Two Perspectives on Giving

By Kevin Williams      “So, you’re preaching about giving?” “Now you’ve
quit preaching and gone to meddling.” “The church
is always asking for money.” “You know that when
you preach on giving the offering goes DOWN!”
     Yes, preachers have heard these types of comments
for many years when preaching about giving in the
church. It may be that you have actually said
something like this (or thought it) when I have
preached on the subject in the past. Let me
encourage you to think about giving in two
perspectives before this morning’s sermon.
    Perspective #1: What preaching on giving is not.
⇒ Preaching on giving is not about embarrassing you about your contribution to the Lord.
⇒ Preaching on giving is not about trying to make you feel bad about what you give.
⇒ Preaching on giving is not about pressuring you into doing something that you really do not want to do.
⇒ Preaching on giving is not about meddling into your affairs.
⇒ Preaching on giving is not about an increase or decrease in a congregation’s number board.
⇒ Preaching on giving is not really about asking for money at all (though many think it is).
     Perspective #2: What preaching on giving is.
⇒ Preaching on giving is about helping us to realize a greater level of happiness in this life (2 Cor. 8.2; 9.7).
⇒ Preaching on giving is about helping us to look within ourselves to see if we are truly making a full commitment to the Lord (2 Cor. 8.11; 13.5).
⇒ Preaching on giving is about encouraging us to reach a greater level of generosity for the Lord (2 Cor. 8.5; 9.6).
⇒ Preaching on giving is about helping us to see if our hearts are in the right place (2 Cor. 9.7; Mat. 6.19-21).
⇒ Preaching on giving is about our showing a response to the love that God has for us (2 Cor. 9.15; Psa. 116.12).
     Many times a response that preachers hear after
their sermon is “You really stepped on my toes.” I assure you that if that is your reaction after this morning’s lesson, then I have missed by about 4 feet. Preaching about giving is aimed at the heart, not at the toes! It would benefit each of us to read the passages above and think seriously about our giving to the Lord.

- Kevin Williams preaches for the Walnut Grove church of Christ in Benton, KY.  He may be contacted through the church's website: http://walnutgrovechurchofchrist.org/