Free Beer and Wings

I’ve always maintained that if our goal at ALIVE! CommunityChurch was to just attract a crowd and to make people happy, that instead of coffee and donuts on Sunday mornings, we’d offer free beer and wings every Sunday!  Can you imagine what it would be like to get a flyer or postcard in the mail from the church down the street with such an offer?  If people don’t already have their suspicions about a church that gathers for worship in a movie theater on Sunday mornings, that would probably do it!

There’s a real tension for The Church sometimes.  We know that the heart of God beats for people who are living a life of sin and brokenness on their own apart from Him.  We know that Jesus has promised to build His Church, and we want to be a part of working with Him to bring that promise to fruition.  We know that healthy churches are growing churches (but not necessarily that growing churches are healthy churches – see what I did there?) and that means reaching out to people in our community. 

And so we come up with slick marketing and clever slogans and catch phrases in an effort to attract more people.  I’ve fallen prey to that as a pastor and leader in the church.  We might wonder who would show up if, in fact, we did offer free beer and wings on a Sunday morning.  Editorial Note – We do meet at 10 AM, and in the minds of many people that’s not too early to start drinking beer. 

In our daily reading from Galatians 1, we see that there’s no substitute for the pure, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ in our own lives and in The Church of Jesus Christ and that people pleasing is futile and fruitless. 

In v.6, Paul begins by expressing great concern and shock that the Galatians have turned their backs on the essence of the Good News – that we are made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ by grace and because of his mercy.  In v.7, he says that any preaching or teaching that deviates from the essence of the Gospel “. . . is not Good News at all,” and that those who teach otherwise, “. . . twist the truth concerning Christ.” 

This is so vital for us to understand – in our personal lives and in our lives corporately as The Church.  It’s the Good News of Jesus Christ – not a “new” or “different” Good News, and not a twisted Good News – that calls us to God through “. . . the loving mercy of Christ.” 

This is why, in v.10, Paul emphatically declares, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.  If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

Ouch.

That’s a big challenge for The Church.  Free beer and wings won’t cut it.  Lowering ourselves to the standards of our culture (as I talked about yesterday here) won’t cut it.  Slick marketing and being cool and hip won’t cut it.  The pure, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ is what changes lives for eternity.

How ‘bout you?  Are you living to please people, or are you living to be Christ’s servant? 

The Gospel is an invitation to come and die to ourselves – our sin, our brokenness, our agendas – and to live with Christ.  The Gospel is an invitation to choose to live a holy and blameless life because we love Jesus because of who He is and because of what He’s done for us.  The Gospel is an invitation to transformation.  The Gospel is an invitation to love and serve the least of these in Jesus’ name; to share the Good News (untwisted – see what Paul saysabout those that distort and twist the Good News in v.9) with a lost, hurting and broken world; to pray; to love and to fight for the Kingdom of God in a broken culture. 

When we live for the approval of others, we cease to live for the glory of Jesus Christ.  When we are more concerned about what other people think about us than we are consumed with the calling of Christ on our lives, we’re not living out the life that God has prepared for us. 

Philippians 3:8 – “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”

This Really Isn't About Miley Cyrus

Really, this isn’t about Miley Cyrus.  This is about our culture.  A culture that reflects the reality of Romans 1:24&25 – “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”

Miley Cirus is simply the current poster child for this cultural reality.  It will be somebody else next week.

But here’s the truth about our culture: 

We have a culture full of men stuck in a perpetual state of adolescence who long for a sexual fantasy because they can’t deal with the reality of living with and loving their wives as Christ loved The Church.  These same men would rather look at airbrushed models and have sex with their own hands instead of taking the time to pursue their wives in the way that Jesus pursues us.  Miley wasn’t alone on that stage.  Her most disgusting antics were done in conjunction with America's new favorite heartthrob Robin Thicke.  And yet he’s getting a free pass, because it’s OK in our culture for men to act like disgusting pimps and pigs. 

