“We don’t give because God has needs. I repeat: God doesn’t need our cash. He doesn’t come to us, hat in hand, sheepishly asking for funding for His mission. We don’t give because God needs it, but because in giving we declare His value to us and our love for Him. Jesus told us that if want to know what a person really loves, we should follow the trail of his [or her] money…Do you see your resources as yours to benefit from, or as opportunities to be generous to others? The world, of course, finds it absurd to be this open-handed with our resources (I earned it, I deserve to benefit from it!)…When was the last time your generosity made someone question your sanity?”
J.D. Greear in “Three Ways the Gospel Changes our Generosity” blogpost on 19 November 2014.
Greear inspires me today be sure that when the world looks at me and my family and follows the trail of our money…we really hope they think we are crazy! Goodness, if our giving fits within the culture, it likely will not reflect the image of Christ.
My study of NT times has taught me that those with an abundance of resources in the Roman world were instructed not to care for the sick, prisoners, and the destitute, because they could not render honor and service back to the Emperor. Ironically, those are precisely the people–the sick, prisoners, and the destitute (cf. Matthew 25:31-46)–that Jesus wants to find us caring for, in order to show that God’s love is for everyone!
Care to join us and be numbered among the ranks of the crazy and insane? Remember, people thought Jesus was nuts too, and it’s Him (not the world!) to whom I will ultimately give an account for our stewardship!