Pandoran Box Fears, Giving, and Breakdancing

The top two things that couples fight over are sex and money--not sure if its in that order, but I think that depends on the couple. In churches, which operates with a weird mix of characteristics including marriage, business, social club and philanthropic organization, I think money probably leads hands-down.

So it's no surprise that I've had lots of interesting conversations with friends who are on the journey towards faith about giving money as it relates to trust in God--whether that's giving to the church or any other faith-generated giving.

I had one conversation a while ago where someone who's on the journey towards Christ and who was asking the "where's this going to lead" question.

If I start giving some of my money in response to God, what am I getting into? Is it okay if I save for retirement? Will it mean that I stop saving for my kids' college? Is it okay to have cable t.v, a nice house, a couple cars--or will all those things have to be given away, too?

This person, like most of us, was trying to minimize potential collateral damage. If he opened the proverbial pandoran box, what's to keep things from careening out of control into living in a commune with AIDS victims in the slums of Kenya? Was it possible that God would ask that much of him?

The answer, of course, is maybe. But I didn't think that would help very much.

So I made an analogy. Every dad delights in the first steps of his kids. For a very small percentage, those first steps will some day lead to training for the Olympics or in some other way building their entire lives around walking that leads to running. Still a few more will run marathons or half-marathons.

But for most of us, those first steps are simply indicative of what we'll be doing for most of our lives. Walking is a certain freedom and power. Not being able to walk is debilitating. And when you take those first steps of walking, there's no telling where it all will lead. But all of us need to walk if it's at all possible.

Same thing with giving. Giving as I've argued before, should lead us to breakdancing. Because money lies about its own power and giving it away frees us from one of the most powerful lies in all the universe.

Every dollar put in the offering plate or given to your favorite InterVarsity staff worker (I couldn't resist) should be accompanied by a jig and shouts of joy. Again, this month, I'm choosing freedom! Again this month I'm saying a resounding "no" to the lies I'm tempted to believe about what money can do for me! Again this month I'm saying no to becoming a slave to money! Again this month I'm choosing to trust Jesus to give me life, to be my security and to take care of me rather than these digits in my bank account!

Giving is treason against all the forces of evil that have staked a claim on us. It is an act of rebellion against the forces that conspire to destroy us--even and especially inside of ourselves.

And for some of us, that first act of giving might put us on the path that leads straight to a life of poverty and giving up everything in order to follow Christ--just like the Olympic athletes. But for most of us, we take those first steps of giving in order to know the freedom from money as a god--and that's more or less where we stay for the majority of our lives.

No matter where it leads, if we're not yet walking, it's time to take that first step.

The Spender, The Saver, and Finding the Sweet Spot for Both

Several years ago I was talking with someone who's been married just over a year about their finances. She's the saver, he's the more-free-to-spend-er. It seems like there's always one of each in every marriage.

Her temptation: to be a bit self-righteous. She's the more self-restrained, after all. And she's the one who's setting them up for a good life in the future.

But as we talked, it was clear that it was easy for her to be a fearful saver. There were times when she was grasping for security. It wasn't a glad, confident, hope-filled saving that motivated her to say no to buying frivolous things.

In the New Testament, Paul writes to the Galatian church. They're fighting over circumcision--Jewish boys were circumcised as a symbol of their identity as a part of God's chosen people. As non-Jews enter into the mostly-Jewish Christian community, the question looms: do they have to get circumcised?

Paul argues rabidly against it. He argues that faith, not circumcision, is now the true marker of who's a part of God's family.

He summarizes his argument with this compelling statement in Galatians 5:6:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, butonly faith working through love.

And so it is with how we handle money. In Christ Jesus, neither spending nor saving is of any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. That can look like saving, it can look like spending.

But it's gotta' come from faith, or else it's simply another un-healthy expression of a grasping, needy, soul trying to prop itself up rather than allowing itself to be cared for by a good and beautiful God.

Breakin' 2: Giving Healthily

So maybe after yesterday's post, you're all in. You're ready to start taking up a new discipline of regular giving--to your church, a cause you love, an organization you're involved with, your friendly IV staff worker, whatever.

A few thoughts about disciplines in general and about financial giving specifically might be in order.

