"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)
and...
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
So as Christians, what do our personal finances look like? How much of our income do we give away? Is it 10%? Is it more? One friend I know once told me he did a reverse tithe...he gave 90% of his income for a summer to the Church. That is pretty intense!! So what are we called to give?
I would like to share with you a few things that I have heard or read on the subject of Christian giving recently.
A few weeks ago I attended a service at Oxford Bible Fellowship here in Oxford, OH with my wife, my parents and brother. The pastor was speaking that day on giving (the dreaded sermon by all pastors and congregants alike). He had some pretty interesting things to say. He gave us many statistics on Christian Giving, our relative place in the world according to our income (see "Poor or Less Rich" below), and what Americans are spending their money on.
Pastor Jeremy Carr asked us if we had thought about how much to give to the Church this year. He proposed that the real tragedy is that most of us probably hadn't even thought about how much money we were going to put in the offering plate that morning until it came down our aisle. We just looked around to see what others were giving so we wouldn't look too cheap, or maybe just crumpled up a dollar bill or two so it might look like a $5 or a $10 bill. Sadly, he was totally right.
C.S. Lewis said in his book Mere Christianity this...
"I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them."
How much money do you make right now? Do you know someone that makes a similar annual income? What does their lifestyle look like? Is yours equal to theirs? I don't believe that this means we should give to the point where we are living in poverty. Maybe this means that if we make $50,000/yr we live as though we make $40,000 - $45,000. Or if we make $1,000,000/yr we live as though we make $800,000 - $900,000.
Most of us can still give far beyond the standard 10% (although if you look at a church's list of annual giving it probably only adds up to 2-3% of what the congregation actually made that year). We will not have to live a life of poverty to give a little more than we are comfortable with.
My challenge to you would be to take the time to think about what you are going to give to the Church and worthy charities this year, or even this month. If you have an income, budget some giving into it. Even if you are in high school or middle school and only make $50 every now and them when you mow a few lawns. Think about what you can give to the Church and God's people. My wife and I are doing the same.
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