I had a hand in starting a verses (better term than spoken word) ministry at a church I attended for nearly 10 years. What this entailed was me spitin' two pieces to the congregation each fourth Sunday; as well as taking some time to help develop the skills of other young writers at the church. Because of I perceived that there was unhealthy attention geared towards making money at that church, I wrote a piece called Time, Talent, and Dollars. This work investigated some misconceptions about tithing as well as how vile I felt it was that ministers and/or ministries were manipulating people to give. I remember after that worship service how an elder approached me and said something like "that was awesome! You know Pastor ain't gonna let you do poems no more (while laughing)." Of course, that didn't happen, but neither did the refocus of teaching people the appropriateness of giving.
On Laburnum Avenue there is a church that auctioned off two cars. Not gave to a needed community member or family. Not donated to a charity for cancer research. They auctioned it off and reportedly netted $50,000. I'm not certain what the money was actually used for, so I will give the benefit of the doubt towards that form of ministry and say it was for, uhh, the building fund. The church I spoke about in the first paragraph is considering doing something similar to this, and I'm not at all surprised. Still again, I can only speculate what the potential money would be used for and so I won't address that. But what does concern me is the possibility of manipulation--and that I will address.
In Paul's second letter to the budding church in Corinth, he stated that "each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion (2 Cor. 9:7)." What this implies is that every individual who wants to give should not do so hastily or after being craftily persuaded. Instead, a person should plan, to a degree, to give even down to the amount; and should do so with the joy of giving as their basis for the action. The first part of this ideal is that an individual be in consistent communication with God to seek direction towards giving tithes and offerings. The other piece is that those who have accepted the mission to guide others to understand these Christian principles shouldn't take advantage through trickery, sympathy, preaching with inaccuracy, or other low-ball means. A better practice would be to provide thorough teaching about what Scripture details about tithes and gifts; while praying that the teachings are understood and carried out. It's not rocket science, but that's only if the leader is committed to living by these same principles because visual examples most times make all of the difference.
Once the money (or the potential of it) starts rolling in, many business owners lose vision of the foundational purposes in search for wealth. The Christian business is no different, where many ministry leaders have lost focus and have begun chasing the rainbow. Sadly, the revenue projections from saving souls is dwarfed in comparison to increasing church memberships. As a result, many preachers are altering the content in the Bible to attract members mainly for the goal of collecting more people who may give. What's strange about this is that these preachers, by trusting in pagan-established marketing methods, are demonstrating a lack of faith concerning what they speak to listeners. They either don't trust that their congregation wants to know the true God, or they don't know them for themselves; leading to deeper that I choose not to write about in this format.
Regardless, giving is between God (through what His Word says) and the person. It is completely your decision to be well-informed and act on the information. I can attest to the benefits of being a cheerful giver and I will mention that this practice has not only sustained but it has advanced me. I must add that this giving is by no means limited to putting cash in the plate; but it covers much, much more. And this was no overnight thing, but I studied, learned, and prayed for guidance--and I have plenty more land to cover. But if you want to increase your relationship with God, which gives you the strong chance to increase your earthly worth, give correctly. It's not about being holy, it's about not being a robber.
Peace
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