We have a culture full of women who have believed the lies straight from the pits of hell that power comes through allowing men to exploit them as sexual objects.  Let’s face it – Miley probably loves the money and publicity.  She probably loves that emotionally and spiritually stunted and dead men drool over her.  She was, after all, voted the #1 hottest woman by the fine readers of Maxim magazine earlier this year.  Connect the dots.  She believes that prostituting her body for entertainment is empowering.  She is exploited by the people closest to her and by our culture. 

We have a culture that has been shaped to hate the truth of the Word of God.  I know that by quoting Romans 1 in a blog post, that I’m leading people to a portion of God’s Word that isn’t so warm and fuzzy.  Romans 1 is hard truth because it is the truth about what happens to people that choose to reject the truth of God’s Word and live for themselves and their own pleasures and plans.  And our culture hates that.  Our culture loves the warm, fuzzy, hippy-in-a-pink-bathrobe Jesus that pats us on the head and says, “Oh, aren’t you cute.”  Our culture hates the real Jesus that calls us to repentance for sin; calls us to holiness and righteousness and says that the gate to hell and destruction is wide and easy and that the path to eternal life is narrow and hard. 

What Miley Cirus did is hardly surprising.  That a cultural icon like MTV choreographed and provided a platform for her is hardly surprising.  That people are defending her performance, even commending it, is hardly surprising.  Things like this just don’t surprise me anymore, and if you know and believe the truth of God’s Word, it really shouldn’t surprise you either. 

The only thing that really surprises me anymore is that people are surprised by these kinds of things. 

You might read my lack of surprise as indifference or apathy.  It’s certainly not.  But my reaction to things like this isn’t anger really.  It’s a profound sadness.  A profound sadness for Miley Cyrus that she’s been so exploited and misled.  Sure, sure, she’s an adult now and makes her own choices, but let’s not pretend that as she was morphing from Hannah Montana into what we see today that she was in full control.  She was a teenager.  She was a teen who, for the most part, wasn’t capable of thinking about the trajectory of her life and where she would wind up 4 or 5 years down the road.  She was a teen getting absolutely everything that she thought she could ever want – money, fame, power.  You name it, she was getting it.  Most adults can’t handle this kind of celebrity well.  I wouldn’t expect a teenager to be able to handle it well either. 

When people are busy self-destructing, it’s nothing for Christians to gloat about.  It should cause profound sadness for anybody that loves Jesus and has been redeemed and raised to new life by his power and love.  We’ve been there.  Maybe not as publicly.  But we’ve been where she has been – lost, far from God, self-destructing, living as if God isn’t real and has no bearing on our lives. 

A friend of mine, Traci Fiaretti, who is an incredibly Godly and compassionate woman, said this yesterday on Facebook:

Miley Cyrus is a beautiful gurl, created in the image of her loving Heavenly Father. We expect better of her because she is a child of God. I know THIS ... Jesus isn't buyin' it...NONE OF IT. He will chase her with undying MERCY ... And one day HE WILL REDEEM what the enemy planned for her harm and destruction. Our God is so much bigger than a misguided child's embarrassing antics.

Although Romans 1 (and Romans 2 as well) is some hard, uncomfortable truth, Romans 3:23-25 really shows us the heart of God towards people who are living with a Romans 1 mind set.  The issue isn’t one of God making bad people good.  The issue is one of God, through Jesus Christ, bringing dead people to life. 

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.”

We may not see a lot of emotion or feeling in Paul’s words here.  He’s using legal terms, which seem to be somewhat technical and devoid of feeling.  But when we really look behind the words of Romans 3, we see the incredible love, mercy, and compassion of the heart of God towards sinful, broken people. 

In the Gospels, we see the heart of Jesus for people who are alive physically but dead spiritually.  He touched the lepers that nobody else would touch.  He shielded and forgave the woman whose adultery demanded that she be stoned to death.  He gave living water to the Samaritan woman who had been used and rejected by many different men.  Jesus pursued the people around him who were broken, hurting and defying God in their lives.  My friend Traci nailed it!  Jesus chases all of us – Miley Cyrus included – with undying mercy!  His forgiveness and healing and power are so much bigger than her antics. 

