The S Word # 13

THE THEOLOGY OF MONEY # 13
By Douglas Hambidge

Here’s an exercise that I have found effective to do in a congregation.
Everyone is provided with paper and pencil.
They write on the paper how much they give to God’s work, every week. This would include
their giving to the church or beyond.
Under that amount a line is drawn
Under the line, the amount earned in the same period is written.
Everyone is asked to examine the fraction that has been created, and to ask the question,
“Does what I give represent the level of my faith in relation to what I receive?

Many discover that their giving has not kept up with their faith, but I have yet to meet anyone who discovers they are giving too much already

ANOTHER TEST OF GIVING; PERSONAL COST

There is a story in II Samuel 24 about a plague that swept across the land. Prayer had
been offered, and the plague had come to an end. King David was so thankful to God that the
plague had stopped that he went to the place where it had last been see. There he determined that an altar would be built and an offering made to God in thanksgiving for God’s deliverance from the plague.
The king asked the owner of that piece of and, “How much for the land?”
You are the king,” said the landowner. “The land is yours for nothing.”
“No,” said the king. I will pay for it. I will not offer to the Lord my God that which cost
me nothing.”
What does that say to the commonly heard appeal in churches, “Just give an extra dollar
a week; you won’t notice it.”
Real giving, that matches our faith, will be noticed. It will cost us something.

Continued Next week for #14