Measuring Success
Written by Ed Allen
Saturday, 06 November 2004 19:00
2 Corithians 8 and 9
...Illustration of coaching team of 4th, 5th graders and boy shoots on the wrong goal.
So like us. We end up in the wrong place financially – dissatisfied, in debt, unable to do what we believe we need to do ? because we are shooting at the wrong goal. This morning I want to address that problem. This is not a comprehensive message on the Biblical perspective on finances. But this lays the foundation for that. This is not an attempt to address our financial situation at Gateway. But if you and I have the right measure of success, we will not ever have a financial problem at Gateway.
{Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 ... commentary}
We?re going to start by giving four lead-off principles that lay the groundwork for the summary principle. This summary principle I believe is key to our financial health. Think of this as four walks followed by big David Ortiz coming up and clearing the bases.
A.(verse 1) GENEROSITY IS A RESULT OF GOD?S GRACE WORKING IN US.
How is that? Is God really doing us a favor by making us generous? God is making us like Himself. He is generous. This principle provides a tool to take your spiritual temperature. If you struggle with generosity, then you have a spiritual fever. Something is wrong.
B.(verse 2) GENEROSITY IS NOT LIMITED BY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Macedonians gave out of their joy and their poverty. We don?t usually think of those two things going together. They gave out of their poverty! You don?t have to wait to get it together in order to be financially generous. In fact, this is the reverse order from what the Bible suggests.
(verse 3) A GENEROUS SPIRIT GIVES SACRIFICIALLY.
The Macedonians gave beyond what they were able. In all probability, the Macedonians were poor because of their faith. Macedonia was not a poor region. Perhaps they had experienced persecution! (verse 9) Uses Jesus as another example to motivate giving. Notice that it is not Jesus? abundance that provides for us, but it is his poverty. Because of his sacrifice we are invited into a relationship with God. This is how generosity works.
(verse 4) GENEROSITY IS A SIGN OF COMMUNITY.
This is how the generous spirit works. It promotes community. It builds up the other parts of the fellowship... koinonia
Verses 13-14 he says he’s looking for equality. What a wonderful vision for how church should operate. Then he establishes that the money will be managed in an accountable way.
THE PAY-OFF PRINCIPLE
THE MEASURE OF SUCCESSFUL LIVING IS NOT HOW MUCH YOU HAVE BUT HOW MUCH YOU?RE GIVING
2 Corinthians 9:6-7...
What will we reap if we sow generously? We reap the capacity to sow more. We will receive the ability to give more, to do more good. He reinforces this idea 3 times... Verse 8, Verse 10, Verse 11
Here?s how it works: God is gracious to us and inspires us to be generous. We give out of glad and cheerful hearts. God then increases our capacity to give and we give more out of glad and cheerful hearts. People’s needs are met by our giving. God gets the credit and He is thanked as many come to know His love.
We have entered an alternate universe here. In our universe the measure of successful living is how much you have. In God?s universe the measure of successful living is how much you give.
A husband and wife team of researchers, the founders of Empty Tomb, Inc., in Champaign, Illinois, have tracked American and American Christian expenditures as well as global needs. John and Sylvia Ronsvalle have estimated that $70-$80 billion a year could meet the most essential human needs around the world. "Projects for clean water and sanitation, prenatal and infant/maternal care, basic education, immunizations, and long-term development efforts are among the activities that could help overcome the poverty conditions that now kill and maim so many children and adults."
The Ronsvalles go on to write, "That figure of $70-$80 billion may sound like anything but good news. God may be generous, you may agree, but has he been that generous? Consider this: If church members in the United States would increase their giving to 10 percent of their income, there could be an additional $86 billion available for overseas missions."
The measure of successful living is not how much you have, but how much you’re giving.