And remember, she’s simply the current poster child for this.  His passionate pursuit of lost people doesn’t end with Miley Cyrus, or you and me.  God’s desire is for ALL of his creation to experience and live a life of redemption and reconciliation with Him.  In sending Jesus Christ for us, God was motivated by love (see John 3:16 if you need a reminder of this).  In Luke 15, through the parables of the lost coin, the lost sheep and the prodigal son, we see that that joy of heaven is the repentance of one, single sinner.  In Hebrews 12:2, we see that enduring the cross for our salvation brought joy to Jesus! 

So what do we do when we see things like this?

Pray  

 Pray for Miley Cyrus.  Pray for people you know that are in the throes of self-destruction.  Pray for our culture, that there would be an awakening in which people come to know Jesus and repent of their sin.  

Love

 Love Miley Cyrus, because Jesus does and we are commanded to do it.  Love the people you know that are in the throes of self destruction.  Love people who have bought into the lies of the culture.  Love the people that shape and guide our culture.  Remember, loving somebody isn’t just mushy sentimentality.  Love enters into the mess – this is what Jesus did for us by coming to earth.  Love comes along side of those who are rejecting God.  Love shares the truth of God’s Word, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. 

Disciple your kids 

Read this excerpt from an interview that Billy Ray Cyrus did a few years ago in regards to Miley’s sky-rocketing fame:

Interviewer: Hannah Montana probably has brought a lot of families together—just not one… [the interviewer says.]

BR: “Yeah. I know. I know. I know.”

I:  And do you see the show as a big part of what has made things not work in your family?

BR: “Oh, it’s huge—it destroyed my family. I’ll tell you right now—the damn show destroyed my family. And I sit there and go, ‘Yeah, you know what? Some gave all.’ It is my motto, and guess what? I have to eat that one. I some-gave-all’d it all right. I some-gave-all’d it while everybody else was going to the bank. It’s all sad.”

I: Do you wish Hannah Montana had never happened?

BR: “I hate to say it, but yes, I do. Yeah. I’d take it back in a second. For my family to be here and just be everybody okay, safe and sound and happy and normal, would have been fantastic. Heck, yeah. I’d erase it all in a second if I could.”

How do we help our kids avoid going from this: 

To this: 

As a dad with a beautiful daughter who looks and acts older than her age of 12, I’m scared to death sometimes.  I know that I need to be more intentional about discipling her and helping her to love Jesus with her heart, mind, soul and strength and to find her identity in Christ, and not in what the culture tells her to be.  As a dad with 2 boys who will grow up in a culture that tells them to act like disgusting pigs and to objectify women, I know that I need to be more intentional about discipling them and helping them to love Jesus with their heart, mind, soul and strength and to understand what it means to be a man of God that fights for and protects the integrity and purity of women in their lives.

Our culture wants to destroy our kids.  10 or so years ago, the PBS show Frontline produced a documentary called the Merchants of Cool.  In it, they interviewed executives from many areas of mainstream culture – MTV, record companies, TV executives and clothing merchandisers.  At one point in the documentary, the producers asked each of these representatives why they use so much sex in their advertising and products.  In a nutshell, everybody said, “Because sex sells.”  One executive even said something along the lines of this (I’m paraphrasing from a long ago memory), “If good, wholesome, family values would make us as rich as sex does, we would use it to our financial advantage.” 

The people shaping culture don’t care at all about our kids.  All they care about is profit.  Sex sells and they know this.  Parents, we cannot allow the culture to shape the values of our kids.  The responsibility for discipling them is our highest calling and something we must do at all times.  Check out God’s Word in Deuteronomy 6:6-9.  Our primary role as parents is to transfer our faith to our kids. 

It’s a tall task for those of us who are disciples of Jesus Christ.  If we truly want to see transformation in our culture, we must be unashamed of the truth of God’s Word.  We must pray for people who are lost and far from God.  We must love people with the love of Jesus.  And we must take seriously our own responsibility to raise up a generation that loves Jesus and honors God. 

