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“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19–21, NIV84)

 

What is YOUR treasure?

Think about this for a moment. WHAT is YOUR treasure at this point of your journey on earth?

Whatever we treasure, we will spend our time, money and resources on.  We will give it focused attention. And, to put the cherry on the top, what we love and treasure, we will spend on it, not sparingly, but with purposeful intent, with more than normal along with joy and desire.

In thinking about what I just shared, do you have this same “treasure” mindset with the local church that you attend?  Is your giving to your church done so intentionally, with a “this is my treasure” mindset?

Now, as we just brought up giving to our local churches, we want to make it clear that we are NOT saying “don’t give to other things.”

What we ARE saying is that the Church, which should be one of your key treasures, should be the first thing to give to, and it should be your highest priority. 

In prior episodes we have taught that we give:

  • To express to others that God is FIRST in your life
    • Proverbs 3:9-10 professes – “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the First Fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
  • To show a heart of gratitude
    • “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:6–7, NIV84)

In this piece of content, we are striving to defend this statement… “We are to give to the church before we give to other non-profit ministries..”

 

Reasons to Give to the Church FIRST

  • The Church is the center of the spiritual life of the New Testament Believer.

    • In the Old Testament, the Temple was the center of religious expression and life. We see that in Psalm 122
      • I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to praise the name of the LORD according to the statute given to Israel. (Psalm 122:1–4, NIV84)
      • “Just as the tabernacle and temple of the Old Testament served as the location for God’s people to experience God’s presence and forgiveness for sin, so now this beautiful meeting point takes place in the hearts of all those who believe in Christ as their Lord and Savior.” Joel Israel, Staff member at Pennington Park Church 
    • Scripture is clear that the Temple is no longer the center, but that Christ has come to dwell with us, so it is not centered around the Temple, but the heart (As Pastor Joel stated above). Its best and most clear manifestation happens when we gather together to worship (i.e. gather as the local church). Some key verses to look at here would be:

      • “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25, NIV84) The focus here is meeting together AS the LOCAL church!
      • “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” (1 Corinthians 16:2, NIV84) The focus here is not just the gathering which is important, but also the giving that takes place during our gathering as a local body of Christ.
    • Throughout Scripture, Old and New Testaments alike, we see the importance of gathering.  In the New Testament, specifically, this newly formed body “the local church” is God’s means to reach the world with the Gospel of Christ! And since it is the New Testament’s focus, it should be ours also, to protect it, and provide for its needs through our “first fruits and the generosity of our “cheerful hearts”.

  • God has called the church to a Great Commission.

    • Matthew 28: “GO, make disciples,….”
      • The Great Commission requires all believers to engage in the work of expanding the Kingdom of God through the Church. It is, or should be Church-centric. Why do we say this? Jesus promises that His Church will be the prevailing force for His Gospel to reach the world! “…And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18, NIV84). Since the Church is God’s “Plan A” in reaching the world with the Gospel, it is only common sense that you and I fund those efforts that happen in and through the church.

  • God has equipped the Church with leaders for the proper governance, guidance and maintenance of the church, for the nourishment, care and oversight of the flock.

    • These workers almost always do not work for free, for they need some sort of income to meet their needs, and if married, their family needs as well. Scripture does speak about those that are doing the work of the Gospel, they ought to be supported through financial gifts, donations and salary by the people of God:
      • “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” (1 Timothy 5:17, NIV84). 
    • The Shepherding role of the Church is so important to help you through the difficulties of life. 
      • Your Church is your first responder. Billy Graham or the Salvation Army will not show up at the hospital at 3AM when disaster strikes. That is what the local church, your shepherd/elders, are called to do!

 

How To Give To Your Church First

We get it! Church first! But logistically, HOW does that work? Where do we give specifically IN the church? Can I give to missions or the youth ministry and count it as “Church First?” … This is the “Yeah, But” section.

  • The Great Commission is stated in Acts 1:7
    • …and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NIV84)
      • Jerusalem & Judea = Local body & community (General Fund)
      • Samaria = Cross cultural community (General Fund + Community Outreach)
      • Uttermost parts of the earth = Global Missions (Missions Fund)

If your church includes these things, we first need to first fund your local church or your “Jerusalem.”  If we exclude the local church (“Jerusalem mandate”) by ONLY giving to missions (The uttermost parts of the Earth), we are failing to complete the task at hand!

We need to prioritize our general fund to ensure that the local church is funded. Mission funding is important, but it won’t happen unless the church exists to give to the missionaries!

If you are choosing to give a lopsided amount to faith-promised missions, you are choosing to say “church, you’re not as important to me.” Here this loud and clear, doing this to your local church is a VERY CLEAR vote of no confidence in its mission and its leadership!

We are talking about churches that are gospel-faithful. We are not talking about churches who have serious issues that cause us to question their faithfulness. We’ll talk about THAT in a future episode. But we’re talking now about faithful churches (Not perfect, but faithful). You should be funding these churches in spite of your dissatisfaction with leadership. 

Do not “vote” with your dollars. Have difficult conversations and seek unity!

 

Can I give to the mission’s budget and say that I gave to my local church?

Be careful… If your church doesn’t give to missions outside of a line item, then we believe that you could/should give an appropriate ratio of your “tithe” or church giving and call it that.  

It is important that to stay faithful to the Word of God, in this scenario, you still need to prioritize your local Church’s general fund.

IF this is how your church operates, it would be good to keep your giving local church oriented and have conversations with your church leadership about how to include global missions in your church’s general fund. 

If that’s not an option, you have a difficult decision in considering an allocation of some of your giving to go towards missions.

The last resort, if this is a key area of your heart and giving, you may want to seek out another church that would have the same philosophy of missions/giving and it is using its resources for Samaria and uttermost parts missions. (but this should be done ONLY after doing EVERYTHING you can to have those conversations at your current church).

 

Stewardship Application

As stated earlier, the local church is God’s “plan A” in reaching the world with the Gospel. There is no PLAN B in our Lord’s game plan!  If He (Jesus) states that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it (e.g., the local Church), then it IS through the Church that we will see this world evangelized.

Why do we give to the church first, over other giving and spending? We give because God gave. We give because we love God and are brought in to His mission of reaching OUR Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. 

 

Next Steps

 

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