Giving Genorously

This weekend I witnessed amazing genorosity by the members of my church. Southern Missouri was hit by a devastating ice storm last week. A church in sourthern Missouri has opened their doors for the residents of their town to be a shelter and a feeding station. Our church partnered with them to help supply food, diapers, batteries, generators, etc. Sunday morning our pastor announced this partnership and asked us to give and by that evening a trailer-load of stuff had been donated. What a wonderful display of giving!

But why did it take an announcement by the pastor to bring out this generosity? Shouldn't we be generous to those in need all the time? I have heard it said and read it several places, that if everyone who attends a Christian church in THIS NATION were to tithe (Genesis 14:20, Genesis 28:22) that the churches would have enough surplus to feed the poor of THE WORLD!

Why don't we give generously? Actually, tithing isn't even giving generously, it's the minimum God requires. And yet we don't even give that. Why not? Are we that selfish? That greedy?

How many times have you walked by a guy on the street begging and looked away, not giving him anything? I know I've done it plenty of times. Oh, there's been those rare occasions when I give something, but usually I don't. I just pretend he's not there.

James 2:15-17 says "If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

Is it that our faith is dead? But then, when the pastor of our church makes a plea, we respond. Maybe it's not so much selfishness as it is self-centeredness. Unless brought to our attention, we don't consider the things of God. We worry about our own lives. We're quick to respond when someone in authority reminds us. But left to our own devices, we pass by that homeless man. I'll bet if we're walking with a friend and he stops and gives something to the homeless guy, we would too.

One of my favorite Bible verses, though I don't follow it enough, is Philippians 4:8 which says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

I think this is the crux of the matter. Where are our thoughts? When we're walking past that homeless guy, are we thinking about the blessings God has given us and that we should pass some on to others, or are we thinking that this guy will just drink away whatever we give him? When we see a news story about some devastation, such as a tsunami in the far east are do we immediately grieve with those who grieve and wonder how we can help, or are we wondering what we'll be doing the next day and figuring it's the governments job to respond to the tragedy?

We need to do what the apostle Paul did in 2Corinthians 10:5 - "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

We need to adjust our thinking. Christians should think like Christ. For if we have the Holy Spirit in us, if we are born again, if we've submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then we have been given the mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16).

Where are your thoughts today?