Someone has determined that the Gospels cover about forty days of Jesus’ life and within the Gospel record there are thirty-nine references to the use of possessions. That works out to about one lesson a day. Of twenty-nine parables, half (sixteen to be precise) have to do with money and possessions.
Apparently, Jesus did not mind talking about money.
These days, of course, we’re all talking about money—how to get it, where to put it, who can best protect it. This conversation certainly includes churches, and down through the years, the churches have developed some very effective tools to help us think and talk about money and possessions as a matter of faith and an expression of faithfulness.
Only one, though, really stands out for me. It operates by a single principle:
that the need of the giver to give is more important than the need of the recipient to receive.
In other words, even if the church (or any organization which you support with your time, talent, or treasure) had all the money it could possibly need, each of us would still need to write that check for our sake.
For our sake? Yes, absolutely, because our need to give exceeds the need (in this case) of the church to receive.