Paula Killough: Mustard seed gifts

“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!

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13

“We are wired to contribute, not consume. Lives of consumption isolate our souls from the true source of happiness. Contributing to the well-being of another turns out to be the most powerful and undervalued expression of generosity.”

John Stanley in his Generosity Gameplan blog post entitled “Edward” dated 27 June 2017.

Society tells that life is found in consuming things. Through a powerful post in which he shares about the loss of a generous friend, John Stanley reminds us that God made us for more than consumption. He wired each one of us to contribute.

And our contributions take many forms that are not monetary. People commonly celebrate financial contributions to organizations, and often overlook small things like contributing to the well-being of others. These contributions are often the most powerful and undervalued expressions of generosity.

Regardless of what others are saying and doing, let’s serve one another humbly in love! I am excited to do that from home in Colorado (pictured above on our walk last night) as I don’t have another trip planned for six weeks. Our loving service to those around us may be the greatest gift we give to God and others!

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11

“The church is the ultimate resource to show love and kindness to poor and needy to bring them back toward God. To be generous on every occasion requires faith to believe that God will, indeed, care for our needs if we show His love by caring for others…God is the main source of everything, whatever possessions we have will pass away, so we have to be careful in the area of giving and receiving.”

Khuram Masih, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Khuram is a passionate follower of Christ from Pakistan. In his paper he emphasized that God is the main source and we are the ultimate resource in order to drive home the point that we are the hands and feet of Jesus to bring people to God through how we generously show love and kindness rooted in deep faith.

He rightly urges God’s people to be careful in giving and receiving because we must do rightly on both counts in order to bless others on every occasion. How are you at giving and receiving? Someday you will meet the main source, face to face, and have to give an account for your stewardship. Are you ready?

Start preparing your response through careful giving and receiving from this day forward. Hear this charge not from someone who lives in luxury, but from a fellow believer who is surrounded by poverty and persecution. Masih believes this lifestyle will bring the poor (that is, the spiritually and materially poor) back to God.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

“If we cultivate the lifestyle of obedience as we walk with God in intimate relationship, He will speak to us where the resources that He has entrusted to us should be spent. Those are not confined only to the area of financial resources but also include natural and spiritual gifts, knowledge, physical and emotional energy, spiritual and material resources, and ultimately, our very life.”

Da Min Chung, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in her Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Chung reminds us that a “lifestyle of obedience” must shape the stewardship of all we are and all we have. This appears as a daily rhythm in our lives.

In modernity we tend to follow cultural trends and compartmentalize our faith, which often represents one day a week. When we do that we give God a portion of “our” time or “our” money rather than walking with Him in humility and asking Him daily how He desires for us to spend ourselves and the resources in our stewardship, day in day out.

What about you? How do you daily cultivate a lifestyle of obedience?

There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. Acts 4:34-35

“I believe that Jesus saved us from our sins and decided to follow Him. Then naturally I should practice what Jesus has taught and shown. No other option! Up to now I have just keep the basic law in my offerings, the tithe. I have often thought that I do not have enough money. But I am learning it is not matter of how much I give, but a matter of priority. My giving should be based on love and faith in God. The early church showed how they used their possessions with others who were in need. Sharing in community is impossible without faith in God. The sharing life in the early church is completely different from modern church that donates a certain percentage of collected offering to orphanage or nursing homes. Compared to the way of sharing in early church, the modern church might lack love and sincerity.”

Lim Yon Hyok, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Hyok reveals a level of honesty and transparency that moves us as readers to consider our own situation. Do we exhibit “the sharing life” as he calls it, rooted in love and faith in God, or do we just dole out a percentage of money thinking of ourselves above others rooted in the scarcity notion that we ourselves don’t have enough?

Hyok was struck by the selfless and sharing posture of Jesus and the early church and challenges us all to see if there is faith, love and sincerity in our own hearts. He was convicted that giving a percentage was like paying a tax and thinking he had done his part. What about you? What are the priorities of your heart and your church? 

Hyok challenges us to focus on our posture and priorities rather than the percentage of our giving. In plain terms, the posture of our lives must be one of faith and trust in God, and the priority of our caring and sharing must think of others ahead of ourselves. Living this way reflects God’s love to the world like the early church!

