Giving according to the missionary gracing - Part 1
The other day as I was discussing with Angie a message I was preparing to share with our Bolivian congregation. The topic I was teaching on was giving money to the local church and noteworthy projects. My natural tendency was to teach that giving to a good program or even to the church is always a good thing because is helps the local church (I do not know any local church, including our own Bolivian church, that could not use more finances). But the question that arose on the inside of me was, “Is it good that everyone in my Bolivian congregation give at the level that Angie and I give?” I am still in the process of assessing the question. On one hand I believe that giving money is always good but the on other hand I would never demand or even expect the people of my congregation to give at the level that our missionary family gives. So here are my thoughts on missionary giving.
Missionaries should give more because they are called to a lifestyle of giving - There is something that I call a missionary bias. I guess this is not limited to only missionaries but I think in our case it is a little more exaggerated. It is the tendency to expect others to live up to the same convictions that God demands of you. For example in the case of a person that God convicts that they stop eating sugar. The person stops eating sugar because it is something that the Lord wants them to do and it a good thing. Their health gets better. So as a result of that conviction they make the wrong assumption that God want everyone to stop eating sugar. So they go on a campaign trying to motivate everyone they know to stop eating sugar literally making everyone else miserable because of a personal conviction that God is dealing with them about. Now when it comes to my missionary world there is a certain level of giving that God expects from us. To put things plainly: my life is giving. Not just financially either. We give above what is generally expected from the average Christian because we are sent to Bolivia to give. That is just a part of the job description. But I will have to confess that sometimes there is a tendency to expect that everyone should give at the same level that we do but there is only one problem, not everyone is called to be a missionary. So carrying the missionary bias in the area of financial giving is not exactly fair. Not everyone is called to be a missionary.
I hope you enjoyed this first part. I will post the other half in a few days. I would love to hear what you think. Go ahead and leave a comment.
posted by DaRonn Washington @ 2:40 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Hi DaRonn. I think about this some; wondering if my supporters would be upset or confused if they knew how much of the money they give me I give away to other ministries - as well as making internal transfers within our ministry. If I have enough to support others as much as I do should I be raising less support? but this is mostly just an internal question - it's never been the kind of thing to stop me.
When I was a kid and became a Christian I wanted to tithe on my allowance and my mom did not want me to, said the money had already been tithed. I disagreed - everyone needs to give.
I don't know if you've ever struggled with that question. But like you, I come out on the giving side of it.
I'm at a conference in SE Asia, a gathering of our agency's missionaries from a wide area, and this morning we took up an offering for the ministry's 'sending base' in Africa. The missionaries gave $25,000. Not bad.
I believe YWAM has a strong history in this sort of thing - collecting from their own members first before they go out and ask, when there's a big need.
At the same time, I think it's important for missionaries - and any other believers whose lives are consecrated to the Lord - to pay close attention to the financial traps, especially attitudinal ones like pride, self-pity, or hopelessness, that may surround them.
Thanks for the comment. Interesting point. Personally we have always taken the stand point that the money that our supports give us, unless it is designated for a specific project or need, is up to how God leads us to what we do with it. I think also our supports turst us in that area. I think they trust us that we are going to do the right thing with the funds and what is best for teh advancement of the gospel.
I agree as well that all Christians should be givers missionaries included. For example before we became pastors we attended a local Bolivian church. So we gave. Not because we were ministers an had to be an example but because we were Christians and needed to be a responsible members of a local congregation. Even as pastors of our local church here we still tithe. Not because we have to but because we want to see our local church succeed and our financial commitment helps.
I think it is as natural as the air we breath to be a Christian and a giver. It is the example that God gave in John 3:16. After all the greatest expression of love is to give (God so loved the world that He gave...)
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment. Have a great time at the conference.
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