Mature Christian believers practice "First Fruits" giving as part of their normal worship experience. The idea of "First Fruits" illustrates giving to God from a grateful heart, and it sets a pattern of giving back to Him the first (and the best) of what He has given us. Read these monthly First Fruit essays to learn more about this basic Biblical principle. (Don't miss the links at the bottom of the article.)

First Fruits

First Fruits: May, 2012

How does our giving reflect our values?

In Matthew 25 and Luke 19 we are specifically told that we are saved by grace and not by works, thank God! However the parable of the talents in those passages certainly implies that God is not indifferent to how we use the abundance with which we have been blessed.

A short list of blessings would certainly include our money, but also our intelligence, our artistic ability, our relationships, our compassion and our physical and mental health. Oh, yes and our Spirit of Joy family. If you were to prioritize those gifts, where would you place money? If you were able to choose, which of those would you place ahead of money? In my years of service to the Lord as a Stephen Minister, I have met many people who would gladly sacrifice their last dime to regain their health, their psychological stability, or to have a second chance at relationships they neglected or poisoned. When all is said and done, most Christians would agree that money is not where we would really place our highest value.

Yet statistics show that Christians do not give very much to support their churches inancially. Adult Christians in America give an average of $25.00 a week to their churches, according to an article published in Christianity Today. As a percentage of income, Americans gave less to churches today (about 2.5 percent) than we did during the years of the Great Depression (about 3.3 percent). Interestingly, we seem to hold pretty tightly onto this stuff we say we don't really value anyway. What does that reveal about us?

Now in the parable of the talents, the servants were rewarded on the basis of how they handled the "small" stuff. Those who were responsible with a little were given more. For the servants who were irresponsible, what little they had was taken from them. So, the question arises, if we are not responsible with the money that we acknowledge is really not that important in the larger scheme of things, can we expect God to pour out an abundance of blessings that we do value highly? This question certainly begs an answer in our hearts as we ponder how much is enough for our Lord's Church on earth!

Jim Turnbull, Stewardship Chair and Treasurer