Smart Thoughts
Since our trip through the South last summer, when I was searching for an opportunity to hear Dr. Will Willimon preach, I have been receiving a weekly newsletter from him. At the end of March, Bishop Willimon shared an experience that came out of a local workshop. The Rev. Tom Bandy, a consultant and long time student of the dynamics of church life, was asked this question by a layperson attending the workshop. “What do you do when you want your church to grow but your pastor just won’t lead in evangelism?”
Dr. Willimon went on to say that he expected all kinds of answers from Bandy, but none came close to his response. Tom Bandy answered, “If you want to change your church or your pastor, you need to go deeper spiritually, you will need to pray more and go deeper in Scripture.”
In the Early church we are entering into a time of spiritual discernment. We will all hopefully come to an understanding that all we have has come to us as a gift from God. We will have the opportunity to examine our lives and our relationship with the God who created us and sustains us. Like that layperson with the question above, we are tempted to ask about and examine the behavior of others. We want to be a more financially stable community of faith and ask why others don’t do more. I believe that God has plans for our churches that exceed our current willingness to support through our prayers, our presence, our gifts and our service. Every week in our bulletins there is a statement that has become wallpaper, as Tracy Ebarb said in our meeting last night. It is a statement that I believe with all my heart. Our decision to give to God through the church is a spiritual decision and not a financial decision. I also believe that until the church (the church is the people) comprehends the spiritual power of their possessions, the church will be lame in a world where godlessness abounds.
God has provided abundantly. When I forget just how blessed I am, I recall that friend who would sit in his hotel room in downtown Lima, Peru and watch the “street children” climb into the large, decorative urns across the street that served as their bedroom. God has already provided for us to do abundantly more than we do.
The decision to give to God is a spiritual decision and not a financial decision. How many times have I heard it said, “The decision to give is a personal and private matter.” It is a personal matter. “If I want to change my [world], I need to go deeper spiritually, I will need to pray more and go deeper in Scripture.” My giving, however, is a private matter only in the sense that others do not need to know how much I give. It is not a private matter in the sense that what I give determines what the Body of Christ is able to do in the name of Jesus.
Remember in the 19th chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is talking about a camel going through the eye of a needle. Matthew concludes that story with these words of Jesus, "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible." Jesus was talking about salvation and eternal life, but it is true for so much more. If you think something is impossible, I would suggest going deeper spiritually, praying more and going deeper into Scripture. For God all things are possible. The decision to give to God through the church is a spiritual decision, not a financial decision. When we take care of the spiritual, the financial will work out.
Blessings and Peace,