Managing Money God’s Way: Sharing
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 10/9/16
Most of us have probably heard the saying, “Money talks.” Someone once said, “If money talks, all it ever says to me is good-bye!” I heard a story recently though about some talking money.
A well-worn one dollar bill and a similarly distressed twenty dollar bill arrived at a Federal Reserve Bank to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation. The twenty dollar bill reminisced about its travels all over the county. “I’ve had a pretty good life,” the twenty proclaimed. “I’ve been to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the finest restaurants in New York, performances on Broadway, and even a cruise to the Caribbean.”
"Wow!" said the one dollar bill. "You’ve really had an exciting life!"
"So tell me," says the twenty, "where have you been throughout your lifetime?"
The one dollar bill replies, "Oh, I’ve been to the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Lutheran Church..." The twenty dollar bill interrupts, "What’s a church?"
For the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about how to manage money God’s way. Like I said before, the Bible has a lot to say about money! There are thousands of verses in the Bible about wealth and finances… literally thousands. In a sense, your checkbook is a little window into your soul. Few things test your faith and maturity more accurately than how you manage your money. In fact, I believe how you handle money is the litmus test of spiritual maturity because, as I pointed out a couple of weeks ago, Jesus said, “And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” (Luke 16:11 NLT).
In other words, God is watching me to see how I handle wealth (however much or little I have) in this life. If God can’t trust me with material wealth here on earth, then he won’t trust me with true spiritual riches in eternity. How we manage money really does matter and it has eternal consequences.
And, as I said before, there are only three things we can do with money—spend it, save it, or share it. We talked about spending money God’s way two weeks ago when we looked at the parable of the prodigal son. We talked about saving money last week when we looked at the story of Joseph. Today, I want to talk about sharing money God’s way. So let’s open our Bible to 2 Corinthians 9. Beginning in verse one, Paul writes:
I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago… But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given grudgingly.
Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. (2 Corinthians 9:1-10 NLT)
As I read this passage, I notice three principles of godly giving that I’d like to highlight for you today. First, this passage reveals that biblical sharing is purposeful.
• SHARING IS PURPOSEFUL
I heard a story once about a young farmer who made a promise to his pastor to give 10% of the profits from his farm to the church every year. Well, like most small farms, the first few years were a struggle. He only managed to make $1000 profit the first year. So at year’s end, he wrote a check to the church for $100. This continued year after year, and gradually the farm started to turn a more significant profit. He made $10,000, then $100,000 and finally one year he made $1,000,000. But he just couldn’t bring himself to write a check for $100,000 to the church—that’s just too much money, he thought. So he stopped by the pastor’s office, explained the situation and begged to be let out of the promise he had made. “This tithing business has to stop,” he said. “It was fine when my tithe was a $100 or $1000, but I can’t afford to give $100,000! You’ve got to do something, pastor!” The pastor looked at him for a moment, then dropped to his knees and began praying silently. Eventually the man said, “What are you doing? Are you praying that God will let me out of my promise?” The pastor replied, “No. I am praying for God to reduce your income so you can afford to tithe again!”
It may be a silly story, but I think it illustrates something Paul says in this passage: “You must each decide in your heart how much to give” (2 Corinthians 9:7 NLT). Older translations say, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart” (NKJV). In other words, sharing should be intentional or purposeful. What we give to the church, charities or other ministries ought to be decided in our hearts and written in our budgets.
In the Old Testament, God required the people of Israel to tithe—that is to give one tenth of their income to Lord (Leviticus 27:30, Numbers 18:26, etc). The New Testament doesn’t give us a specific percentage like that. Christians are not commanded to give 10%. Rather, we have freedom in Christ to give as we have purposed in our own hearts. For you that may be 5% or 15% or a specific dollar amount.
But the point is that each one of us should give however much we’ve decided ahead of time and budgeted to give. If we aren’t purposeful in our giving, then we aren’t sharing God’s money God’s way. We’ll be giving God leftovers instead of first fruits. This is why church giving has been on the decline in America. According to an article by Relevant Magazine, 80% of church-goers only give 2% of their income. The article went on to say that on average Christians are only giving 2.5 percent per person today, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3 percent rate.
Numbers like that can invoke a lot of guilt, which isn’t really the point. The larger point is what would happen if believers were to be intentional in their giving. The global impact would be phenomenal. If every Christian gave, let's say, 10%, there would be an additional $165 billion for churches to use and distribute.
• $25 billion could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.
• $12 billion could eliminate illiteracy in five years.
• $15 billion could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
• $1 billion could fully fund all overseas mission work.
• $100 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.
Those are some amazing numbers. This is why it’s so important that our sharing is purposeful. Furthermore, sharing should be pleasant!
