Archives by: Gary Hoag

“My wife and I have a commitment regarding giving our money while we are alive. I like the old saying, ‘Do your givin’ while you’re livin’, then you’re knowin’ where it’s goin’.”

Charles R. Swindoll in Great Lives: Job, a Man of Heroic Endurance (Nashville: W Publishing, 2004) 161.

Recently a friend asked me this question: Should we give away our estate while we are alive or pass it on to our children.” Only days before this I had heard a story about how a large inheritance had destroyed the lives of the adult children of another wealthy couple. You’ve probably heard similar stories.

Rather than share the high probability of disaster (because too many like to gamble), I took a different angle. I reminded him that all he and his wife possess has been entrusted to them by God, and someday they will have to give an account for their stewardship. I urged them to put God’s resources to work now, so they would be ready to give an account.

For further study on this, read Luke 16:1-9. Many deem it a puzzling parable. Jesus commends the shrewd manager for using worldly wealth to make friends for himself. In the punchline of the parable, Jesus exhorts disciples to use money to make friends who will welcome them into their eternal dwellings. What’s this mean for us today?

Let us put God’s resources to work while we are alive. Let’s give them to our church, the poor, missions, etc… and someday…when we meet Jesus…we will be greeted by those whose lives were shaped by our generosity. What’s the risk if we don’t give now? We could contribute to the ruin of our children, and there won’t be much of a party to welcome us in eternity!

“God is the only comfort, He is also the supreme terror: the thing we most need and the thing we want to hide from…The Christian religion is, in the long run, a thing of unspeakable comfort, but it does not begin in comfort; it begins in…dismay…In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth–only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Harper Collins, 1952) 31-32.

Our culture bombards us with consumerism and promises of comfort, especially at this time of year. The wares they offer never provide lasting satisfaction. Want to the gift that keeps on giving? Think about what is true. Lewis is spot on to remind us that when we do, we may not always like what we find (such is the nature of conviction). But truth is the only pathway to comfort and peace in this life. Think about that when you shop for those you love.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

“If we think the point of the offering is collecting funds to meet the church’s budgetary expenses then we probably derive no more satisfaction from this portion of liturgy than we do from paying our gas bill…

The Sunday offering is a worship event that provides us an opportunity for expressing our love for God in the purest way imaginable, by giving up something that we value. Giving as an act of worship takes us beyond duty to delight.”

Mark Alan Powell in Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2006) 12-13.

Whenever we worship this weekend, let’s approach the offering with a sense of awe at God’s faithful provision for us, with an attitude of thankfulness for the salvation we have in Jesus Christ, and with hearts full of love that we get to give. Let’s see what happens when we do this…I’m thinking we will move beyond duty to delight.

“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!

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

“While people of all walks of life can be generous, Christian giving is unique because:
• It is the Christian’s genuine response to Jesus’ own gift
• It is cheerful, growing out of joy, not guilt or compulsion
• It is thoughtful
Cheerful givers are those who begin by deciding in their hearts to give. That means thoughtfully considering how God is calling them to share their blessings with others.”

Twice in the past ten days, I crossed paths with Jeff Gott, SVP of generosity at WaterStone. I appreciate the work God is doing through him and his colleagues to facilitate cheerful Christian giving. To read more, download the free ebooklet from them at: Intelligent Giving: Maximize Your Gifts for God. I resonate with WaterStone’s emphasis on the uniqueness of Christian giving: it’s our joy-filled response to Jesus’ generosity to us.

“Look to the character, and guard vigilantly the deportment of the young. Let them be trained to reverence and love all that is sacred, and to practice all that is pure, generous, and noble. Let the Gospel get its firm hold upon their hearts, and they are secure against vice and ruin; and you may then leave them, and go down to the grave, with little anxiety about their welfare; for God is their defense.”

Baxter Dickinson preached a farewell sermon entitled “Sure Means of Spiritual Prosperity” on 22 November 1835 from Acts 20:32.

And now I commend you to God and to the message of His grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified. Acts 20:32

My friend, Scott Loe, entered the presence of Jesus yesterday. I am so thankful my ND trip got cancelled last week so that in God’s timing I was privileged to say “farewell” to him. As another friend, Debbie Discher, reminded me, he has gone from “the land of the dying to the land of the living.” My last gift to him was a copy of the movie: “Heaven is for Real.” What comfort! For those of us who remain, we place our confidence in the Gospel and “look to the character” of our children.

One of the many things I am thankful for about my wife, Jenni, is her love for training children “in all that is sacred” and specifically her service at Trailhead Church. She helps coordinate efforts to “let the Gospel get it’s firm hold” on young hearts, which represent about 75 of the 150 in our church family. Of course we must also teach them to “practice all that is pure, generous, and noble” too! When we do, we too can “go down to the grave with little anxiety.”

“God can have our money and not have our hearts, but he cannot have our hearts without having our money.”

R. Kent Hughes, former pastor of College Church in Wheaton, IL, as recounted by Ron Blue in Master Your Money (Chicago: Moody, 2004) 19.