His Grace is Enough

Most of us are familiar with the feeling of what Paul describes in today’s reading from 2 Corinthians 12 – pleading with God in prayer to move in our lives, only to be given an answer that we didn’t seek.  It can be frustrating, discouraging or disheartening.  It can even be a faith buster for some people.

I’ve been there.  When I was 12 years old, my best friend Scott became gravely ill from a congenital blood defect that had remained hidden his entire life.  I begged and pleaded and bargained with God to heal my friend and to restore his health, but he died after a few weeks in Children’s Hospital.  It was, for a season of my life, a faith buster.  I was ready to give up on God.

I bet that most of you have been in similar situations as well.  Praying for yourself or a family member.  Praying for friends.  Praying for neighbors or co-workers.  And God doesn’t do what we’re praying for Him to do. 

Paul describes – somewhat vaguely – in v.7 a thorn in the flesh that was given to him.  We know that it was from Satan.  And we know that it tormented him.  Much ink has been spilled debating whether this thorn was a physical malady or some spiritual weakness.  Quite simply, we don’t know.  But we do know that the Lord brought this to Paul to humble him and to keep him from being conceited. 

Being humbled by God can be a frustrating and painful thing.  Charles Spurgeon – one of the greatest preachers in history – said this, "I believe every Christian man has a choice between being humble and being humbled."  Whether we are aware of our own need to be more humble, or whether God acts in his sovereignty to humble us, it hurts!  But God humbles us, and invites us to humble ourselves, for a greater purpose!  Even in humiliation and times of frustration, we can know that God is at work because He loves us and because He wants to make us more like Jesus.

Paul explains God’s answer to his humiliation and frustration with this thorn in a way that may not satisfy our desire to know everything and to have everything work out the way we want it to.  God’s answer to Paul was this: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

What was Paul’s problem?  Was it that he didn’t have enough faith?  Was it that he didn’t pray enough?  Was it that he didn’t do enough for God?  Hardly!  In the chapters leading up to chapter 12, and even in the beginning of chapter 12, Paul spends considerable time defending his ministry to the Corinthians.  He talks about all that he’s done and given for the sake of the Kingdom of God.  He talks about how God has used him as a messenger, and about the miracles he’s performed by the power of The Holy Spirit.  “The man,” that he refers to in v.v. 2&3 is himself – a man who has seen visions of heaven and been given supernatural revelation about the things of God.  If ever there was a man who was living righteously and knew God’s power to do miraculous things, it was Paul!

But part of the process for Paul in becoming more and more like Jesus would be to continue to struggle against this thorn in the flesh.  For the rest of his life, as he struggled, he would have to learn what it meant to live by grace and he would have to learn what it meant to rely on God’s power instead of his own power in this area of his life. 

God brought Paul to a place in his life and ministry where Paul realized that his weaknesses were the crucible where the power of Jesus could become more and more evident in his life.  As he struggled against this thorn, it was a reminder to Paul that he was not in control of his life, but that God was.  As he struggled against this thorn, it was a reminder to Paul that even when we don’t like the outcome of our praying and seeking God, that the gift of grace to endure the hardship is one of the most precious things that God can give us.  This is why Paul was able to confidently say in v.v. 9&10, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Most of us have a real aversion to having our weaknesses exposed.  Most of us have a real aversion to insults, hardships, persecution and difficulty.  After all, for most of our Christian lives we’re taught that “real” Christians or “strong” Christians never have anything go wrong at all.  But real faith means first of all admitting our weaknesses - our sin, our brokenness, and those areas of our lives in which we seemingly struggle all of the time.  Until we realize our need for a Savior and His grace in our lives, the Good News isn't good at all. 

The life of faith – the life of following Jesus and becoming like him – isn’t a life of sunshine, lollipops and rainbow colored unicorns.  It’s a life in which we’re invited to take up our crosses and follow Jesus to become like him.  It’s a life in which we’re invited to come and die to ourselves and to find life in a Savior that was very well acquainted with suffering and hardship.  But it’s a life in which we’re invited to follow a Savior who has conquered sin, death and hell by being raised from the dead and who pours out his grace and power in our times of weakness because He has been where we are!  

