Posted by passionburnswithin on March 26, 2009
Francis Chan Posted a video not long ago about this verse. It says
Prov 30:7 There are two things, Lord, I want you to do for me before I die: 8. Make me absolutely honest and don’t let me be too poor or too rich. 9.Give me just what I need. (CEV)
Chan challenges that as Americans we are taught that to have a big 401k and a whopping savings account is the measure of success. But Biblically we are taught to be seeking only for provision for today. Notice the Lords Prayer
Mat 6:10 Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. 11.Give us our food for today. 12.Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. (CEV)
Jesus didn’t teach us to pray for more than we needed. In Acts the new believers became aware that all they needed was to have what would sustain them .
Act 2:44 All the Lord’s followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. 45 They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever needed it. 46 Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, (CEV)
Now I will take this challenge a step further. How does the church respond to this. I have been given many lectures by people in the church on the subject of good stewardship. Mostly these lecures come from people who are penny pinchers and think that any spending of large sums of money is ridiculous. Some pop up when it is time to make a purchase of something new that is part of a larger picture like technology or recreation equipment or facilities. They will say things like “we don’t need that we never had it before and I don’t see why we need it now”. When that doesn’t work they will say we are not being good stewards. Then there are those who as I already stated pinch every penny and think the church should build their savings in case of a rainy day. They will sacrifice the maintanence of the building, missions, benevolence and a host of other ministries under the banner of what if.
I cannot help but wonder how this is a demonstration of faith. If we are concerned that our attendance at church will become so low that we won’t be able to pay our bills then are we being a good steward of our people an our community. If the economy goes into a deep depression do we think God can no longer provide. Maybe we need to pray Proverbs 30:7-9 as a church body. That we will live for today and how we can reach the world with what we have and trust God for tomorrow’s provision.
Posted in Ministry, Religion | Tagged: bible, faith, finance, Proverbs, provision, stewardship | 2 Comments »
