I know. Everyone is asking for money this time of year, and it can be so easy to feel like all people want from you is a dollar (or twenty!). But there’s one YUGE (sorry, Donald) reason that you and I can’t afford to simply shrug our shoulders and walk away from “generosity opportunities” this time of year (or any time, for that matter):

God blesses the generous.

Now, before you whip out your cash and get ready to invest in God’s great pyramid scheme, let’s qualify that statement just a bit, and then I’ll give you some insight from our church’s own 2016 case study to back it up.

God does indeed bless the generous, because He said He would in Proverbs 11:25. It reads “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” The key question, of course, is what does He mean by prosper?

The Hebrew word means “to be made fat,” which is weird because so many of us are trying to do anything BUT be made fat! But the point is that God makes sure that generous people always have plenty, and He does that for one very simple reason: God can give generous people more because He knows they’ll use it to find more ways to be generous!

In 2 Corinthians 9:11, God makes it clear that His purpose in giving TO us is so that He can give THROUGH us. “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (emphasis added)

Add to that the promise of 3 John 1:2 and we see that our prosperity is always tied to the condition of our souls. People who are prospering in their relationship with Jesus tend to always find ways to be generous. Their bonus becomes a way to bless another family. Their gifts include gifts for another. Their new car allows them to give away the older car instead of parking it in the driveway “in case we need it later.”

Generosity isn’t at the mercy of our situations; it comes from God’s mercy in our situations. That’s why it’s NEVER a good time to throttle back on generosity, because our souls are prospering independent of our circumstances. Let me share a story to show how God continues to bless us if we continue to show generosity, even in tough times.

2016 has been a tough year at The Gathering, the church that we planted in 2011. Don’t get me wrong, people are still coming and Jesus is still very much alive in our services. But this year we experienced the move of God by, well, moving. What we thought would be a short skip and a jump from one location to another has turned into a longer stay in the “in between” place. Waiting is hard, and when the waiting is tied to the renovation of an old 14,000 square foot building, it can cause one to want to keep all the money in reserve “in case we need it later.” Sounds a lot like that old car parked in the driveway, doesn’t it?

In the first 4 years of our church’s existence, we’ve been able to give away anywhere from 16-21% of our annual income to missions both at home and around the world, and this year – even while facing the unknown of a future building renovation, even as we brought on our 2nd full-time staff member, and even while we faced a “yet to be determined” lengthy transition – we decided that we couldn’t afford to NOT continue being generous.

The result? We’ll give more to mission this year than in any previous year, and it’s not even close. When the ball drops on 2016, our church will have given close to 27% of our income away, and we couldn’t be more thrilled!

And how did God show Himself to be the faithful God who promised to refresh us if we were generous? We’ve had the funds for a down payment on our “new to us” building as well as being able to self-fund the initial demo and drawings needed to prepare for the up fit.

And there are no lottery winners in our church. Just generous people who believe that God gives to us so that He can give through us, and then He gives to us again so we can repeat the cycle.

Tomorrow, our church will have our 4th annual BIG GIVE, and even though it’s tempting to take up an offering just for us, we know that when we take 100% of this offering and give it away to non-profits in our area, that God will keep His promise to refresh us.

Souls set free, addictions broken, a city finding hope in Jesus. All of these and more refresh us, and we expect that God will give all of them in full measure to us as we give what we can to Him.

Perhaps you’d like to be a part of THE BIG GIVE? Simply click the link to learn more about it and give securely online.

I thought about going with a much shorter title.  It would have been “Wait, what?”  While a lot of this is old history, it appears that it’s a bit of a new controversy and I just stumbled on it this morning.

In case you don’t know, Steven Furtick built a big house. In related news, so did Dave Ramsey.  If you want to know more about either of those events, I’ll save you the Google search and simply provide links for you here.

