Why Christians Are Different? Series

Part One (This message is in two parts as the offering separates it.)

This morning I want to talk about, “Why Christians Are Different.” We are different in many ways from the rest of the American population but one of the ways we are different is in how we use our money. I want to call your attention to why you give or you don’t give for the next few moments.

I am bookended this morning by a Salvation Army bucket and a coke machine because… what you do with your money is important. You know this instinctually because whenever you lose your wallet or your purse, you panic.

“There is essentially three things you can do with money: give it, spend it, and save it” (Dave Ramsey).

I want to bring clarity to the offering we’re going to take it in just a moment. There are so many myths that have grown up about the church, money, and giving over the years.

Conditional Giving (Coke Machine)

This is giving only when I get something out of it. Conditional Giving is put something in, get something out. This is giving only when God is obligated to give back to me because I gave. Conditional Giving sees the blessing of giving as God repaying us with material stuff when we give to Him. Unfortunately, you see this type of thinking taught by TV preachers. Not every TV preachers says this but way too many. This is a heresy of America and God hates it.

Cause Giving (Salvation Army Bucket)

Billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett placed money in the news over this past week as they persuaded eleven other billionaires to give away half of their wealth. These mega-rich gave to certain causes such as the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (seeks to improve seeds and soil for African farmers) and the Rotary International (which seeks to eliminate polio).

Millennials (those born between 1983-2000) love cause giving. Six out of Ten Millennials give to some kind of cause. Cause giving is great in many ways but it is not the best practice. This is partly true. I love giving to causes. I love giving to missions. By the way, when you give to our church, you give partly to causes. Nearly $300,000 of our church’s budget and another projected $400,000 of the World Mission Offering goes to missions. This includes international work, work around the USA, and work here in NRH and the Metroplex.

Over 7% of our church’s budget is considered some form of missions. If we reach our World Missions Fund, this will be just under 17% of all we take in going to missions of some form. I love this. But Cause giving should be your springboard for Cross Giving.

Cross Giving (The Cross)

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” ( 2 Corinthians 8:9).

One New Testament expert called how Christians handle their possessions as “the most important test case of one’s profession of discipleship.” The Bible tells Christ-followers that Giving is to be regular… Giving is to be sacrificial… Giving is to be joyful… Our giving is sacrificial because we recognize His gift to us cost Him everything. We cannot love without giving. How can we withhold our love for Him? Seeing the power of the cross, how can we withhold sharing our love with Christ and those who He loves by refusing to give.

Earlier, I spoke of the Millennials where Six of Ten Millennials give to some kind of cause… Yet, only one in ten in this generation give to a local church. 20% of US Christians give nothing to their church. While many more American Christians give very little. Friend, how much you give does matter. Yet, how much you give is the branch. The trunk is why you give. Why you give matters. You should be motivated to give by the cross.

Pray. Take offering.

Part Two (This message is in two parts as the offering separates it.)

We are in a series of sermons called, The Seven Practices of a Healthy Christian We began this series by talking about the practice of worship. Last week we focused on the Christian practice of using the Bible as a backstop or foundation for our thinking in the critical areas of life. This week we’re focusing on “Why Christians are different” by examining our giving. I could have chosen a number of areas to focus illustrate why Christians are different. Yet, few things show the transformative power of God’s grace as our money. As we contemplate the best practices and habits for Christians, I want to revive an old concept – worldliness. Today, if you talk about worldliness, such as, “he is dressed worldly” or “that movie is worldly,” then people laugh at you. Worldliness is what our grandparents used to say. Worldliness is being uptight. I want to explore this by looking at how we think about our money.