Hospitality

Assuming we have houses, beds, chairs, food, drink, medicine and other provisions to share with others and the needy, we are encouraged to be hospitable. 

Dear friend, you have always been faithful in helping other followers of the Lord, even the ones you didn’t know before. They have told the church about your love. They say you were good enough to welcome them and to send them on their mission in a way that God’s servants deserve. When they left to tell others about the Lord, they decided not to accept help from anyone who wasn’t a follower. We must support people like them, so that we can take part in what they are doing to spread the truth. - 3 John 5-8

Paul and his traveling ministry team were deeply grateful for the hospitality that facilitated their ministry.  Without the support of those disciples called by Jesus to have and share possessions, those called to leave possessions behind couldn't carry out their mission.

We have three good instructions regarding our attitude towards wealth.

Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them.- Matthew 6:19

Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life. Instruct them to do as many good deeds as they can and to help everyone. Remind the rich to be generous and share what they have.  This will lay a solid foundation for the future, so that they will know what true life is like. - 1 Timothy 6:17-19

 Any of God’s people who are poor should be glad that He thinks so highly of them. - James 1:9

Believers who lived in humble circumstances were not second class but of equal importance - some, because of persecution, lost their possessions and social status and became poor.

Since God hates partiality, the affluent do not marginalise or look down on the less affluent.  It is why ministries to do not court flatter the wealthy or court donors.

Here are five good reasons to be careful when we find ourselves with more than we need.

People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them.- 1 Timothy 6:9

God blesses his loyal people,
    but punishes all who want
    to get rich quick. - Proverbs 28:20


 Jesus said to his disciples, “It’s terribly hard for rich people to get into the kingdom of heaven!- Matthew 19:23

But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. - Mark 4:19


Don’t trust in violence
or depend on dishonesty    or rely on great wealth. - Psalm 62:10

 We should not be preoccupied with God's plan for others.

Jesus answered, “What is it to you, if I want him to live until I return? You must follow me.” - John 21:22

May we have not so much that we become proud and independent of the Lord and not so much that distracts us from our purpose or insulates us from our sense of His need and dependence on Him.

Make me absolutely honest
and don’t let me be too poor
    or too rich.
    Give me just what I need. If I have too much to eat,
    I might forget about you;
if I don’t have enough,
    I might steal    and disgrace your name. - Proverbs 30:8-9

 Giving is the safety valve that releases the excess pressure of wealth.


 

Buying and selling the spiritual

 Simon noticed that the Spirit was given only when the apostles placed their hands on the people. So he brought money and said to Peter and John, “Let me have this power too! Then anyone I place my hands on will also be given the Holy Spirit.”

 Peter said to him, “You and your money will both end up in hell if you think you can buy God’s gift!  You don’t have any part in this, and God sees that your heart isn’t right.  Get rid of these evil thoughts and ask God to forgive you.- Acts 8:18-22

What makes us think that God has changed His opinion of attempts to profit under the veil of ministry?

I think that our motives of our heart will be examined in how we give including how much truth and sincerity we speak on behalf of the support required in our ministries.

Gideon was a man who definitely put out there his desire not to rule.

“No,” Gideon replied, “I won’t be your king, and my son won’t be king either. Only the Lord is your ruler. - Judges 8:23

 Why did he have to ask everyone to give a gold earring from the share of the plunder? So what? That seems like a small price for people to pay, they definitely would not miss it and Gideon certainly earned it. But what he did with the gold is melt it down and made a gold ephod which he placed in his hometown.

 Gideon returned to his home in Ophrah and had the gold made into a statue, which the Israelites soon started worshipping. They became unfaithful to God, and even Gideon and his family were trapped into worshipping the statue. - Judges 8:27-28

If we would be ashamed or embarrassed by full disclosure of our finances - everything from our salaries and all other sources of income to our proportion of giving - it's an indication we should be living differently.

