Mission Sent
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Mission Sent
God Doesn't Want Your Minimum
"God doesn't give 10% - He gives lavishly." This powerful truth cuts to the heart of one of Christianity's most misunderstood concepts.
Many believers approach generosity with a minimalist mindset, asking "what's the least I'm required to give?" while still feeling spiritually compliant. But as we explore Romans 12:8, we discover that God's vision for generosity demolishes our carefully calculated religious mathematics.
The conversation begins by examining how we've misinterpreted traditional giving passages. From Abraham's gift to Melchizedek to the oft-quoted Malachi 3 passage about "testing God," these scriptures have been weaponized to create a transactional relationship with God that was never intended. True biblical generosity springs from a transformed heart, not obligation.
Most profoundly, the podcast reveals how Jesus models true giving. While we anxiously calculate our 10%, Christ "emptied himself" completely. The early church followed this radical example, selling possessions to meet community needs - demonstrating that generosity transcends financial transactions to become a lifestyle of open-handedness.
Perhaps most challenging is the realization that generosity extends beyond money. If we applied that same 10% minimum to our time, we'd dedicate nearly 17 hours weekly to God. Instead, we freely give hours to entertainment, social media, and other pursuits while claiming we have "no time" for spiritual growth.
The message ultimately returns to the heart. Like Cain whose offering was rejected not for its content but the spirit behind it, God examines our motivations. Are we hoarding or pouring out? Are we giving reluctantly or cheerfully? These questions reveal what we truly worship.
Ready to challenge your understanding of biblical generosity? Listen now to discover how God's lavish giving can transform your approach to both time and resources. Your relationship with God—and others—will never be the same.
All right, good morning. If you are in kindergarten through fifth grade, you guys may go ahead and head out. Hey, everyone else, we're going to be jumping back into Romans 12, verse 8. Like I said, we're going to be in this verse for quite a minute Now. Today I'm going to go ahead and give it out the gate. All right, today is about giving.
Speaker 1:That being said, if the only thing you take away from today's message is I am sitting here begging for your money, then you missed something in the message. All right Now. That being said, it's something that, honestly, I haven't taught on really in the past five years a whole lot. Now, that being said, I want to start by saying thank you. I haven't had to teach on this because we are, for the most part, pretty generous as a congregation. We've never had a moment where it was like uh-oh, we're going to get kicked out of wherever we are. So that's a good thing. But I'm not also trying to guilt anyone this morning either.
Speaker 1:We teach expositionally, so, as it comes up in scripture, we deal with it All right. So if you feel a certain kind of way throughout this, understand that's between you and Jesus, because all I'm going to do is preach what scripture says. All right, so I'm going to pray and then we'll jump into it. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you, god, for the Bible and your word that you have given to us so that we may know you more. Father, I ask and I pray that as I preach today, that it not be my words that, father, I am just the tool you use to speak to your people so that we may look more like your son. Father, we ask and we pray this in Jesus' name Amen, all right.
Speaker 1:Romans 12.8. The one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. So, as we dive deep into the topic of giving in generosity, we have to understand that it encompasses so much more than just money. Yes, money is the obvious thing here, right? The one who contributes. Now, the reason why money is the obvious thing here is because it takes money to do everything that we do Like the good landlord uh, landlorders is not a word, but the good landlords of this property like it when we pay our rent every month. In fact, I've dealt with a lot of property owners who do not want to deal with churches. Why do you think that would be? Because they sit here and go. Oh well, we're a ministry.
Speaker 1:One of the things, even with the school, that we wanted to make sure like we would be able to do is any teachers we hire, we want to start them as high as we can and as close as to what you would make in the public school system. Why? Because it's not just a ministry. You need to be able to feed your family too. You need to be able to work too and see, it takes money, though.
Speaker 1:Like we have a building, that costs us. You guys like having lights on. I know most of you aren't a fan of the air conditioning, but whatever the air conditioning runs right, that takes money. The internet costs money. We eat. It costs money. Like all of those things cost money. So it should be a given that, yes, the church needs to have money coming in, because those things cost us money. Outreach costs us money. Like just put your thanking caps on right May 24th, we have what? The free barbecue. Good job. We're not getting the food donated to us and I don't know if you've ever like bought food, but it's pretty expensive nowadays.
