Are you tired of being asked for money?

I know I am!  Nearly every time I check out at a store the cashier asks me if I want to give away a dollar.  Sometimes I say yes.  But honestly, it’s rare.  Sometimes I get a little upset about this trend.  I feel like it’s a little bit manipulative.

We also have had one of the most expensive years in disaster relief efforts.  My own family has been deeply affected by Hurricane Florence, just one of those expensive disasters.  A ton of charities (some of them legitimate, some maybe not) have been asking for money to help in relief efforts across the country.

Added to all of this is the pressure that many charities are facing because it’s predicted that next year charitable giving may actually drop nationally by 13 billion dollars!  Analysts suspect that this will be the case if the IRS changes its rules on deductions.  You will get less credit for giving your money away.

So then, why should we give?

It’s a fair question.  The cost of living is going up.  Salaries in many sectors are not keeping up.  One recent report anticipates this trend continuing because our government is borrowing more money and earning less.  The economy does not necessarily have an incredibly bright future.  So you should save what you can for the dark days ahead!

I’m not about to pretend that these statistics aren’t true or that the emotions around money are not real.

But let’s also not pretend that we don’t tend toward selfishness.  Here is another statistic:  The total amount Americans gave away in 2016 was $390 billion, and the total American Christmas was $465 billion.  Here is another one, whoever comes up with special days has named the day after thanksgiving “black Friday.”  This is a day to storm out and buy as many sale items as possible.  The next day is “small business saturday” when we buy as much from local vendors as we can.  Then, we have “cyber Monday,” where we make online purchases.  And finally, after we have let go of a significant portion of the 465 billion dollars on ourselves, we have “giving Tuesday” when we are encouraged to give away some of what’s left.

Some things are universally true of humanity throughout the ages.  The Biblical writers understood the tendency of humans to focus on ourselves first.  A long time ago they encouraged people to give their possessions away BEFORE indulging, not AFTER.

Now I realize that that goes against the grain of many of our thoughts and our longings.  But I think that is precisely the point.

In nearly every area of life when I chose to indulge myself before being responsible I will actually hurt myself and my community. One great example is that if I fail to invest in my children and take care of me first, then I will leave a legacy that neither cares for me in my old age nor leaves people who are qualified to lead.  We are in a cultural moment where too many fathers are making this choice.  But that is for another post.  

For the good of ourselves and our civilization as a whole, we all need to heed the words of Jesus who said that the winners will be those who choose to lose.  He taught that self sacrifice was the key to success.   He taught that giving was the way to gaining.

Our worldview and our practice in the consumer driven western world teach just the opposite.

For the next two days, only through Wednesday.  I am giving you the chance to practice following Jesus.  Starting today, cyber Monday and going through giving Tuesday. I am inviting you to give to the church.  You can click the image below to give to the campaign “Giving Tuesday at BCC”.  

For our current fiscal year, we are about $10,000 behind what we need to receive to meet our budget.  If every family in the church were to give $100 to this cause we would exceed this shortfall.

Maybe you are a regular giver who already gives plenty. You can still join us, but I would especially love to see less frequent givers jump on this opportunity way in excess of $100.

Let’s use this day to seek an opportunity for self sacrifice and not only model how to live as givers, but also to how to remind even ourselves of the importance of following Jesus in the sacrificial way.

I don’t merely believe, I am certain, that together we can do this.