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. Matthew 25:35

“God is always with the weak and the poor. He remembers what I have done to them even though I don’t realize. He also commands me to live a faithful life with my doing the good to them. If all the resources belonging to and surrounding me are from God, because God is good, everything is good and sharable for His glory. As I don’t know fully the relationship between everything, everything should be aligned to His good will and the goodness of God.

Since I did not create my time, money, family, and will not take these with me on my leaving this world, these are not mine but belong to the Creator. To use these according to the will of God is natural and prerequisite to be regarded as righteous.

God is the only Provider of everything. Like water flow, the blessing should be flowing from the Provider to everywhere in need. Only when the blessing flows through me, I may be with God forever, because God’s blessing is not stopped at a certain point. I know I have to make the flow happen from God to the place in need.”

Jung Woo Park, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in her Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Jung Woo beautifully describes our role as conduits of God’s blessings, whether material or spiritual. The blessings flow through us, and only when they flow toward the poor and needy are we “with God” in our generosity. It’s why we are on this earth, to minister to the lost and the least!

Only when we steward all that God has entrusted to us rightly, are our actions “righteous” before God. And lest anyone misinterprets what is at play here, consider this explanation: God desires we all live rightly with Him and for others, rather than in self-indulgence for ourselves.

What about you? Are resources flowing from God to the people and places where they are needed through you? When we become the clog in the system, it is likely because fear has made its way into our hearts. As Jung Woo put it, we must live a “faithful” (rather than faithless) life in our doing good.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

“In God’s economy, we are to first receive from God and then give, because we cannot give what we do not have. We cannot share love if we have not experienced the true love of God first. We cannot show mercy and grace if we have not been first shown mercy and grace. We cannot forgive others if we have not experienced His forgiveness.

On the same note, we cannot give generously unless we have experienced His generous giving towards us. The good news is that He has freely and richly given us all! God has withheld nothing from us. He has given us the greatest gift we could ever receive, and that was Himself! He has given us Jesus Christ to die for our sins and given us this new eternal life of abundance in Him. He came and gave him up for us all so that we may have life and to have it to the full…

Jesus is a generous and gracious giver and because of that, we are able to give generously and graciously as well. We have limitless resources of love, grace and gifts for us to share with others. I can give not because I am loaded but because God is loaded, and His resources and love never run out!”

Sarah Shin, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in her Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Shin drips with enthusiasm because life in God’s economy is abundant and worth celebrating. Imagine if we only had a little love to give, only a little mercy to show, only a little grace to dispense, only a little forgiveness to extend. Everything about life in the economy of God shouts that we enjoy “life of abundance” thanks to the generosity of God.

So what do our lives look like? Are we an enthusiastic dispensers of God’s abundant love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and generosity? We must remember, as Shin rightly notes, that we can live richly in all these areas, not because we are loaded, but because God is!

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33

“A man had a vision to start a school for underprivileged children in Nepal. On one occasion, this man shared his vision with an American professor, and the professor said to him that he was willing to help him. Next day, the professor went to meet him, and handed him a box, and said, “Here is help for you to start a school.” The man was very happy to receive the box, but his happiness vanished the moment he saw the things inside the box. The box contained pencils, pens, notebooks and some textbooks. The man was not expecting these items from the American, but he was expecting dollars. When the professor saw his disappointment, he said to him, “You need these items to teach them.”

The purpose of this story is not to condemn this particular man, rather to show the transformation of my understanding of God’s providence. This story transformed my understanding and my whole life. When we think of ministry or God’s work, immediately our minds run after bigger things whereas we forget the available or smallest resources at our disposal to glorify God or tools to start a ministry. This had shaped our orphanage. We started with nothing, trusting God as the source when He calls us for ministry. Every day we have experienced His providence throughout ten years. He has been and will be our Provider till His return.”

Deepak Pradhan, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017.

Pradhan shared this story in his paper and I had to pass it along. He’s the first student I have ever had who, along with his wife, has run an orphanage for over a decade, so as you can imagine, he had miraculous stories of God’s provision like George Mueller of Bristol, England. At present his wife is back in India caring for 21 orphans while he completes his seminary degree.