Speaker 1:Now, that being said, are we as frugal as we possibly can be? Yes. Now, that being said, are we as frugal as we possibly can be? Yes, but on the same hand, to do things for our community costs money. Where does that money come from? If you think that God is sending us a check every month, that we just walk to the mailbox and it's like, okay, here's God's payment for what we're doing? It doesn't work that way. Yes, there have been times where we have gotten unexpected checks from unexpected people, but, on the same hand, it's not enough to like sustain everything we do. So, when it comes to money, most people sit here and go okay.
Speaker 1:Well, the Bible teaches that I should give. All right, you too. Give everyone else a chance to listen. And they're actually wrong in their answer. Because, see, that is what most of us believe. Right, that tithes and offering are 10%, and I understand where we get that. We're going to look at a couple of verses real quick. That we sit here and go okay, the Bible requires us to give 10% Because if we look at Genesis 14, for instance, we see Abraham with this guy named Melchizedek.
Speaker 1:Now, does anybody in here actually know who Melchizedek is, and he's only mentioned three times in scripture. Now, that being said, he's Prince of Salaam, which is Prince of Peace. So that should kind of give you an understanding of where the Bible's taking this mysterious figure. But Abraham meets with him and he gives him something. So in Genesis 14, 19 through 20, we see and he blessed him and said Blessed be Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. And blessed be God, most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. That word tenth is where we get the word tithe right and that's where people link this.
Speaker 1:Then again, in Jacob, we see this or not? In Jacob? In Genesis, we see this with Jacob. In Genesis 28, 22. It says In Genesis, we see this with Jacob. In Genesis 28, 22, it says and this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that you give me, I will give a full tenth to you. Fast forward to Leviticus 27, and we see every tithe of the land, whether the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord.
Speaker 1:And lastly, in Malachi 3.10, for those of you that were here on Wednesday, that's where Malachi 6.8 came from and that whole conversation we had we had In Malachi 3.10, we see, bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need, I will tell you right now. I've been in a lot of churches JT, leave that up for a second. I've been in a lot of churches JT, leave that up for a second. I've been in a lot of churches that want to take that verse especially and use it way out of context and go hey, what God's saying? This is the only time God says put me to the test, give me money and see that God doesn't bless you.
Speaker 1:That is not what that verse is talking about, because two verses before that it says will man rob God? In other words, you can't give enough to God to outgive what God has already given you. That's not at all what that verse is talking about. It's not sitting here. This isn't some like trickery where if you give enough to us, then God's going to open up the doors of heaven and just bless you crazily. Now I will say it does. Say, bring it into and test me. That was to Jerusalem or not Jerusalem, israel. Now Malachi is not sitting here making that argument that you can put God in your debt because he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. In other words, he owns everything. The earth is the Lord's and everything therein. So what could you give?
Speaker 1:It's like, you know, when you guys were little or some of you that are children in here and like your mom or dad's birthday came up and your mom or dad gave you money to go get someone else's present. Like, if I give JT a hundred dollars and JT goes and gets me a fishing pole, did he get me that gift? No, he just took what I already had and went here. Now I'm giving you something now. That being said, I get it. It's the thought that counts, and if you know any girls, you know that's a lie, but that's what we're trying to do, right? You're trying to give back to God what is already God's, so we need to not think about it like it's a gift we're doing.
Speaker 1:But, however, I want to point out something else because, like most of us think we like those hard, fast rules. Right, we like knowing specifically, this is what the bible said to do. Right, like that's why we love the ten commandments, because it's just very clear. Right, don't have any other gods before me. Don't make carbon images. Remember the Sabbath, keep it holy, honor your mother and father. Do not take my name in vain. Don't kill, steal, kill I said twice, but it seemed to flow together there. Don't commit adultery. Don't lie. You know we like those things because they're very easy. In fact, a lot of people get upset because, like in 2 Corinthians, when Paul's talking about this thorn in his flesh, does anybody want to take a guess why we would think that the Bible doesn't actually say what Paul struggles with? Because, let's be honest, most of us would go oh, okay, as long as I don't struggle with that, I'm good. So we like that hurt. So we like going okay, all I got to do is give 10% Because we like knowing what the minimum is.