NT Guidelines: Give Quietly

Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. - Matthew 6:1

The illustrations that follow include prayer and fasting, but begin with giving.

 So that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. - Matthew 6:4

Sometimes our acts of righteousness will be seen by people and even should be, such as our acts of love. Earlier in the same sermon where He says we're not to give in order to be seen by people, Christ commands us --

 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

Jesus tells us to pray in secret, and God will reward us for that.  Yet gathering for group prayer is certainly important.  God wants us to pray secretly sometimes but not others.

If leaders know how much people give, they'll be tempted to show preference to big givers and neglect those who give less and its this very trap we are warned against --

  My brothers and sisters,^[a] do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?^{[b] 2} For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, ³ and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,”^{[c] 4} have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.^[d] Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? - James 2:1-5

It also puts leaders in a position to judge others with incomplete knowledge.

For misrepresenting their giving, God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead - keep in mind that they were generous donors.

There is encouragement in those who follow Jesus seeing God at work in the giving of others who follow Jesus.  I have been encouraged and stimulated to give as I've heard the giving of others.

The tithe is recognized as God's

The Old Testament emphasised "freewill offerings" --

The Israelites, all the men and women whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work which the Lord had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a freewill (voluntary) offering to the Lord. - Exodus 35:29

These were voluntary contributions beyond the tithe.

When the temple needed to be rebuilt, people were asked to provide freewill offerings --

Then the heads of the fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, all those whose spirits God had stirred up,[a]arose to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.  All those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle, and with valuable things, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. - Ezra 1:5-6

 The Israelites got caught up in the thrill of giving --

And all the skilled men who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came, each one from the work which he was doing,  and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to do.”  So Moses issued a command, and it was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the sanctuary offering.” So the people were restrained from bringing anything more;  for the material they had was sufficient and more than enough to do all the work. - Exodus 36:4-7

The emphasis here is not on the amount of the offering or the cause for it, but the willingness of each person's heart.

Voluntary offerings were a demonstration of love, joy, and worship.  The grace of giving transformed a pack of gripers and whiners into joyful worshippers.

Moreover, because I delight in the house of my God, the [personal] treasure that I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, in addition to all that I have already provided for the holy house - 1 Chronicles 29:3

Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, and leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers of the king’s work, offered willingly  and gave for the service of the house of God: 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.  Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole and blameless heart they had offered freely to the Lord. King David also rejoiced greatly. - 1 Chronicles 29:6-9

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.  For we are [a]sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope [of remaining].  O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy Name, it is from Your hand, and is all Your own.  I know also, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness and integrity. In the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. So now with joy I have seen Your people who are present here, make their offerings willingly and freely to You.  O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the minds of Your people, and direct their hearts toward You - 1 Chronicles 29:14-18

David measured the people's loyalty to God by their willingness to freely give to God.

What heaven is like

As He was about to leave this world, Jesus said to His disciples --

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. - John 14:2-3

For Christians, heaven is our home.

So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]— we are [as I was saying] of good courage and confident hope, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

This city will have all the freshness, vitality and openness of the country with all the vibrancy, interdependence and relationships of a city.

For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has foundations, [an eternal, heavenly city] whose architect and builder is God. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. But the truth is that they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. For that reason God is not ashamed [of them or] to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]; for He has prepared a city for them. - Hebrews 11:10,14,16

Heaven will have an endless supply and we'll meet and converse with other inhabitants.  We'll open our dwelling places to entertain people. Heaven will offer much-needed rest to the weary.

We'll reign with Christ. Reigning implies specific delegated responsibilities for those under our leadership.  We'll rule over the world and even over angels.

When God brings heaven down to the new earth --

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be death; there will no longer be sorrow and anguish, or crying, or pain; for the [a]former order of things has passed away. - Revelation 21:4

People of every tribe and nation and tongue will worship the Lamb together.