It’s a big, big house with lots and lots of room

It’s a bigger, bigger table and it can hold more food

In that second article, Dave Ramsey actually responded. (Scroll to the bottom of the page and then go back up 5-10 comments).  Here’s what he posted:

Hey guys,
I just found this discussion from a twitter link. Wow. Thanks for all of your concern about my soul, my reputation and my witness. Please continue to pray for me because wisdom is sometimes elusive. The teacher in me has to reach out and help with proper biblical and life view points for some of you.
First, None of this is any of your business nor is it your problem, however in an effort to teach I have always been overly transparent. So I will try to help.
1) We tithe 10% of our before tax income to our local church
2) We have a family foundation that God allows us to give many times what our personal home or other items cost, so we give much more of God’s money to his kingdom that we live on percentage wise.
3) No Gary, we don’t have any debt any where of any kind. No corporate debt, no credit cards, no mortgage debt, no blind trusts, and no kind of debt no where no how. Didn’t you hear? I don’t believe in debt.
4) Before making a large purchase of any kind we ask God if that is what he wants us to do with HIS money. Like you I sometimes hear clearly and other times I am not sure. In the case of our home I was very sure.
5) Our home is a very small percentage of our net worth.
6) In the two years we have lived here we have had many many functions to fund raise for ministries, charities, and community causes. Millions of dollars have flowed through those events. We view our home, like everything in our life, as a tool to be used for the kingdom.
7) Yes, it blows my mind how much it costs to maintain a lot of things God has called me to manage. We have a 64,000 square foot office building (paid for) that we spend a lot of natural resources and money to keep operating and from where I came from it is sometimes hard to emotionally grasp the zeros. However, I man up, and step up to do what God gave me to do. It is weird some days though.
8) I used to say ignorant things like “what does anyone need with a _____ like that” when I was immature. Now I have been blessed to see how God uses people who are obedient when they are broke and when they aren’t. I was with a really Godly guy a few weeks ago worth 2.2 BILLION. He gives 300-500 million a year. Some of you sent him hate mail worried about his soul because he bought a $110,000 car. That does not make him wrong, that makes that person silly, foolish, and spiritually immature. Note: God gave HIM 2.2 Billion to manage, God did NOT assign you to help. 

Thanks again for your concern and please continue to pray for me as I am perfectly capable of messing this whole deal up. So far though, I am not inconsistent between my message and my life. So far I have managed to keep God First, Sharon Second, my kids third, and serving all of you fourth. I am having a blast and I thank all you who do understand. 

P.S. I will not be visiting back to see your comments because I already know what they are: Some get it, Some don’t.
Yours In Christ,
Dave Ramsey

My goal isn’t to write anything about either of these 2 houses, but to simply ask a question based on an observation.  When the news broke about Steven Furtick’s house, people were so quick to pick up stones and collectively throw him under the bus about it, but for the most part, the church is applauding Dave Ramsey for his.

What’s the difference? Is it as simple as the fact that Ramsey is a business man and so he earned his, but Furtick is a pastor so he didn’t?  As a pastor, I have an issue with the assumption that pastors don’t work hard enough to earn something.  I’m also not sure that pastors are automatically disqualified from nice things, either.

But there’s a disconnect somewhere, and that’s why Ramsey will be applauded for his response, but if that same response was signed by Furtick, he’d be stoned.  My simple question (and I guess we’ll see if anyone reads this) to the church at large is, “why?”

There are a lot of things that don’t go together.  Good and evil.  N.C. State and Carolina.  Politicians and common sense.  Professional athletes and the ability to handle money.  Enter Steve Smith, the most popular wide receiver to ever play for my beloved Carolina Panthers.  I have loved watching #89 play since the Sunday afternoon that he caught a pass over the middle from Jake Delhomme against the St. Louis Rams and took it 69 yards for a score in overtime to get to Panthers closer to their only Super Bowl appearance.

He’s been a controversial player, for sure.  He’s had great one-handed catches that made me cheer, and he’s used that same hand to pummel a teammate in training camp.  He’s had amazing touchdown celebrations and awful, bone-headed reactions that led to devastating penalties.  At times he’s been great, and at other times he’s just grated.  He’s a lot like me, and probably like you, too, and seeing how he gets scrutinized for everything he does makes me glad that people don’t follow me around like they follow him around.  But that’s not the point.  The point is that he’s got something to teach you and me about money, and it may be the first time I’ve ever read a quote from a professional athlete about the green stuff that made me think that.