Speaker 1:If you were ever in the military, you have to do a PT test and they tell you right out the gate here's what your minimum is. So, for example, if you just want to pass like the mile and a half run, it's 16 minutes and 25 seconds, like they tell you right out the gate. So what do most people do? I got 16 minutes and 25 seconds to get this done, and the same thing for the push-ups and the sit-ups. They just go. Here's all I got to do. Think about it. We got Debbie. You were praying for testing coming up, right.
Speaker 1:What do seniors all over this country during testing go C's, get degrees. This country, during testing, go C's, get degrees. As long as I get a C, as long as I can get 70% of this, I'm good. And it's the same thing with the church, right. All I got to do is give 10%, god gets 10, I get 90, everybody's happy. This is the minimum required of me. And as long as I'm doing the minimum, See, think about it. How backward is this? Most of us sit here and go. Hey, when I finally stand face to face with Jesus, I want to hear well done, good and faithful servant. But in order for me to get there, I'm just going to do the minimum required of me. So think about it.
Speaker 1:If my child were to bring home a 70 on a test, do you think we're going out to dinner and celebrating? No, we're sitting here going. That's the best you can do right there. A 70? Dude, you could have got a 70 with sleeping halfway through it. Why am I excited for you on that? But this is what we do. I see it with kids every day. How long does it have to be One page?
Speaker 1:What if it's three quarters of a page? Would you consider that a page? What if I use bigger font? What if I include a picture, just so it eats up more of my paper? You're kidding me, right? Because those of you that are sitting in this room going, hey, eventually I want to go to college, like, I've had assignments that were a minimum of 50 pages, not including your title sheet and your work cited.
Speaker 1:Think about this. And even then, I was like, ooh, they put a maximum on this. You know why? Because there's so much more you could talk about. There's so much more you could do. But this is what we do. We sit here and we go. What's the minimum I can give? Oh, the Bible said 10%. Okay, now let's look at that, though, because, see, we use all these verses to justify why we only give 10%, when in fact the Bible actually teaches something much different about giving. We're going to look at just because I don't want everything to be in the New Testament, and you guys go oh well, there's a difference, remember? Testament, you know, means covenant, and we're no longer under the old covenant, we're under the new covenant. For those of you that were here on Wednesday and you would have argued that point with me, because I could already see those gears turning.
Speaker 1:So in Exodus 36, starting in verse 3, it says this and they received from Moses all the say it a little louder contributions. What are we talking about? To the one who contributes, right, all right. So we're talking about the same thing here. And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. What would we call that? Giving right, contributing, not how you say that. I know I put a weird syllable break in there, but you understand what I mean. Hopefully. I know I put a weird syllable break in there, but you understand what I mean. Hopefully.
Speaker 1:They still kept bringing him free will offerings every morning so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came each from the task that he was doing and said to Moses the people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do. So Moses gave a command and word was proclaimed throughout the camp let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all of the work and more. What a good problem to have as a church when you literally have to stand up and tell all the people stop giving. Has anyone in here had any experience in a church where they went hey, we have more than enough, we don't need any more. No. But yet, as they are building the tabernacle, as they have just come out of Egypt, they are so excited for God to be in their midst that, out of their own free will, they're showing up every day, going here take this too, take this too, take this too. To the point where Moses has to get up and go. Hey guys, stop bringing stuff in. We don't even have places to put this anymore. We have enough to do all of the work and then more.
Speaker 1:See, when we get to Ephesians and I never remember this 3, and we hit that verse where God says to the God who is able to do exceedingly more than we can even imagine, understand, if God wants to, god will open up the floodgates and you'll have more than enough. That is what giving is. Giving isn't sitting here going. Well, I gave my 10%. I'm good. Giving is sitting here going. I'm putting it all in.
Speaker 1:If we look at 2 Corinthians 9, we see this. The point is this Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. In his second letter to the Corinthians, is Paul sitting here going? Hey, here's the minimum you have to give. No, here's where he goes. Give what God has put on your heart to give, and don't do it reluctantly either. God loves a cheerful giver.
Speaker 1:Uh-oh, some of us I'm talking to you right now Because some of you are very reluctant when it comes to money, because money is your God, because you're sitting here going uh-oh, I got to hold this, because if I don't hold on as tight as I can to this, then I'm not going to have any. And you know what? You are A squirrel. You are that little furry-tailed rat running around stocking up your acorns and you'll fight off animals that are way bigger than you because you're afraid if they take one of your acorns, you're not going to have enough to make it through winter. Let me ask you this if that is you, where is your faith? Where is your trust? What are you trusting in? You're trusting in your ability. You're trusting in your money. You know what happens.