Heaven is the Christian's certain hope, a hope that can and should sustain us through life's darkest hours.  But this doesn't happen automatically.  We must choose to think about heaven and centre our lives around it --

Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. - Colossians 3:1-2

Materialism: The Church

People were amazed that the apostles were plain, ordinary men, with no great education or social status --

Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”  -  Acts 3:6

To see God's power and truth coming through uneducated men who weren't wealthy challenged the observers' most basic beliefs.





Problems in the Church (III): Materialism

Materialism & Consumerism

Mega-Churches, Emergent Christianity, Spirituality and Materialism

Materialism in the Church

The Stairway to Heaven: Materialism and the Church

Materialism and Ecclesiastes

The book of Ecclesiastes is the most powerful report of materialism ever written. Solomon recounts his attempts to find meaning in pleasure, laughter, alcohol, folly, building projects, and the pursuit of personal interests, as well as in amassing slaves, gold and silver, singers, and a huge harem to fulfil his sexual desires.  He achieved the ultimate in material success and international fame living by this philosophy --

Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. Ecclesiastes 2:10

The more Solomon had , the more he was tempted to indulge --

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!

People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.

There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. Ecclesiastes 5:10 - 15

Life Frame

5 Things the Bible Says About Materialism in Ecclesiastes

Solomon Tried Materialism

45 Bible Verses about Materialism

Ecclesiastes 3

Understanding Asceticism

Nowhere does Scripture consider poverty inherently virtuous.  God cares for the poor - but out of His compassion, not based on their merit.  It is just as erroneous to view poverty as a sign of spirituality as to view wealth that way --

The Lord makes some poor and others rich;
he brings some down and lifts others up. - 1 Samuel 2:7

The ideal state is somewhere between poverty and riches --

First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name. - Proverbs 30:8-9

 It's one thing to wish to please God but another to try to earn one's standing before Him through self-denial.  The ascetic lifestyle can be a bid to impress God and others with our spirituality.  Christ condemned the Pharisees for trying to impress people with their public self-denial of giving, prayer, and fasting.  Impure motives can drive ascetics as strongly as materialists.

We must realise that only suffering that is divinely ordained - and therefore purposeful - is godly, not suffering per se.  God is glorified when our suffering is brought about by our faithfulness to Christ, not when we bring it upon ourselves by attempting to appear faithful.

Although Satan, the other fallen angels, and unredeemed humanity will suffer in hell for eternity, their suffering will have no atoning value.  God may use our suffering to extend His grace and build our character, and in that sense purify us, but not to atone for our guilt.

If every Christian adopted the monastic practice of retreating from society to escape material temptations, how would people in most walks of life be reached with the gospel?  Paul makes it clear that part of our calling in this world is to rub shoulders with non-Christians, regardless of their sins and lifestyles.  We must be actively involved in the lives of others, and therefore present in their world.  As Jesus said --

I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.  They do not belong to this world any more than I do. - John 17:15-16

 Many people expect to find peace, purity and holiness in an ascetic lifestyle.  Paul warned against the inaccurate assumptions underlying asceticism and the abuses it fosters in his first letter to Timothy.  He also warned that asceticism does not accomplish its purpose --

These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.           Colossians 2:23

Union with Christ, not self-deprivation, is the foundation of holiness.

Jesus lived simply, but He was not ascetic.  Some people condemned Jesus for associating with gluttons and drunkards.  He not only drank wine, He made wine for a wedding celebration.  He moved with equal ease among the poor, such as John the Baptist and Bartimaeus, and the wealthy, such as Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus and Joseph of Arimathea.  Jesus accepted material support from wealthy women and He gratefully accepted the extravagant anointing of His body with an expensive perfume.

Toward a New Asceticism

Money and Salvation

When Zacchaeus said he would give half his money to the poor and pay back fourfold those he had cheated, Jesus did not merely say, "Good idea."  He said --

“Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham." - Luke 19:9

This is amazing.  Jesus judged the reality of this man's salvation based on his willingness - no, his cheerful eagerness - to part with his money for the glory of God and the good of others.

