Thoughts From Luke - Day 90

                                                        Luke 21:1-4

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”


        I recently read a book by Randy Alcorn called "The Treasure Principle". It was recommended to our class by Cherie Crook a missionary to Thailand. It once again challenges me to think outside the box as to giving. The "box" is give 10% of your money to the Church and then if God moves you to support other ministries, and you can afford it, do so. I guess it is hard to call that "the box" when Christians, on average give 2-3% of their incomes and of the Christians who say they tithe, only 8% actually do. But anyway, growing up in the church, I would have to say that the previous view of giving that I mentioned is probably what most Christians espouse to.

        So what is thinking outside the box in regards to giving. In this passage we see it. The wealthy people are giving of their excess. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't inconvenience them. It probably elevates their standing in the church because they are known as "big givers". Then you have the widow. She has nothing and is giving what little she has to the Lord and trusting Him to meet her needs because He has promised to do that. The rich person is lets say a 10% giver and the widow is a 90% giver. Outside the box thinking says, shouldn't it be the other way around? Let's say someone is making $40,000 a year. (we will not factor in taxes for the sake of discussion) If they tithe, they are living off $36K a year and giving $4K. Let's say someone makes $400,000 a year. If they tithe, they give $40K a year and live off $360K. Now if the person at $36K per year is surviving, why can't the $360K per year live at the $36K level also and give $364K to the Lord a year? Imagine how many missionaries that would support? Imagine the impact on the poor, the third world countries, the rescuing ministries, etc. that you could make if you thought like this.

        R.G. Letourneau invented earth moving machines. He gave away 90% of his income. But the money came in faster than he could give it away. Letourneau said,"I shovel it out and God shovels it back, but God has a bigger shovel!" Andy Stanley often talks of percentage giving. He says that you should decide ahead of time, what percentage you are going to give and set it aside to make sure you do. If you just give throughout the year without a plan, you will always find that at the end of the year you gave less than you thought you did. We in America are all rich. If we own a house and a car, we have more than 95% of the rest of the world. What % are you giving? 10% is the minimum. Have you considered 25%? That is a good start and my guess is, it would barely hurt. Let's trust God and watch Him start trusting us with more once He knows our hands hold money with an open hand rather than a clenched fist. And don't you want Jesus bragging about your giving rather than being unimpressed with you?