We demonstrate that God has our hearts by deploying His money to the things He cares about rather than stockpiling it for ourselves. This also demonstrates our trust is in Him rather than ourselves to secure our future. Does God have our hearts?

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

“First of all, God has the right to whatever He wants, whenever He wants it. It is all His because an owner has rights; I, as a steward only have responsibilities. I may receive some benefits while maintaining my responsibilities, but the owner retains ownership…

The second implication of God owning it all is that not only is my giving decision a spiritual decision, but every spending decision is a spiritual decision. There is nothing more spiritual than buying a car, taking a vacation, buying food, paying off debt, paying taxes, and so on. These are all responsible uses of His resources…

The third implication of the truth that God owns it all is that you can’t fake stewardship. Your checkbook [or bank statement] reveals all that you really believe about stewardship. Your life story could be written from your checkbook [or bank statement]…Faith requires action!”

Ron Blue in Master Your Money (Chicago: Moody, 2004) 22-26.

Thanks to a Lilly grant and the collaboration of Northern Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University, and the video experts of Seedbed.com at Asbury Theological Seminary, I started work on the production of a biblical stewardship curriculum with outlines, suggested teaching materials, and short videos.

I have been asked to draw on many of Blue’s practical resources for this project. In reviewing them, I appreciate his clarity. He writes like a modern-day John Wesley: We have responsibilities, every decision is a spiritual decision, and we can’t fake it! Why should we understand and practice biblical stewardship principles? We are writing our life story and faith requires action. Do I hear an “Amen?”

“Let every one who readeth these words, narrowly search his own heart. Where hast thou laid up thy treasure hitherto? Where art thou laying it up now? Art thou labouring to be rich toward God, or to lay up earthly goods which takes up the greater part of thy thoughts? Thou that art careful for outward things, diligent in doing good, and exact in outward duties. Beware of covetousness; of decent, honourable love of money; and of a desire to lay up treasures on earth.

Lay up treasure in heaven! A few days hence, thou wilt step into a land of darkness; where earthly fruits will be of no avail; where thou wilt not be capable of eating and drinking, or gratifying any of thy senses. What benefit wilt thou then receive from all thou hast laid up in this world? What satisfaction in all which thou hast treasured up, all thou hast left behind thee? What? Couldest thou then take nothing with thee into the everlasting habitations? Nay then, lay up treasure, before thou go hence, which fadeth not away.”

John Wesley in On Worldly Folly 119.2.9. Wesley preached this sermon on the Rich Fool in Luke 12 at Balham, February 19, 1790. Whether or not you make it to church today, this sermon is not too long and well worth reading.

In the crowd of voices that speak on biblical stewardship and Christian generosity today, I find that few practice or preach what Jesus teaches with regard to laying up treasure in heaven. Most foolishly store them up on earth. On this issue, I echo the response of Wesley from Causes of the Inefficacy of Christianity 116.19:

“I call God to record upon my soul, that I advise no more than I practice. I do, blessed be God, gain, and save, and give all I can. And so, I trust in God, I shall do, while the breath of God is in my nostrils. But what then? I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus my Lord!”

Let every one who reads these words, narrowly search his or her own heart because it is not our beliefs but rather our actions that display where we are placing our trust.

“Generosity is paradoxical, those who give, receive back in turn…By giving ourselves away, we ourselves move toward flourishing…The generosity paradox can also be stated in the negative. By grasping onto what we currently have, we lose out on better goods that we might have gained. In holding onto what we possess we diminish its long-term value to us.

By always protecting ourselves against future uncertainties and misfortunes, we are affected in ways that make us more anxious about uncertainties and vulnerable to future misfortunes. In short, by failing to care for others, we do not properly take care of ourselves. It is no coincidence that the word “miser” is etymologically related to the word “miserable”…

For our purposes, by generosity we mean the virtue of giving good things to others freely and abundantly. Generosity thus conceived is a learned character that involves both attitudes and actions…what exactly generous people give can vary: money, possessions, time, attention, aid, encouragement, emotional availability, and more…”

Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson in The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping wWe Lose (Oxford: OUP, 2014) 1-4.

I am officially declaring a season of jubilee–50 days with no air travel–for the first time since my doctoral journey began eight years ago. Thankfully this jubilee begins with a celebration. I signed a contract this week linked to the publishing of my Ph.D. dissertation for scholarly readers in the BBRS series. It will be released sometime in 2015.

For this jubilee, I am giving the LORD the next 50 days, making myself available to God, to my wife, my family, and my friends. I plan to give myself to four disciplines: prayer (focusing on listening), study (responding with writing), solitude (taking time to rest), and celebration (reflecting on God’s gifts to me). My work and daily meditations will continue as usual during this season. I just won’t be traveling.

Why share all this? I guess to invite you to join me. Consider giving yourself to God anew and afresh with me. The paradox of such an act of generosity is the more we give ourselves to God, the more we get of Him. The more we give ourselves to those we love, the more we gain. It’s a paradox. Let the jubilee begin!