Sell All That You Own

“Jesus answered, ‘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

Stewardship is a tricky topic to handle from a pastoral perspective. In his book, The Truth and Beauty, Andrew Klavan had a humorous response to this verse. He writes, “This instruction has forced endless generations of pastors to assure their wealthy parishioners that that’s not what he really meant.” It’s a funny way of getting at the difficulty that comes when talking about money in the Bible and what God wants us to do. Obviously, the easiest critique of stewardship pushes and the church asking for money is that in our cynical world we are often taught implicitly or explicitly to not trust the church with our money or assume that there are actually self-serving reasons for asking for money rather than spiritual ones.

Not that there isn’t good reason for thinking some of the time, but often times when we hear a call to give we do not hear from the Lord, but from the human who is asking it. We read the passage above from Matthew and many other places in the Bible that call us to give sacrificially, and we are tempted to hide it or explain it away so that it doesn’t apply to us. However, we do this at our own spiritual peril.

Of course, we are saved by our faith in Christ, but as James says, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17) When we put on Christ, there is an expectation that we live in the way that Christ has called as a confirmation of the faith that we have believed in. When it comes to how we use our resources and time this is very important. This is why tithing is a major part of the Christian life, counted alongside prayer and scripture reading when it comes to living out one’s life faithfully.

The amazing thing about God is how involved he wants to be in every aspect of our lives and that includes how we spend our money. For as Christ himself says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

Hearing this can be difficult, but I would recommend that if you are feeling unease about giving money to the church due to any circumstance then I still commend the practice of tithing to something you feel more comfortable with by giving to a mission or charity of your choice. Doing that will soften your heart and lead towards trusting the Lord to use your money in the church.

Using our money isn’t the only thing that encompasses stewardship. Over the course of this year, we are going to be looking at a bunch of different areas in which we are called to give of our resources to God and I will leave you with the schedule. Look at what is coming up ahead and lift up prayers to God that he may use you powerfully in these areas. – Pastor George

March – Tithing

April – Health

May – Personal Financial Wellness

July – Family Life & the Church

Aug – Caring for our Church

Oct – Thanksgiving

Nov – Mission Fair

Dec – looking back/forward