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Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2008

Grace Church of Burlington January 20, 2008  “Many people despise wealth, but few know how to give it away.”   Francois de La Rochefoucauld             It was the kind of cryptic theological statement that is often found stuck on automobile bumpers. The bumper sticker said, “Don't let my car fool you. My treasure is in heaven.” This echoed the Bible passage in which Jesus urged believers to, “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” And this sticker's creator probably intended it to be displayed on the battered bumper of a maintenance-challenged car, noted sociologist Christian Smith, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. Thus, the sticker suggests that the driver knows his car is a wreck, but that he has "other commitments and priorities" that matter more. But Christian Smith was very puzzled when he saw this sticker on a $42,000 SUV parked at a bank. “Let's be clear. I have no problem with abundance. I have no problem with capitalism,” he said, speaking at Gordon College, his alma mater near Boston. "The person driving this car may give away 40%  of their income. I have no idea. I'm not trying to nail people who drive SUVs or whatever. But it seems to me that the meaning of this bumper sticker has changed from what I thought was the original meaning to, 'Well, Jesus didn't quite get it right, because I have a lot here and I also have it in heaven, too. So I have all the bases covered.' "             After years of digging in the data, Christian Smith has reached some sobering conclusions about believers and their checkbooks. It's true that Americans give away lots of money, in comparison with people in other modern societies. It's also true that religious Americans are much more generous than non-religious Americans. But here's the bottom line:  The top 10 percent of America's givers are very generous, while 80 percent or more rarely, if ever, make charitable donations of any kind.             Though we have so much, most American Christians turn out to be stingy financial givers – most, but not all. The vast majority of affluent American Christians will see they are guilty as charged, if they candidly contrast the amount of money they give away with the doctrines that are proclaimed in the pulpits of Bible-believing churches. The result is a laugh-to-keep-from-crying paradox. Along this line someone asked a very pointed yet insightful question: “Why does $50 seem like so much to give in church and so little to spend in the restaurant after church?”             The stakes are high in this spiritual struggle. Recent research indicates the combined incomes of active U.S. Christians – people who frequently go to church – reached about two trillion dollars in 2005. Now matter how you interpret it, the Bible's minimum standard for giving is the tithe. I can’t see how someone can be obedient to Scripture and give away less than 10%  of their income. So do the math: 10% of two trillion dollars is a lot of money.             As we study the Church in America it quickly becomes clear how important having material resources is if you want to get anything accomplished. There are all kinds of things that the Church in America and we at Grace are supposed to be doing, yet we struggle to do them because we simply don’t have the resources to act. It’s not about paying the light bill, it’s about advancing the Kingdom of God! In our particular situation at Grace we will continue to be limited in our ministry in this community until we have a new building. We are in a church building culture. There are many lost folk who would not even consider visiting our church because we do not have a dedicated building. Being friendly and strong relationships help us overcome some of that but the bottom line is that we are limited at our spiritual impact because of our building situation.             Sadly, when it comes to tithes and offerings, parents have much more influence than pastors. Most of us give the way that our parents did. We mimic what they modeled. That’s wonderful if we grew up in a Christian home and our parents were godly, committed Christians. But if we grew up in an unsaved or even just a religious home, though we now know the Lord, our giving often does not change. Our giving frequently is like our unsaved parents, rather than being like we are children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What’s worse is that many believers are training the next generation to be casual Christians. Our kids are watching. They often know better than we do what is truly important to us. Are they learning from us to truly “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33)? Or are they learning that giving and seeking His kingdom is a low priority, or only when it’s convenient and even optional?