First, remember that as with most things that require our participation, pride is a distinct possibility. There is no way around this and it seems that the Lord desires to keep the possibility of pride in play as a further component of our walk with him.

So just keep a pulse on how much you pat yourself on the back. If you're breakdancing at the offering plate because you're awesome, you're off course. If you're breakdancing because you've been set free, that's where you want to be.

It's tricky because on the outside the moves look exactly the same, but who you're becoming underneath the activity is a completely different thing.

Another helpful check on pride: how you respond to others around you who do not engage in the same disciplines? Self-righteousness is always a good indicator of bad things brewing in our hearts.

Secondly, remember that all the disciplines are designed as channels of grace. They are a means to a greater end, not the end themselves.

The goal is not that you give your money away. The goal is that you worship God and not money.

This distinction between means (giving) and ends (true worship) helps to keep us from a checklist mentality.

It is good to want to make a difference in the world--that is a God-given impulse. But sometimes our demand for instant feel-good-ness (which is one of our cultural diseases) can cloud the issue.

In many cases we need to be willing to give even when we do not see instant, spectacular results. Giving to help your church pay the light bill has less buzz than sponsoring a child, but that may be exactly where God is calling you to invest.

Lastly, all the disciplines will at times lose their vibrancy and at points feel like a chore.

In those periods, it is helpful to pull back and check some things out: do I know why I'm doing this? Have I gotten into a rut that can easily be addressed with some holy creativity? Do I need to fast for a season from this discipline in order to not toil under a heavy weight of legalism?

The last option above is one that must be weighed very cautiously. An object at rest from giving or praying or breakdancing or whatever tends to stay at rest.

But there have been times in my life where the holiest thing for me to do was to break from a discipline in order to re-gain healthy perspective.

Why Christians Must Give (and Get Funky doing It)

A number of recent conversations along with the fact that summer is fundraising season for all of us IV staff types have all prompted me to think more about why Christians need to give our money away.

First, we do not give primarily in response to external need. In other words, my church's balance sheet does not have to be in crisis before I'm called to give.

Of course, there may be specific needs that I feel compelled to help meet--sponsoring a child through World Vision, for example. But meeting a particular need or crisis is important but secondary reason for our giving.

Jesus celebrates the widow giving her few copper coins. This has nothing to do with the needs of the temple being met. It has everything to do with this woman making a tremendous leap of faith.

Ever since the Great and Terrible Exchange in the Garden, three good things have become regulalry ruinous for us here in the Land of the Ruins: money, sex, and power.

What giving our money away does is put a "stop" in place on how much we trust in money.

'The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,' writes Paul. Indeed, the worship of money drives all kinds of heinous global problems.

So whenever we give our money away, we proclaim that Jesus is Lord and not money. This is a cataclysmic decision, a seismic breaking away from our natural and self-destructive tendencies. We are cutting against the grain of the lies that we are tempted to believe about money.

Giving is the severing of the ball and chain, the loosening of the noose that perpetually hangs around our necks.

Every dollar put in the offering plate or given to your favorite InVarsity staff worker (I couldn't resist) should be accompanied by a jig and shouts of joy. Again, this month, I'm choosing freedom! Again this month I'm saying a resounding "no" to the lies I'm tempted to believe about what money can do for me! Again this month I'm saying no to becoming a slave to money! Again this month I'm choosing to trust Jesus to give me life, to be my security and to take care of me rather than these digits in my bank account! Time to get funky fresh on the dance floor!

Giving is treason against all the forces of evil that have staked a claim on us. It is an act of rebellion against the forces that conspire to destroy us--even and especially inside of ourselves.

And so, of course, to do this in faith, hope and love against all the odds stacked against us, we need the Holy Spirit. Not because those who don't have the Spirit can't give. But because the intention in our giving is the proper re-direction of our worship: away from money/things/grasping after security and towards the Father, Son, Holy Spirit God who is holy and soveriegn over all things.

Unlike an alcoholic's relationship with alcohol we can never in this life be free of a relationship with money. But we can and must have firm boundaries on the place of it in our lives.

Disciplined, regular giving is doggedly deciding to choose freedom and life and joy over and against the slavery of an addiction to all the comfort and security that money tries to offer us but cannot actually deliver upon.

So next time you give, don't be afraid to get a little funky. It's a decision worth celebrating.