Speaker 1:2008 happens For those of you that may not know. In 2008, I was working in construction and Debbie was working in banking, and when you have a complete house bubble I forget what they call it now that crashes. Guess what? Two industries you don't need anymore Construction and banking. We're not passing out loans anymore and we don't need to build anything anymore. We went from making well into six figures to making $250 a week on unemployment, because they didn't need us anymore.
Speaker 1:Well, when you've built your whole life around, here's what we make and we budget and we do all the things we're supposed to do, and then they go. Hey, you no longer have income coming in. What happens to your bills, bills, because is anyone in here actually planning on something like that happening? No, you're not. So you watch your savings account get further and further and further down and then you see an episode of the Office that you find out bankruptcy gives you a clean slate and a fresh start. And you realize, after that was over, that was the dumbest thing in the world to do. And you realize that your God that you've held on to for so long, couldn't sustain you, because things can't sustain you, because things can't sustain you. But see, that's how some of us live and we reluctantly want to hold on to it, because this is my joy and what the Bible is sitting here saying is no, you need to give it. And we're going to get into more of that in just a second.
Speaker 1:Because if we go to Acts 2, starting in verse 44, it says this and all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. Uh-oh, what were the disciples doing? They were selling their things to give to others who had needs. Here's what that meant that prized possession that they had. When someone else had a need, they went. You are more important than this, so let me sell this and give to you Now.
Speaker 1:For all of you in here who have like just all the faith in the world in politics, what does that sound like? What ideology does that actually sound like Socialism? Uh-oh, in fact, years and years and years ago, one of our podcasts was this was Jesus a socialist? And I will tell you right now you can make an argument from Scripture that there might be some biblical ideals in sitting here going, hey, we need to care for, we need to sell for, we need to help for.
Speaker 1:All of a sudden, that idea of living on a what is it? A commune, a combat, what Compound, whatever? All of a sudden that idea doesn't seem as far-fetched, right? But if I was like, hey, look, here's the deal. We're going to buy 100 acres, everyone, sell all your stuff, give it in the pot, and we're just going to build houses out on 100 acres. We're all just going to live together and have like one great big, like common area house. Y'all are going to be like nope, next thing, you know, he's like hey, just drink this, it'll be good for you, right?
Speaker 1:However, I can make an argument from Scripture that that is actually closer to what Jesus had in mind, not the juice part. No, to die is gain. That's all I'm going to say. Right Again, I can argue that from Scripture, but think about this. That's not how we view it, though, is it? No, we view it as let's be honest, in this room, we are the seagulls in Nemo right, mine, mine, mine, and it's all mine.
Speaker 1:Think about it. You ever seen a kid like try to share their food? No, why? Because it's mine. Do we ever actually grow out of that, though? No, we don't At all. I know it's going to be more uncomfortable because I've got to step forward. Some of y'all are in the splash zone. We just sit here and we want to stack up. It's all for me. Do you guys remember no Fear the brand, one of my favorite shirts growing up? Right, he who dies with the most toys wins, and that's what we believe.
Speaker 1:Theologically speaking, here's how it should sound he who dies with the most toys still dies, and you don't take any of it with you when you go, and I get it. You all are in here going, but I'm going to set up for my kids because I love my kids so much. How'd that work out for David? David passes down a kingdom to Solomon. Solomon expands that kingdom right, becomes super large in perspective, becomes extremely wealthy. And then Solomon's son, jeroboam how'd he handle it? He lost it All of it. How'd that work out?
Speaker 1:How do you think your wealth is going to work out with your idiot kids? And I know I get it You're sitting here and going no, they're geniuses. No, you know why it's important to you Because you're working to build it. You know why it's not important to them? Because they ain't got to work to build it. They just get it handed to them. Money has no value at that point. Think about it. If I just like walked around and gave everyone in here you know $1,000, like just cash in your hand, you'd be like cool, I can go buy a lot of hats and like this, that that's from a movie, but anyway. But you'd be like I can, this is just free money, I can just go get. That's the same thing that happens. So Go get, that's the same thing that happens. So what you find important, your kids don't.