• SHARING IS PLEASANT
A small church in Virginia needed to have a new roof in the worst of ways, but there was no money in their account. Most of the congregation was very poor except for the local banker. He was a miserly old man. And he always sat in the back pew by the door so that he could get up and sneak out during prayer right before the offering was collected. One day, the pastor called a meeting to talk about the need for a new roof. When the pastor asked if anyone would be willing to donate to the project, the tight-fisted old man just sat quietly. So as the pastor prayed for God to send them money for the roof, a piece broke off and fell down, hitting the old banker on the head. He immediately spoke up and said, "Fine. Fine. I’ll give $1,000 for the roof!" And one of the men in the congregation yelled out, “Hit him again, Lord!”
The truth is—God’s not going to hit you over the head to get you to give more because he doesn’t want you giving out of grudging obligation. In fact, Paul says, “And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully” (2 Corinthians 9:7b NLT).
In other words, giving shouldn’t be painful; it should be pleasant. As some of you may know, the word translated here as “cheerful” is the Greek word ??a??? (hilaros) from which we get the word hilarious. The idea is that sharing with others in need—whether its directly, through the church, or through some other charity organization—should be a joyful happy experience. Sharing is fun.
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). That probably sounded like nonsense when the apostle Paul first heard it—even if it did come straight from Jesus. And it still sounds strange to most people today. But it’s true.
Dave Ramsey calls giving generously and joyously “the most fun you can have with money.” I can attest to that personally. Just yesterday 10 of us from the Grove met at Casey’s in Palmyra and gave away $1600 in free gas ($10 at a time). And I can tell you, it is the most fun outreach program we have. Just seeing people’s reactions when we tell them who we are and what we’re doing is priceless. A lot of people are just confused. Some people can’t believe it (“it’s gotta be a gimmick” or “what’s the catch?”). But once it sinks in that there are no strings attached, you can literally see the emotional impact just $10 has written on people’s face—they’re so joyful and thankful. If you want to experience how much fun it is to give away money, I would challenge you to join us next time we have this event. It will nurture a spirit of generosity in your heart.
John D. Rockefeller, who gave nearly, $540 million to various charities and institutions before his death in 1937, once said, “I think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.” I think the number one key to becoming a cheerful giver is gratitude. There is a direct correlation between gratitude and generosity. The more thankful we are for what God has given us, the more pleasure we take in giving to others.
So first, we see that sharing money God’s way is purposeful. Furthermore, it’s pleasant. And finally, sharing is productive.
• SHARING IS PRODUCTIVE
Back in 2 Corinthians, Paul uses an interesting illustration. He writes, “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop” (2 Corinthians 9:6 NLT).
In other words, if you want to produce a crop, you have to be generous. Many of us have this wrong-headed belief about money, and if we don’t crush this myth, we’ll never really grow into the men and women that God designed us to be. Dave Ramsey calls it the Great Misunderstanding—it’s the mistaken belief that the only way to get more is to hold tightly to what you have. The problem is that while a clenched fist keeps money from slipping out, it also prevents any more from getting in. And though an open hand might let some cash get away, more can find its way in.
In other words, it’s the generous givers who win in the end. Dave Ramsey writes, “I can promise you, from meeting thousands of millionaires, that the thing the healthy ones share is a love of giving.”
The Bible repeats this concept over and over. For instance, we read, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10 NLT). Solomon puts it a little more succinctly, saying, “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything” (Proverbs 11:24 NLT).
God even challenged the Israelites in the last book of the Old Testament, saying, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” (Malachi 3:10 NLT).
What if we did? What might happen if we took God up on his challenge? What if we stopped clinching our fists and made generous giving a regular part of our lives? How might God bless us and others through us?
Conclusion
As I said at the beginning of this series, the number one key to winning with money is admitting that it’s not your money—it’s God’s money. He owns it all. Everything belongs to him. We are simply called to manage it for a short time—then pass it on to future generations.
The Bible urges us to be smart with money. Unlike the prodigal son, we don’t want to be selfish, stupid or shortsighted in how spend money. We want to be wise. Like Joseph, we want to save money because saving is practical, planned, and profitable. Finally, we want to share money God’s way because we are never more like God than when we are giving. Rick Warren put it this way: “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
Invitation
Maybe you’ve bought into the myth that the only way to ahead is to hold tightly to what you’ve got. Maybe you’ve been tight-fisted when it comes to sharing God’s money because you’re afraid that you won’t have enough for yourself or your family. I want to encourage you to start spending, saving and sharing money God’s way today. If you’ll start giving intentionally and cheerfully, then God will provide all your needs and produce a great harvest of generosity in your life. If I can help you get there, please come talk with me while we stand and sing!
