Andy Stanley: Are Americans growing in their practice of Christian generosity?

“The wealth accumulated by churchgoing people [in the United States] has reached record levels. And despite unprecedented opportunities for global ministry, American Christians give proportionately less today to the church than we did during the great depression.”

Andy Stanley in Fields of Gold (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2004) 115.

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:27-31

“What is the reason for this Christian conduct? The reason is that it makes us like God, for that is the way he acts. God’s sends his rain on the just and the unjust. He is kind to the person who brings him joy and equally kind to the person who grieves his heart. God’s love embraces saint and sinner alike. It is that love we must copy; if we, too, seek even our enemy’s highest good we will in truth be the children of God.”

William Barclay in The Gospel of Luke (Louisville: Saint Andrew Press, 2001) 95.

“Don’t stockpile possessions here on earth where moths eat cloth, rust corrodes metal, and thieves break in and steal our valuables. Instead, stockpile treasures in heaven, where there aren’t any moths, rust or burglars. Put your valuables where you want your heart to be, because that’s what’s going to happen anyway. Our hearts and our treasures stick together.”

Leith Anderson in Jesus: An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land, and His People (Grand Rapids: Bethany House, 2005) 82.

Sometimes I think
What will people say of me
When I’m only just a memory
When I’m home where my soul belongs

Was I love
When no one else would show up
Was I Jesus to the least of those
Was my worship more than just a song

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

If love is who I am
Then this is where I’ll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that

Am I proof
That You are who you say You are
That grace can really change a heart
Do I live like Your love is true

People pass
And even if they don’t know my name
Is there evidence that I’ve been changed
When they see me, do they see You

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

If love is who I am
Then this is where I’ll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that

I want to show the world the love You gave for me
I’m longing for the world to know the glory of the King

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

If love is who I am
Then this is where I’ll stand
Recklessly abandoned
Never holding back

I want to live like that
I want to live like that

Sidewalk Prophets: Live Like That. YouTube Music Video:

Today’s meditation is dedicated to Bud Sleek (June 9, 1936 – May 19, 2012). Bud was one of the most generous, humble, godly fly fisherman I have ever met. He is home where his soul belongs, with our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything he said and did pointed to Jesus. I want to live like that!

“Our faith in Jesus will be tested by our desire for earthly possessions. The things of this world can have a powerful hold on us. We can be set free only by seeing the things we possess as gifts to be shared. They do not belong to us as we are only stewards of God’s gifts. We cannot love both the world and God. But God’s love in us can enable us to see what we possess as a gift rather than as a god.”

Bill Adams in The Redemptorists of the Denver Province blogpost for 28 May 2012.

“When we are in debt, we are in a position of servitude to the lender. Indeed, the deeper we are in debt, the more of a servant we become. We do not have the full freedom or discretion to decide where to spend our income because we have legally obligated ourselves to meet these debts.”

Howard Dayton in Your Money Counts (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1996) 37.

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2

“Natural riches have no power to fill the heart’s most yearning affections…Let us be content with what God in his wisdom provides, assured that it is best for us. In envying the good of another, we destroy our own good. There is a higher wealth than gold…Treasures of good affections and true thoughts are worth more than all earthly riches, and will bear us far more safely and happily through the world; such treasures are given to all who will receive them, and given in lavish abundance.”

Timothy Shay Arthur (1809-1885) in True Riches; or, Wealth without Wings (London: J.S. Hodson, 1855) 10-12.

“We know from the act of creation that God is generous, and we know something of the immensity of divine generosity from the nature of the world.”

Diogenes Allen in Philosophy for Understanding Theology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007) xxiii.

“Your giving can be and is a tangible indication of how much faith you have that God will provide for your needs.”

Donald Whitney in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991) 144.

Bring an offering, and come into his courts! Psalm 96:8b

“In Christian worship the offering of gifts is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to God…The church certainly needs money, but the raising of money to support the church should not dominate the motivation in giving…The offering of gifts is a symbol of sacrifice; it is a positive act which symbolizes an inner attitude of homage…Worship needs the spirit of sacrifice. The offering of money in the offering plate is no less an act of worship than are the offering of songs, prayers and sermons…In Christian worship, making an offering is a symbolic act representing the giving of one’s self to God.”

Franklin Segler and Randall Bradley in Christian Worship: Its Theology and Practice (2006) 188-189.