Speaker 1:But when we look at what contribution really is, we have to understand a couple of things. Number one God doesn't give a hard fast rule of giving. See, like I said earlier, we love knowing what the minimum is, because we're going to give just the minimum. That's why all of us have a problem with, like society's new culture of tipping right. Because you're sitting here, going, why am I tipping you? This should only cost me X amount of money. I don't need to add another 10% on top of that. If you want more money, go get a job that pays more right. This is the minimum due. This is what I'm going to give. However, let's look and see what scripture actually says about the minimum amount due you ready.
Speaker 1:In Philippians 3, it says this have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus didn't give 10%, like Jesus didn't go. Hey, father, you said a tenth right, a tithe. That's all that's required of me. That's not what Jesus gave.
Speaker 1:Jesus takes all of glory of being an infinite God, an uncreated creator, and he goes. You know what I? I'm gonna take the form of my creation, I'm gonna take all of this glory and I'm gonna sum it down to this like could you imagine for a moment what that would be like? This would be like you going, you know what? I'm gonna shrink myself down to a single-cell amoeba and I'm just going to kind of float through the ocean. And yet Jesus does that and chooses to do that, and chooses to humble himself and chooses to go to the cross and chooses to become sin. Who knew no sin? So that we may become the righteousness of God. So that we may become the righteousness of God. See, jesus didn't give 10%, jesus gave 100%. How many of us in here can say we did that? See, that's the Bible's definition of giving, of sitting here, going.
Speaker 1:I'm not looking to just the bare minimum that is required of me. I'm going to go far above and beyond what is required of me in generosity. What does generosity mean, though? It means being generous, as God is generous. It means giving the way God gave. So our standard isn't here. Our standard is here.
Speaker 1:Now, how does God give? And I know all of us are like man. I know the answer, but I'm afraid because it sounds like a trick question with the way he phrases it. Well, that's cool, we'll just go to scripture, because that's where we get our information from right. In Ephesians 1, it says this in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. This is how god gives, how which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight. You want to know how god gives.
Speaker 1:God gives lavishly. Like all of you in here, you have that one family member that, like you, don't even care about the presence that everybody else in your family gives. You just want that one family member to be at your, like, birthday party, or you can't wait for Christmas morning because you know they're a good gift giver. I don't want to call out names in my family, but I will tell you right now. My kids know exactly who they get excited for to get gifts from Amy. But man, when oh, I almost dropped it too when she comes around, kids are like oh, thank God, because she gives lavishly, because you know what her joy is found in Watching you open what she has given you. She doesn't even care like what you give her back. In fact, I'll be honest, there have been years where I've seen presents just like sit next to, like they have like a chest kind of thing, and I've seen presents that like just sat there like almost all year, where you're like seriously Like you're not even going to attempt to like open this Like, but man, their face lights up when they watch what you do, when they, when you open their gifts. That's giving lavishly.
Speaker 1:Like how many of you in here you're that family member? Like how many of you in here you're that family member? I'm gonna go with not many. Like some of you in here, you're the sock givers. This is what they need, ain't? No one that doesn't. That's not a purpose of a gift. If your kids need socks, go get them socks on a random tuesday, but like when it's their birthday, go all out. Some of you kids are like, yeah, you here, mom, what do you give your parents? Like this ain't just from them to you. Go all out, be lavish, give lavishly. See, god lavishes things on us. In other words, it's more than what you ask for.
Speaker 1:Like just going to throw JT under the bus From time to time. More often than not, jt asked me to borrow money. Okay, it happens, I get it. I was 17 too. But this would be like if JT was like, hey dad, can I have 10 bucks? I'm like sure, and I gave him 1,000. At all, but could you imagine what his excitement would be if I was like here.
Speaker 1:Like I remember one time my dad sent me up to the store. For those of you that don't know, my dad was the parent that, like, if he sent you to get something, you had to come home with a receipt and he would count it down to the penny, like where's my change? My mom not so much. My mom sometimes would like overpay and didn't know. She gave me two 20s and I was like can I keep whatever's left? And she's like, yeah, sure, but my dad not like that at all. Like if you were a penny short, he would be like you, you better go find me, you better go to take a penny and you better get me that penny.