I found this out as I was reading, err, researching, current events on ESPN’s website yesterday, and I ran across this article in which Steve Smith tried to lay to rest the rumors that he wants to be traded to another team.  Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t, but one of the reasons that people have speculated about it is the fact that his Charlotte home has been on the market for about a year now.  Typically, a FOR SALE sign in the yard is a pretty good indication that the people who own it are moving on, so it’s understandable that people might wonder if Smith was headed somewhere else.  But as Smith explains in the interview,

I think it’s important that people realize I am not packing my bags. As far as why my house is for sale, we built this huge house and we just don’t have any business living in it. It seemed like a great idea, and then we moved into this big house. We started cringing at all that space we had. For me, it was a little bit vain that I have this big house with this big yard.

At this point, I was already saying “wow” under my breath.  Did a pro athlete just say that having something too big for him was vain?  I was growing to like Smith even more, and then I read his next statement:

People saw my house was on sale and said it was me sending a message. Really the message I sent was to my kids: Dad made a mistake. This isn’t how we are supposed to live. This isn’t what I should be projecting. If we don’t do this now, what incentive do I give my kids to reach for? You make a lot of money and then you go blow it? I don’t want to be a statistic. I want to be a good steward.

I almost literally got out of my chair and bowed to a poster of Smith.  Here’s a guy who is one of the best receivers in the game today, who is making upwards of $7 million a year, and he’s telling his children that he made a mistake by projecting that he has the right to blow his money on things he and his family don’t need.  Let’s bottom line it before we move on: an NFL star is downsizing.

Let that sink in.  He’s buying a smaller house, a house more suitable to their needs instead of their wants.  He’s aware of his responsibility as a steward, not just his ability as a spender.

You and I can learn a lot from those two statements.  No one is immune from the pressure to over-purchase.  All of us feel the ever-creeping presence of more, and my guess is that most of us know all too well the tight feeling that comes when we realize we’ve got way too much of the things that just get in the way.

I’m reminded of another man who had a lot, and then came to realize he didn’t need it.  Paul wrote these words to the Philippians:

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. (Philippians 3:4-6)

Translation?  Paul was at the top of his game, a sought-after religious free agent, and he’d accumulated quite a bounty of well-deserved stuff.  But something happened.  He saw something, or someone.  Just like Steve Smith saw his children and it made him wonder about his financial priorities, Paul saw Jesus, and seeing Jesus caused all that stuff to turn into, well, I’m not sure I can write the actual word since The Blog Channel is family-friendly.  The nice folks over at the NIV cleaned it up by using “rubbish” in verse 8, but the actual word is more like the word that gets bleeped.  Paul saw his stuff pale in light of the value of Christ and His cause.

Seeing a greater cause makes all the difference in how we see our money and possessions.  It makes us stewards, not spenders.  Givers, not keepers.  More aware of others’ need of salvation than our own need for recreation.

I can hear you asking about balance, and I really want to write that we’re supposed to seek balance in all of this, but to be honest, I’m starting to have a hard time reconciling our need for balance with the overwhelming weight of Scripture that demands our all.  Zacchaeus gave it all, and he was a just a wee little man. Paul gave it all.  Jesus gave it all, and let a rich young ruler walk away sad because he wouldn’t.

Giving everything isn’t balanced.  It’s irrational.  Uncomfortable.  It’s the kind of action that keeps us up at night wrestling with our own doubts and busy during the day defending ourselves against the doubts of others.  It is full of tension: on the one hand we want to trust, and on the other we know that the only way to do that is to cut the tether.

How does it all play out practically?  I’m not sure.  Perhaps it starts with asking the simple things.  Do I really trust God?  Do I really need what I have?  Am I willing to take a step away from balance and a step toward the radical Savior Who gave it all in order to draw me to Himself?

Who knows where questions like that may lead you and me, but for now, it isn’t about trying to see so far into the future that we become paralyzed in the present.  It’s just about taking the first step.  For Steve Smith, it was hammering a FOR SALE sign into his front yard.

What will it be for you?