church and money
this one is touchy.
i'm finding that in my personal faith walk, money keeps becoming a more important issue. For a long time i made excuses why God didn't need me to give my money to his work...
after wrestling with the whole issue for quite a while i've come to believe that our generosity toward God is a pretty important factor in our relationship with him, it can bring us to a new level of closeness with him. Or put barriers between us. I'm not making this up either...The bible seems to say the same thing.
but i know there are a lot of scum-bags out there who manipulate people into giving money "to god" so that they can become rich. So I'm sympathetic to the discomfort some feel when money is brought up in church.
and yet, i feel like I'm in a catch 22 sometimes because i believe that what we do with our money is so important in our walk with God. and equally important to helping God be known to those who aren't yet in a relationship with him. But I know it can turn people off in a big way...
so if there are any of you reading this, what are your thoughts on this? How does it make you feel when a guy like me starts talking about $$, while you are in a place of worship. And if you are willing, please share how giving (or not giving) has affected your spirituality? Feel free to publish comments anonymously if that's easier for you. When you go to the comments page, just select the "anonymous" radial button (then you don't need to register).
thanks... oh one more thing, Jesus talked about money more than anything else (except the "kingdom of God") in his ministry on earth... he must've thought there was something to it too.
posted by Dion @ 1/20/2006 02:03:00 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
On TV, without a relationship, it is hard to hear about money. Especially the ones who offer "reciprocal" spiritual life (give, so that you can be blessed!)
I think this topic is also difficult because it hits so close to home, EVERY TIME. I mean, if I just look around at just my "things" and imagine, that $$$ could have bought more Bibles for a missionary, sponsored a few more children in the third world, or helped out the poor right in my neighborhood.
Man, for starting the week with trying to be an encourager, you sure brought me down with guilt! :)
But seriously, I think that's the other reason why that's hard to think about money --- it's a very ACCURATE measure of how much you're living the life of sharing Christ, and of course we all sin in that area - but guilt comes quick and it comes hard because it's so black and white.
When it's in a local church setting though, especially when I get to know someone or the leadership, it's a totally different story about messages on money. In fact, I think if we had MORE (not just the perennial "Money Sermon") of them, it would help us greatly in the Metro Detroit area.
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