Speaker 1:So one day he gave me like a lotto ticket. Right, he's like here, this is a winner. I need you to go up to 7-eleven. I need you to grab me this. You can keep whatever's left over. And I was like, okay, so I get there and I'm expecting it to be like five, ten bucks or something. Right, it was a $180 winner and like whatever my dad needed was like five bucks. So I was like, oh cool, I just got $175 for driving three minutes up the road.
Speaker 1:So I get home and dumb me me instead of just putting the cash in my wallet like I had just taken everything and put it in my pocket, right. So I get home and I go to give my dad what he needed and I pass it to him and he sees this like wad of cash and he's like what's that? I was like you told me I can keep everything that's left over. He goes how much was that ticket? Well, my parents raised me not to lie. So I was like Dad, you won $180 on that. He's like I thought it was a $10 winner, give me my change. And I was like what? Like that is the opposite of giving lavishly. Now he let me keep a 20. But I'm like man, dad, you just took $155 from me. That was a long trip up to 7-Eleven.
Speaker 1:But this is what we do. We don't give lavishly, we go what's the bare minimum? See, our giving should look lavishly. Now I want to clarify something real quick, because I don't, like I said, I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea of what I'm saying. Am I sitting here saying you need to give to us everything you have? Not at all. In fact, I'm going to even go one step further and go. I'm not even sitting here saying you need to give. God is, but I'm not. I'm not trying to lay down any kind of a guilt trip and some of you this doesn't even apply to you because you are very generous people I'm going to tell you that right now. However, it's not about the dollar amount either.
Speaker 1:Like Jesus gives this analogy the Pharisee going in to give his offering, okay, and he holds up his offering in front of everyone and he kind of like so back then the offering, like they wouldn't pass it out, like we don't pass out offering and stuff like that, right, in fact, all of our offering is online. But what they would do is they would have a box in the back of the temple and people would line up and as you came in, you would walk by the box, you would drop in your offerings and then you would come into the temple, right. So what Pharisees would do a lot of times is like, as they're walking by the box, they would do things like y'all see I'm giving, and they would drop in their giving. What would you do if you didn't really have a lot to give, though? Would you like make a scene? No, you would kind of just like quietly walk by, act like you're dropping in something and then keep walking.
Speaker 1:However, jesus in this parable is talking about the Pharisee giving, and he talks about this lady that only has like what we would refer to as like pennies, and she drops in her pennies, and Jesus goes. Who gave more? And see what Jesus is driving at is he's sitting here going. It's not about the amount you're giving. It is the heart behind what you're doing. See, we get so focused on sin management, behavior modification, numbers, like we get so focused on these specifics, when, in fact, it's not about that. It's the heart behind what you're doing. It's the why behind it. See, that's what changes, like when you see Jesus, for who Jesus is. It's your heart that changes. It's not the behaviors those come in time.
Speaker 1:It's I see things differently, I view things differently, and so when we're talking about this, please don't misunderstand what I'm saying I'm not sitting here going. Hey, you need to go home and like, remortgage your house and give to the church. That's not at all what I'm getting at. What I'm getting at is some of y'all got some ugliness inside of you where, like even the thought, the fact that I would bring up giving, you're like fighting a battle within yourself, going yep, just like any other church, all they worry about is money. Do you know how many times, as a pastor, I hear that and I go oh, you don't get it Because, honestly, in five years, this is the first sermon I've ever preached that dealt with just giving. You know why? Because we never wanted to be like that. So you know what we did Started a school.
Speaker 1:Now, that being said, the school pays for 95% of what we do here, pays for all the employees, pays for, like all of that your giving. You know what it does. It goes right back out into the community. That's what your giving does and I go. We set it up that way on purpose. That's why Paul would say hey, when I was with you, I didn't take anything from you. We made tents, but that didn't stop me from preaching the gospel. But that didn't stop me from preaching the gospel.
Speaker 1:But see what I'm talking about here isn't a dollar amount, it's a heart issue. It's you sitting here, going. You know why. You don't want to give? Because you're selfish, you're self-centered and you're going. If I give to, that means it's less for me. Think about it. You got food, right Like when we were younger.