After growing in his understanding of biblical stewardship and Christian generosity through the Scriptures in the class, he shared that he plans to champion these biblical truths as a torchbearer in the state of Assam in Northeast India. He wants to inspire others to focus not on the financial resources they don’t have but to faithfully use “the available and smallest resources” they do have for God.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

“Most Christians are not only influenced by the Bible, but also by the cultural elements and the capitalist social system. In particular, they give priority to the right of individual ownership, which is emphasized by capitalism. However, the concept of stewardship is to govern and manage the mandated wealth appropriately according to the will of the owner…

The material and wealth given by Creator God must be shared with the poor neighbors. The rich are easy to oppress the poor. The rich can act unjustly to accumulate their wealth and neglect to fulfill their responsibilities to their neighbors. Neither the rich nor the poor can escape death and judgment, and at that moment possessed riches are of no value…

Christians should take social responsibility for neighbors by practicing justice with generosity and compassion with the wealth given by God. Therefore, riches are resources for serving others. Christians should not despise or discriminate the poor because it is seen as a crime against God. When accumulating wealth, one should not abuse their authority or wage exploitation of those who are under their influence…

A steward should embrace the life of frugality, generosity, and sufficiency. Paul encouraged Christians to be generous and be satisfied about their wealth. He also warned them by referring to those who have desire for wealth is coveted, and greed is idolatry. Greed makes people to love money by moving people away from God’s love…”

Kwang Lee, economist for The Korea Economic Daily and student at Torch Trinity Graduate University, in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship paper dated 2 July 2017. It’s not everyday you have a student who works for the leading financial publication in the nation in which you are teaching. Lee is not only a brilliant economist; he has taken hold of life in God’s economy.

Here he brings out the critical distinction between the Christian and the capitalist. The earthly economic system emphasizes “individual ownership” while God’s design is rooted by “the concept of stewardship” and backed by His love. Through the paper and this course, Lee discerned rightly the role of the steward as “practicing justice with generosity and compassion” and to treat people with fairness rooted in lifestyle of frugality.

For Lee, we are either moving toward greed or toward God. Which way are you moving?

Jenni, Sammy, Sophie and I have arrived safely at Camp Spofford at Spofford Lake, New Hampshire (pictured above) where I will teach eight times over the next six days at Family Camp on “Spiritual Formation for Families” from Deuteronomy 6:4-9. I’d appreciate your prayers for the Holy Spirit to speak through me (and my family members as they will assist me). Pray also for receptive hearts and a refreshing week. Thanks.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

“In the incarnation, God did not send an angel to come to man’s rescue but He came down Himself and provided for man. God expects us to respond personally to the needs of people around us not only teaching and appealing to others to help…In God’s economy, He expects us to share generously our possessions and money in a way that no one among his children will be lacking. The only reason He keeps on giving to us is that we may always have and always give generously…

We must not only give to those we think are worthy to receive our assistance. To do that is to treat the grace and love of God with contempt. Jesus calls us to handle our possessions radically different from the world, to the point of providing for those communities’ men see as unworthy of care. Our good deeds towards people should not be motivated by temporal reciprocity but based on our obedience to God’s order and our desire to follow the example of Christ…

Based on God’s mercy, grace and unconditional love towards us in rescuing us while we were still sinners, we must respond to such a limitless and indescribable gift of God to us by demonstrating a timeless and limitless generosity to all needy, poor and oppressed, starting from our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the utmost part of the world. Our generosity according to God’s economy must transcend race, nationality, continent based only and only on God’s revealed heart to us about giving, money and possession. We must look beyond the receiver to see Christ’s love for us.”

Nuekpe Dieudonne Komla, student at Torch Trinity Graduate University, in his Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper dated 2 July 2017. Grading these papers blessed me so much! Komla pastors in Ghana and plans to implement what he learned in 2018 so that he can give testimony to other churches and wants to invite me to teach his whole denomination in West Africa in 2019. Make it so, Lord Jesus.

Komla makes many great points in his paper, but two are noteworthy. The incarnation of Christ models for each of us the posture of our generosity. In God’s economy, we are His hands and feed to “respond personally” to the needs of people in need. Simultaneously, we must joyfully bless others with all God supplies because of God’s limitless love for us. To do this we must “look beyond the receiver” as Komla notes, to the matchless love of Christ for us, whose great love motivated Him to empty Himself for us.