What Are You Fighting For?

Doesn’t take much to see that we live in a fallen world full of sin and evil.  Just about every day is a confirmation to me of the doctrine of the total depravity of man without Jesus.  The notion that “we’re all basically good people,” is one that makes my head feel like it’s going to explode and is contradicted every day in the world around us. 

We live in a culture that is unprincipled and embraces sin and evil.  Unfortunately, many churches and Christians today are more concerned about mirroring the culture than they are about fighting for righteousness and holiness of their own hearts and minds and the hearts and minds of lost people. 

In today’s reading from 2 Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul has some very strong words for his friends in the Church at Corinth that want to walk with one foot in the world and one foot in the faith (v.2).  It’s a call to fight for the truth of God in an unprincipled and fallen world.  In v.5, Paul says “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  Dem’s fightin’ words!

What are you fighting for?  And perhaps more importantly, how are you fighting? 

In Jesus Christ, we have been given incredible power through The Holy Spirit!  Paul says that we don’t fight like the world fights, but that in Christ through the Holy Spirit we have divine power that demolishes strongholds! 

Some Christians get really fired up when they read stuff like this, and rightfully so.  We are at war with a fallen world.  Even in America, under the current Presidential Administration and its policies, Christian liberty and freedom are under attack.  We live in a culture in which it’s becoming a crime to live with and express Christian principles publicly.  These are definitely times in which Christians must fight, and be willing to sacrifice, for what is right and what is holy. 

But before you’re ready to go out and fight against these powers and strongholds of darkness, ask yourself if you’re fighting first against the strongholds of darkness in your own life.  Do you make arguments and live according to pretenses which are in conflict with the Word of God?  “Sure, sure, sure,” you say.  “I don’t drink.  Don’t do drugs.  Don’t beat my kids.  Go to church every week.  I’m good.”  Really?  Do you live with the fruit of the Spirit in your life – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control?  Do you pursue holiness and righteousness and becoming like Jesus?  Are you desperate for Jesus, and for God’s plan in your life, or are you desperate for what you want and your plan for your life, even though it might be in conflict with what you know to be true in God’s Word?

Anybody can sit back and lament and complain about the fallen-ness and darkness of our culture.  But the person who is passionately pursuing Christ knows that our first battle is against the darkness and sin in our own lives.  Are we fighting for holiness and purity in our own lives first?  If not, what are we fighting for?  Chances are, we’re fighting against Jesus for the throne of our hearts. 

So how does Jesus conquer the strongholds and darkness in our lives?  Through His truth and through His love.  When we read the Word of God and believe the truth in it, it leads us to repentance.  And repentance is possible because of the love of Jesus expressed in his life, death and resurrection. 

These are our tools in the battle against the darkness and stronghold in our culture and world.  We share the truth of God’s Word uncompromisingly and without apology, but we do it in love and with grace.  When we see strongholds at work around us, our first step is to love the people that are bound by those strongholds.  Loving somebody isn’t just a feeling – it means that we enter into their lives and walk alongside of them because we care about them and desire to see God bring them to repentance and eternal life, and not punishment.  This is the Jesus way of fighting for the hearts and minds of people, and it must be our way as Christians. 

If you can’t stand the thought of hanging out with people that are self-destructing and caught up in evil, then you’re not like Jesus.  And if you’re not like Jesus, you’re not fighting like Jesus.  Loving another person with no strings attached paves the way for us to share the truth with them.  When Jesus told people to repent, they repented because they saw and experienced the perfect love that he had for them and believed that truth that they needed to be forgiven for their sins. 

The greatest weapon that we have is our love.  This is why Paul says, “We do not wage war as the world does.”  The world fights out of malice and anger and arrogance and slander and deceit.  Christians fight to change the culture by changing individual lives with love, humility and the truth of the Word of God.