Speaker 1:There was ten of us in the house right growing up, so we have the hollies beat. That being said, that was just kids too, and that included like the strays, as my dad would say, that I brought home to live with us Quite a few of those too, so we would get pizza every Friday night. What would happen when you have ten people around a table and you're looking and there's only like six pieces of pizza left in that box? Though Anyone in here ever like licked their hand, their hand and then like slapped it down on the pizza because you went. No one will take it, not in a house where you have four boys that I am the littlest of Three boys. I'm sorry that I am the littlest of, because do you think they care that your spit was on that pizza? Not at all.
Speaker 1:So what you do is you start like double fisting because you weren't allowed to get another one until everything that was on your plate was done. So you learn to eat. Like. When I went to the Army and they were like, hey, you have four minutes to eat, I was like, what am I going to do with the extra three minutes? Guys Like, this is easy for me. I was made for this moment, like and I go. But this is what we do, because I go. If I don't get to it before you, then you're going to get to it and then you get it and I can't and I go. That's the opposite of a cheerful giver. Now, real quick, and I always run out of time. I got to get better at this Because I'm going to really shift gears really fast on this. Okay, number two God doesn't.
Speaker 1:When we talk about giving, are we simply talking about money? No, not at all. In fact, if you're one of those people that struggle with giving monetarily, I'm going to tell you something that you've probably not had another pastor tell you. Like, if you're like this is my money, keep it. I don't want it. Like, if that is your heart behind it, just keep it. You obviously need it more than I do, and when you stand in front of Jesus, you can just go. Hey, here's the deal. Here's why I didn't give. I didn't like his attitude when he preached that sermon. Cool, you deal with that Now.
Speaker 1:On the flip side of that, we're not always just talking about money either. In fact, you want to know what I would prefer you give your time, your attention, because, see, that's way more important than your money. God will provide for us. I'm not worried about that. We have to turn away students. We're fine with the money, but what about your time? How much time are you investing in God? And let's go with your bare minimum, okay. What is 10% of 24? 2.4, right, it's powers of 10, guys. All you got to do is move the decimal. We should have got this quick, especially you students in here, because I know you were taught it.
Speaker 1:Now, that being said, there are 24 hours in a day, which means 2.4 hours of those belong to who? God Raise your hand. If you're giving 2.4 hours to God every single day. Okay, now hands are up. Let the record show. That way, people listening online don't have to feel bad either. There's 168 hours in a week, which means it would be how many hours? 16.8. Testing's coming up and that's not a good indicator. 16.8 hours out of your week should be devoted to God, not the 90 minutes you're here on Sunday. Huh, 16.8 hours. That's a part-time job. Raise your hand if you're hitting that mark. Raise your hand if you think that your life would look different if you took 16.8 hours and went.
Speaker 1:I'm giving this to God. I'm going to take 16.8 hours and I'm going to pray and I'm going to study and I'm going to sing and I'm going to turn my heart to worship and I'm going to pray and I'm going to study and I'm going to sing and I'm going to turn my heart to worship and I'm going to join with my brothers and sisters and I'm going to dig deeper into why we believe what we believe, and I'm going to volunteer and I'm going to give. How many more people could we serve if everybody in this room went? I'm going to give the full 10% minimum requirement that God tells me to in my community and I'm going to give 16.8 hours every week. Think about that.
Speaker 1:You know what you do give 2.4 hours every day to Every other thing. You got a job? Yeah right, you give more than 2.4. You got a job? Yeah right. You give more than 2.4 hours to your job. Yeah, you do right, like. I'm probably the only one in here who's like, I don't know, that's about the time I give my job per day, right, that's a joke. If you have kids here, obviously I give them more than that. You see me sometimes in the morning, but we have no problem giving that to our job. Some of you give a whole lot more than 2.4 hours, right, some of y'all are in that 80 to 100 hour range. You have no problem giving it to your job. But what about Jesus? No, I ain't got time for that. Y'all have no problem taking 2.4 hours every day and hitting Netflix.
Speaker 1:For me, it's YouTube, podcast music, block Blast, instagram. Maybe a handful of us are still on Facebook. If you're older than a certain age, like, seriously, you want to know a game I love doing at our house, like when my kids are doing whatever? And I'm like oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's compare batteries on our phone. Like, let's look at our battery usage. Jt won't play it with me anymore. Debbie doesn't play it with me ever. Yeah, sure, that's the excuse.
