. The Church is called to bless, restore, and heal all the peoples of our world. Our mustard seed gifts of love can change everything.”
Paula Killough in “A Case for Global Generosity: From Jerusalem to the Ends of the Earth” in Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation, vol. 19 (Richmond: ESC, 2017) 16-17.
God’s work is spreading around the world because of mustard seed gifts. People are sharing of themselves and their resources and growing as generous global Christians. As a result, many around the world are coming to know Jesus and finding hope and healing in Him.
Mostly, I appreciated how Killough concluded her case for global generosity. “The good news is not that the Church has a mission but rather that God’s mission has a Church.” You and I, along with brothers and sisters around the world are God’s Church.
We are God’s instrument for extending blessing, restoration, and healing to the world. How do we do this? With humble faith and mustard seed gifts!