We have a saying in Christian circles that goes something like this: “As an army of God we are the worst about shooting our own men.”  My blog crockpot has been heating up a topic I have been holding back for two years out of fear that I will get “shot” by more believers in Christ than anyone else who would read this.  I am afraid of being accused of sharing my heart on giving for personal attention, or to rob God of His glory, or to gain people’s approval.  At one level I don’t care what other people think because God knows my heart.  I should prepare to tune out those who would try to judge my motives for writing on this topic.  At the same time I’m human.  I care about how I’m impacting others through this blog.  However, I question if I have the emotional energy to take care of any critics.  Thus, this unresolved tension has been a key reason I have not written on giving sooner.

     There is a biblical passage that has also contributed to my resistance to write on giving.  Matthew 6:1-4 says, “Be careful not to practice righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.  If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.  So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.  Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”  Randy Alcorn, the author of Money, Possessions and Eternity,  states that “we should be sharing our testimonies about giving to help the body of Christ grow in the grace of giving.”  He rightly observes that the above passage has hindered many Christians from telling their story, but he points out that the operative phrase in this passage is “to be seen by them”.  He says, “This is not a prohibition against others becoming aware of our giving, prayers, fasting, etc.  Rather, it’s a command not to do these things in order to receive recognition from men.  The Lord has used Alcorn to free me to talk about giving –understanding that some members within the Christian army will criticize me without understanding my motive. 

            So what is my motive?  I want to share how God has grown my heart in the area of giving and the rewards He has shown me.  I want to share the joy in financial giving.  I want to share how God is faithful to His promises around giving.  I want to share what God has been laying on my heart around future plans to give.  I am passionate about the possibilities He is showing me, and I want you to know what they are!  I believe the Lord is prompting me to write on this because He wants more Christians to catch the vision I believe He is showing me.  In addition, we aren’t talking enough about giving beyond the tithe.  We have been told for so long to “keep it a secret” that messages on financial giving tend to be limited to tithes needed to support a church budget.  I have been active in church all of my life, and I don’t recall any pastor encouraging giving testimonies.  I think if people could hear some testimonies around giving that was beyond tithing, many would be inspired to give more.  The joy of giving is too contagious not to share!

     The Lord has also given me a paradigm of living giving that I desire to share with others, which I began in my last blog.  If you read my last post, “Inheritances vs Living Giving”, you will see this paradigm that leverages the power of compounding when money is given while time is on the side of the investor.  I want to give you more ideas to ponder as you think about changing your family’s financial tree, while giving to the poor, the oppressed, the underdeveloped countries, etc.  Why develop this?  I think we’re missing the boat.  I think our mentality of giving is more like giving the leftovers, when we can be intentional about giving in our younger years and watch God grow the dollars over time.  It’s not about how much money you can give.  It’s about God’s ability to multiply His resources when we do our part to grow it.  This is based on Matthew 25:14-30, commonly known as “The Parable of the Talents”. 

     The cliff note version of this is that God gives one servant five talents, another servant two talents, and a third servant one talent.  (Talents are a form of money.)  The master goes away for a long time, and when he returns he wants to settle accounts with each servant.  The servant who was given five talents put them to work and gained five more talents.  The Master commended him and entrusted more to the servant.  The second servant with two talents gained two more talents while the Master had been gone, and the Master was just as pleased with this servant because he doubled what he had.  In both cases, the Master described these two servants as “good and faithful servants”.  The third servant with one talent buried his, and the Master got angry and accused him of being lazy and suggested that he could have at least put the one talent in a bank to grow some interest.  The consequence was that the one talent was taken out of this unfaithful servant’s hand and given to the servant who had ten talents.  God expects us to utilize the financial resources He gives us and do the best we can to grow it.  If we don’t, He knows how to move the dollars to faithful servants who will put it to good use!

     I have a story to tell, and I suspect you do too.  It is my hope that as I unveil how God has blessed my giving and develop the living giving model, some of you will share your giving stories with me.  In the coming months expect to hear more about this topic.  In fact, please begin praying about how you might participate in sharing your stories around giving.

Blessings,

Lee Ann

The post 3.1.12 Can I Talk About Giving? appeared first on LAPenick's Blog.