Speaker 1:It breaks down what each thing is, too. It's really super cool. If you don't like, do it like. It's an easy way to check your own self right. Just go in your battery. It'll break down and tell you how much time you've spent on like every app on your phone and all of the things. Kayla, who actually is our child that uses their phone the least is still like five times more than when I'm using it and I go.
Speaker 1:So you have the time. It's what you're choosing to do with your time. See, think about this. You have the time. You can make whatever excuse you want to make. You have the time. You're choosing to use your time differently and whatever that's between you and Jesus.
Speaker 1:But think about this. You gave just the minimum of 10%. That still leaves you with 90% of your day. How different would your life look, how different would your marriage look? How different would your parenting look? How different would everything about you look if you were just to give to God what God says to give? See again, I'm not just sitting here and going, hey, give me money, because ultimately, you know what I'm worried about for each and every one of you in here your heart. I don't care about your bank account, that's on you. I'll tell you right now we give a lot more than we bring On purpose. That's why we're a nonprofit, because we don't make a profit.
Speaker 1:Everybody in here knows like there's someone in need, we are very quick to go. What can we do? Because that's what we see in scripture. We need to be open-handed with these things. As fast as that thing comes in, it needs to go out.
Speaker 1:See, I was again my whole life. I was raised for this. My parents told me from the time I was like four money just burns a hole in your pocket. Because, man, if I had a dollar, that was back when member sodas only cost like 50 cents. Some of you are like it was cheaper than that when I was four, but anyway it doesn't matter. Now I get a candy bar and a soda. Someone gave me a dollar. I'm on my bike on the way up to the store. That way I was burning off the calories for the candy bar and the soda. So a bicycle for some of you in here, that was how we used to get around before mom and dad became our permanent Uber drivers. You had Moe and Joe your legs and you had a bicycle. Like those were your two options because mom and dad weren't taking you anywhere. We watched back to the never mind. That's a rabbit trail and I don't want to get into it. See, think about it.
Speaker 1:In Genesis 4, we see Cain and Abel right, why did God reject Cain's offering? No, it wasn't because it was bad. Because of his heart, abel brings forth his first fruit, his best. He gives to God what God requires. Cain gave to God what was left over. God requires. Cain gave to God what was left over. So, therefore, god looked at Cain and rejected his offering. God went hey, you know what, if that's the best you're going to do, keep it. You obviously need it more than I do.
Speaker 1:You know how many times, like throughout the Old Testament, you read this phrase where God goes don't even send your prayers to me, stop burning your incense. It stinks my nose. Like, think about that. God's like look, I don't even want you to talk to me right now. Get your heart right, then we can redo this. Some of y'all might be in that position right now, which is why I worry more about your heart than I do anything else. So the big takeaway is from this shouldn't be oh, he sat there for 45, 50 minutes, however long it was, and went oh, give me, give me, give me. The big takeaway should be. This is my heart set to be a giver in generosity, and not just of your money, of your time. That being said, you want to give a big donation. I'm all for that too right, but it's all about the condition of your heart. Are you sitting here going, hey, like I'm going to pour out like Jesus poured out, or are you sitting here going I'm going to hoard Like anyone ever like?
Speaker 1:Okay, as a cop, you're in and out of a lot of people's houses. Anyone ever been in a hoarder's house? It is absolutely disgusting. Like there were times when I'm on a call and I'm like, no, we have to go outside and talk because I can't deal with this. Your house is absolutely disgusting. How dare you live like this? Understand some of us. That's how God's looking at you going. Your heart is absolutely disgusting. How can you live like this? You just hoard all these things when I came to show you no, you live life like this.
Speaker 1:Take so, father, I thank you so much for your word and I ask and I pray god that, as mediocrely as I can deliver that that father that got to whoever it needs to get to, that father you do whatever work needs to be done in our hearts that, father. You just allow the opportunity, god, for us to grow, to give like you, to lavishly just pour out, to stop hoarding for ourselves our time and our attention. And, father, that we just give that God, you give in us that heart. That just goes, this is temporary anyway. What difference does it make? And that, father, we just pour out for those around us. Father, I thank you for every gift you have given us and I ask and I pray God, that we just live lives open-handedly, being generous in our giving. Father, I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.