It's easy to give yourself to Jesus and to church ministries, to be nice to people and appear meek, gentle and patient, until someone asks you your money. I have seen how people devoted to God and the church change expression and mood when you ask for their money or borrow. More so, when they're told to give up all their money for the poor. And their favorite escape route is to accuse you of promoting the prosperity gospel, thinking you're just after their money.
Photo above by Andrej Lišakov on Unsplash.
You're okay with them as long as you don't touch their money. If ever they give you some, they believe they gain some right to your life. They can tell you how you should act, live, what you should believe and where and how you should worship. They can lecture to you and you should listen and learn. They assume a right to speak over your life. In short, getting their money means they have bought you for a price.
A lot of people can serve God and devote their lives to him, but never give him their money. They won't even give back to God what belongs to him---the tithes and offering. If they do, they imagine themselves "givers" and "supporters" and that carries with it some entitlement. They think they become co-equals with the pastor and even tell him how to govern the church. If you give your tithes and offering, it does not make you a giver or supporter. You merely returned what belonged to God. You haven't "given" anything yet.
Giving your tithes and offering is good, but that's just the start. Giving does not end there. Jesus clearly emphasized giving up everything we have. If you are a true disciple of Jesus, you understand that giving is 100 percent, not just 10 percent. This is where majority of believers fail. Without getting this truth, all your worship, ministry, achievements, etc. are trash. Being unwilling to give up everything, though you think you serve God, is really serving money. You cannot serve both God and money. You have to give up one to serve the other.
So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. [Luke 14.33]
Give Up 100 Percent to GOD, Not to Man
The Acts believers sold their properties and voluntarily gave all the proceeds to the church, at the apostles' feet, to be exact. They also sold "goods" and gave the sales to the church as well, not so the church could buy properties for its headquarters, local church buildings, bible schools and seminaries (or vehicles or facilities or sound systems), but to give away to those in need, "as every man had need." If we do this, we give to God and His church, not man or his church. We need to do this principle today, if not do it in exactly how the Acts church did it.
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. [Acts 2.45]
As each believer should willingly give up all their possessions to God, all churches and denominations have to give up everything they have. Unless they give up all their properties and incomes and give to the poor, they do not really serve God. Church money is for two purposes only---for the pastor's personal and family needs, and to share with the needy and marginalized. That's what Jesus taught and how the Acts church and the apostles did it. Nothing was spent for buying properties or building physical structures. Nothing for church buildings, bible schools or seminaries. Not even building rent, utilities and the like. Everything should be for the needs of the "least of your brothers," which include the pastors. This is real ministry as Jesus taught it:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’[Matthew 25]
You see the words Jesus used here? "Then the righteous will answer him." Righteousness is by faith, possible only through the grace and mercy of God. But it has a mark, a fruit, an evidence. Jesus said, righteousness is giving to the poor, specifically, to "the least of these brothers and sisters of mine." The least. This means giving up and selling our possessions to give to the least. It's not just giving a pittance, or a one-time donation or a fraction of your money. It's selling your possessions and giving to the poor. It's giving up everything you have.
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Maybe, we need to specify who the least are. They are those we think are not as blessed as we are. We look down on them because they have no money, and we think it's probably because they're not as prayerful or spiritual as we are, or do not give their tithes, fail to obey God, fail some standards (usually our standards) and displease God. We think they're lazy. And worse, we think we're better than they are, or God loves us more because we please him and the "lazy" don't. And we believe this just because we have money. People we see as nothing, zero, useless, small. These are "the least," the people we scorn and despise. And lots of times the pastor is among them.
Whatever we think of or do to them, we do to Jesus. Just to give you an example to open your eyes, if a brother is in dire need of 10k and you have definitely more than that in your bank as your extra money, but you just give him 500 pesos or 3k, you actually do that to Jesus. Do you get the picture now? And remember, God wants us to give up all to HIM and give to the poor, not just your 3k. It's His spoken and written will in the bible. Now, imagine if you turn down a brother or sister in dire need even if God has enabled you to give. You do that to Jesus as well, even if you are a "tither."
Yes, uglier is if we don't fully help our needy brother or sister (although God has blessed us more than we need to be able to bless others) just because we're setting aside money to buy a new car or build a bigger house. Ugliest is to withhold money to the needy because we're saving for a church property or building or building a bigger and nicer one. We've been told that all these are according to sound doctrine, but they really go against Jesus' teachings.
Don't worry, God knows your needs and his blessings are first intended for your real needs, plus a little savings perhaps. God wants you to have some money in the bank and to provide for your immediate family. But the rest of the extras are meant to be given away. Sometimes, the bank savings, too.
What scares us (and especially churches and denominations) is the thought that the needy might keep coming back for more and other poor people might follow suit. The idea of "giving up everything we have" is poor stewardship to us, and we heard that from some smart Aleck in church in the past---how it's wrong to give people money just like that. They said it was sound doctrine to withhold money from needy people, especially to the "undeserving." But Jesus was clear:
"Give to anyone who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." [Matthew 5.42].
We can never change or delete this teaching. The Word of God is eternal.
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SURRENDERING TO JESUS
Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross.
In Jesus alone is salvation. Jesus is:
‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4]
Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.
