If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard hearted or tightfisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be. Deuteronomy 15:7-8
“However, there is a danger of too much calculation in our giving. That danger is the subtle tendency to call the shots. The warm openness that once characterized our giving can gradually turn into tightfistedness. A miserly spirit becomes justified in the name of prudent and responsible giving.”
Richard Foster in The Challenge of the Disciplined Life: Christian Reflections on Money, Sex, and Power (HarperOne: San Francisco, 1979) 75.
Foster brings a real danger into view today. To “call the shots” means we act like the owner of all we possess. Once we act like it is ours, we get tightfisted.
When we embrace our role as steward and obediently follow God’s instructions we find ourselves enjoying and sharing, sometimes helping others and sometimes receiving help.
John Stanley, a dear mentor and friend, has taught me that focusing on creating margin helps us proactively avoid the tendency toward of becoming miserly.
They both start with the letter “m” and take you down two paths. The soft hearted steward willing to share creates margin to do that. The hard hearted steward does too much calculation and becomes miserly.
How do we create margin? We don’t do too much calculation. We keep track of all supplies and put it to work faithfully with space for God to direct us in new ways. This positions us to receive and steward more for enjoyment and sharing.
This is life in God’s economy.