Then there is the counterpart to Zacchaeus - the rich young ruler.  This earnest, hardworking young professional asked Jesus what good thing he could do to get eternal life.  When Jesus recited God's commandments, the man said he had kept them all.  Then the Lord delivered the bottom line --

“If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” - Matthew 19:21

Lacking our sophisticated, twenty-first century knowledge of how to close a conversion, Jesus said something that cost him a valuable convert.  We might surmise by the results that this was the wrong this to say --

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.         Matthew 19:22

 After losing this potential follower, a  man so sincere that he was grieved to turn away, Jesus said to His disciples --

“I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."    Mathew 19:23

He said it was harder than for a camel to go through a needle's eye.  This left the disciples --

The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.                   Matthew 19:25

When people asked John the Baptist what they should do to bear the fruit of repentance, he told them first to share their clothes and food with the poor.  Then he told the tax collectors not to collect and pocket extra money.  Finally he told the soldiers not to extort money and to be content with their wages.

No one asked John about money and possessions.  Those two things were of such high priority, so close to the heart of what it takes to follow God, that John couldn't talk about spirituality without talking in terms of how we can handle our money and possessions.

The Ephesian occultists demonstrated the reality of their spiritual conversions by their willingness to burn their magic books, which were worth the vast sum of 50,000 days' wages, the equivalent of perhaps six million dollars in today's economy.  The depth of transformation in the lives of the early Christians was most clearly evident in their willingness to surrender their money and possessions to meet each other's needs.

It was no more natural for the Christians in the book of Acts to cheerfully liquidate and disburse assets they had spent their lives accumulating than it would be for us.  Although private ownership of property was still practiced by the early Christians, the joyful giving and sharing of this property became the new norm of supernatural living.

Much has changed

It seems I am unable to find any relevant data for the Canadian landscape in regards to giving to the church and so must be satisfied with the assumption that the trend below our border is the same trend we are experiencing in ratio to other spiritual directions that have been measured i.e. church attendance/membership, Bible reading etc.The data I am about to share with you came from the Barna Research Group.

Tithing in 2007

Whether they believe in the principle of tithing or not, the research revealed that just 5% of adults tithed.

Not surprisingly, some population groups were more likely than others to have given away at least ten percent of their income. Among the most generous segments were evangelicals (24% of whom tithed); conservatives (12%); people who had prayed, read the Bible and attended a church service during the past week (12%) and charismatic or Pentecostal Christians (11%).

Several groups also stood out as highly unlikely to tithe: people under the age of 25, single adults who have never been married, liberals, and downscale adults. One percent or less of the people in each of those segments tithed in 2007.

Among all "born again" adults, 9% contributed one-tenth or more of their income.

The study also showed that Protestants were four times as likely to tithe as were Catholics (8% versus 2%, respectively).

Tithing Since 2000

The percentage of adults who tithe has stayed constant since the turn of the decade, falling in the 5% to 7% range. The Barna tracking reported that the proportion of adults who tithed was 7% in 2006 and 2005; 5% in 2004 and 2003; 6% in 2002; and 5% in 2001.

I believe that people are genuinely interested in learning about and applying God's perspective on finances.  Yes, I have run across many others who are not, but my goal has always been to share the full biblical picture to inform and correct our faulty view of the world. Hopefully you will find some of that here.

May you be encouraged by the power of the Scriptures that are cornerstone to this journey.

It is remarkable that something so central to the teaching of Scripture is so neglected by schools dedicated to teaching the Scriptures and preparing students to train others.

For the first two years of my ministry I have been a Christian Education Coordinator in the church and for the past 30 years in fund development and financial planning for Christian ministries.  I have found these truths to be rock solid.

I pray your heart will be touched and your life changed as mine has been.