“Everything I’ve kept, I’ve lost, but all that I’ve given to God I still possess.” –Martin Luther

Among churches, fewer topics create more controversy; ruffle more feathers and exact more criticism than that of money. To hear members complain about a sermon on tithing is just expected. Preach on any topic, but don’t be telling people what to do with their money.

Well, here’s another blog post on giving. But before you exit out the site, consider this: 15 percent of everything Christ said relates to the topic of giving and finances –more than His teachings on heaven and hell combined.[1]

So is that a sufficient reason to acknowledge its relevance? I think so. Randy Alcorn has written a little book called The Treasure Principle. It’s 120 pages, can be read in an hour and is worth your time.

Alcorn discusses the nature of our possessions: the reality that God owns everything; that we have a short life to use our money to gain heavenly treasure.

He lists six “Treasure Principle” Keys:

1.)    God owns everything. I’m his money manager

2.)    My heart always goes where I put God’s money

3.)    Heaven, not Earth is my Home

4.)    I should live not for the dot but for the line (the line being eternity, the dot being our duration on earth)

5.)    Giving is the only antidote to materialism

6.)    God prospers me not to raise my standard of Living, but to raise my standard of giving

Alcorn brings to light the truth that when we fail to use our money for heavenly treasure we lose it all in the end. The moment your life ends, every possession you owned but failed to purchase heavenly treasure also dies. Only a fool believes that “whoever dies with the most toys wins”.

The statistics consistently show how American Christians are especially stingy with their finances. Studies show the giving on average between a meager 2 and 3 percent.

Alcorn eschews legalism but endorses tithing ten percent of one’s income as a great starting point. He says,

“When people tell me they can’t afford to tithe, I ask them, “If your income was reduced by 10 percent would you die?” They say, “No.” And I say, “Then you’ve admitted that you can afford to tithe. It’s just that you don’t want to.”[2]

“I have no problem with people who say “we’re not under the tithe,” just as long as they’re not using that as a justification for giving less. But in my mind the current giving statistics among Christians clearly indicate most of us need a giving jump-start. If you find a gateway to giving that’s better than the tithe, wonderful. But if not, why not start where God started His First covenant children?”[3]

The money we possess on earth can be turned into eternal treasure –when used for kingdom purposes. Everything that is not will be lost…forever.

Most Christians will give intellectual assent to this truth, but their lives (and the statistics) demonstrate the contrary. The question must be asked: Do we really live as if heaven is our final home and that we are sojourners on earth? If this is true, then we shouldn’t invest too much in things bound to be consumed by fire on the last day.

This is a message we must hear today……and probably tomorrow too. We live in a country and era of unprecedented wealth. We don’t how long this will last. How should we come to terms with what we’ve been given and what God asks of us? Alcorn says:

God distributes wealth unevenly not because he loves some of His children more than others, but so His children can distribute it to their brothers and sisters on His behalf. Paul said that the God who supplies the seed to the sower will increase our store of seed. Why? So we can stockpile seed or eat it? No, so we can scatter it and spread it out that it might bear fruit. Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. It’s His provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with this money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build his kingdom in heaven.[4]

So what’s God asking of you in 2012? In the area of giving, C.S. Lewis gave one of the most practical applications when he said in Mere Christianity:

”I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare…If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us,… they are too small.  There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditures excludes them.”

If we deprive ourselves of worldly pleasures for the sake of kingdom, we demonstrate a desire for eternal treasures over temporal ones. We affirm our heart’s undivided devotion to God and in the end, we gain.

A few months ago my church held a business meeting to decide whether or not to swap the traditional and contemporary worship times. It was proposed that placing the contemporary worship service at 11 A.M. instead of 9 A.M. would allow for a younger crowd, accustomed to sleeping-in, to make it to worship. The church eventually decided to go ahead with the move but not before some heated debate. Some of the senior adults felt marginalized by the switch. Apparently, switching service times to accommodate a group that wasn’t coming to church because of the early time demonstrated the church’s lack of appreciation and respect for its older members. At one point a woman said, “We seniors are the ones giving our tithes and supporting the church!”

Despite the misguided generalization (many young members give generously and faithfully) and pretentious sense of entitlement, there was some truth in what she said.

Younger people, especially the college-aged, typically give inconsistently or not at all to the church. There are a number of reasons for this, but I don’t believe any of them are biblically justified.

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Do you ever cringe at the sight of a homeless man standing alongside the road holding his usual cardboard sign? Do you swap lanes as you approach a traffic light, so that your vehicle won’t have to come to a stop next to him? Do you intentionally and casually glance the other way, hoping not to make eye contact with him, as though you really don’t even notice him? While giving the man on the side of the road our money might not be the most efficient way to help the homeless, I would venture to guess that most of us never think about homeless people at all unless we are confronted by their cardboard signs as we turn off the interstate.

As this video shows, several people in my church have taken it upon themselves to lead a ministry to the homeless people of Louisville. I have had the personal opportunity to take part in the outreach only once, but it was a life changing experience to say the least. Unless you take time to talk with and listen to these people (yes, they really are people), you might not ever come to know their stories and how they have ended up the way they are. Most of them have made one or two life-changing decisions in their past, forcing them to live on the streets without shelter. It’s a sobering thought to consider that we are potentially only one or two choices away from being in their same situation. This should humble us and lead us to recognize that it is only by God’s grace that our basic needs are met.

This Christmas and even in the upcoming year, I hope you will take time to think about someone besides yourself and your family. What can you do to show Christ’s love and compassion to the hurting, the needy, the poor, the starving, the diseased, and the homeless who live all around you? Will you do anything? Does the whole idea of serving these people make you feel uncomfortable? Rest assured that they know all too well what it feels like to be uncomfortable. They are, in fact, no strangers at all to discomfort. They know what it feels like to attempt sleep in the midst of a snow storm, to eat a meal during a thunderstorm, or to hide from the burning sun during the scorching heat of summer. They know full well what it feels like to spend Christmas alone, without anyone except their fellow homeless buddies to walk through their loneliness with them. We who live in our comfortable homes, we who never miss a meal, we whose closets are overflowing with clothes, we who sleep in thousand dollar beds need to wake up to the needs that surround us. What will you do to help? Will you help anyone beside yourself? Or, will you turn your mind’s eye away from the man on the side of the street who cries out to you for help with his cardboard sign?

To be a Christian is to be a giver. One who loves Jesus should not only live a life characterized by continual and selfless generosity but they will invariably be challenged by the Holy Spirit to give what they have to the Church, their families and those in need. [...]