Tuesday 31st March - An Unpopular Topic

DAILY BYTE

Yesterday we spoke generically around the topic of possessions – or ‘stuff’. Today we will focus more specifically on money and how it impacts our spirituality.

Money is not a popular topic of discussion among many church goers. It is a sensitive area that many feel should not be spoken of in church. Some believe that money is a material thing and that church should be restricted to only ‘spiritual discussions’.

In stark contrast to this Jesus spoke constantly about money. In fact, after the Kingdom of God, money is the most mentioned topic in Jesus’ teaching!

Jesus seemed to understand that money could become direct competition for God. Listen to his words in Matthew 6.24, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

Jesus is warning us that money can have power over us if we allow it to. Money perhaps more than any other possession, has the ability to become our ‘master’. This means it has some very powerful spiritual dimensions.

So what can we do about this – how do we balance spirituality and money? Well, the Bible has a very simple answer to that – learn to generously share with others. Sharing what we have is a way of making a bold spiritual statement that we will not allow money to have any hold over us. Expressing generosity liberates us from the choking effects of greed and fear.

Remember this – we don’t give so that we might get something in return, but we give because WE NEED to do so in order to remain free.

The question that many Christians then ask is: ‘if I am to faithfully steward money, how much should I be giving?’ 2 Cor. 9.7 says: “Each person should give what they have decided in their own heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Believers are free to give the amount they choose to give. It could be 10% like Abraham (a tithe) or even 50% like Zacchaeus.

Remember though that to be a steward is to wisely care for something. We need to use our own heads when it comes to money and how much we would like to share.

As John Wesley once said: “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” We do need to ensure that we have enough money to live on, and take care of our families with, but we also need to ensure we do give something - even if it is a small as the widow’s offering (see focus reading).

Stewarding our money is about cultivating a lifestyle of wise generosity. It is vitally important to do so because giving is a means of releasing us from money’s hold over us and will set us gloriously free to live in the fullness of God’s Kingdom.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Holy God, help us to come to terms with the effect money may have over us. We repent of any greed that may live in our hearts. We want to be free and so we ask that you would show us how to be generous in nature. We pray that you would give to us the wisdom, courage and compassion we need to share with others, and to do so with cheerful hearts. In Jesus name. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Luke 21:1-4 (The Message)

Just then Jesus looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, "The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford ... she gave her all!"