What are you fighting for today?  And how are you fighting?  Are you fighting in your own life to become like Jesus?  Are you fighting for the hearts and minds of the people in your life who don’t yet know Jesus?  Or are you too busy fighting God for the throne of your heart, and settling for the lies of our culture?

The Payoff of Generosity

Yesterday, we looked at 2 Corinthians 8 and talked about the desire to be generous.  I was challenged and encouraged by Paul’s words to practice generosity because of what Jesus has done for us and to consider all that I have instead of what I don’t have.  I hope you were too.

Today in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul talks about the results, or the payoff, of our generosity.  Again, Paul makes the issue one of devotion and not dollars.  In v.7, he says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  This echoes what I talked about yesterday – if you don’t want to give, you don’t have to!  The reasons for giving what you give, or don’t give, to the work of God is between you and God.  But God, in his Word, has expressed to us a great reality of generosity – he loves it when we give generously!  Generous giving honors God and pleases Him because in our generous giving we become like Jesus and make an investment in growing his Kingdom.

Paul outlines several results that come about from our generous financial giving. 

A return on your investment – v.6

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”

It’s pretty clear cut.  If you give with clenched fists and out of obligation, you’ll get clenched fists in return.  If you give with a heart of generosity with the intention of blessing somebody, you’ll get generosity and blessing in return.  I don’t know about you, but I like that kind of return on my investment. 

Here’s a real life example.  Between the time I finished serving at my previous church and the time that Jessie and I decided to start a new church, it would have been easy for us to justify not giving generously to God.  But we weren’t connected with a particular church during that time; instead visiting many different churches – some of which I interviewed with and some of which were doing great things for the Kingdom of God.  But we knew that 10% of our income at that time belonged to God, so we set it aside for whatever ministry or church God had prepared for us. 

There are a lot of different things that go into starting a new church and one of them is to incorporate as a non-profit.  There’s a lot of expense involved in that!  But when we looked at what it would cost and what we had set aside because we desired to be generous with our money, we had just enough to pay for the things that we needed to pay for to get Alive “official” with the government for tax purposes.  I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t easy at first to write a check for so much when we weren’t in the best financial situation!  But we did it because we believed that by sowing that gift we would reap an incredible blessing.  Four years later, I don’t even think about that money anymore because every penny has been worth it in terms of what God has done through ALIVE! Community Church.  The return on that investment has been to see God change lives for eternity and to know that our obedience with our giving helped to fuel that! 

Getting more than you give – v.v. 8&10

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

^“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.”

One of the things that brings me great encouragement in my walk with God is knowing that He is a God of abundance!   Our God is a God that doesn’t hold anything back from his children.  When we live like we believe that, it frees us up to give generously and to believe that God will give us more in return than we give to him!

The blessing of abundance isn’t just talking about material or financial blessing, though it may include that.  It’s not a sin to be rich or to have a lot of stuff!  The sin is when our stuff has us.  Poverty is not a virtue and it’s not something that Jesus demands of us.  God wants us to live a life of abundance, and that can include financial and material abundance.

V.10 tells us that when we give generously, that God increases our store of seed and produces a greater harvest of righteousness.  Some of you may be like, “But I’m not a farmer.  I don’t need more seed.”  Although Paul is talking metaphorically in farming terms (sowing seeds), this is a spiritual reality.  As we live and give generously, God gives us more so that we can give more.  Not only that, but the “harvest of righteousness,” means that our generosity makes us more like Jesus.  Not only is our righteousness increased by generosity, but the righteousness of others is increased through our generosity. 

These verses are an incredible promise for us – when we live with generosity God will give us all that we need and then some.  Abundant blessing and abounding in every good work is more than just the bare minimum – it’s about getting more than we give!  When you partner with your church or another ministry financially, your gifts are (or at least they should be) being used to change lives for eternity!  Knowing that somebody has moved from death to life because you’ve made it possible with your generosity is one of the greatest blessings we can receive!    

Generosity leads others to Jesus – v.v. 13-15

^“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Our generosity is a visible and tangible expression to others of the grace of Jesus.  When we are generous with our time and money, it leads other people to Jesus because they see that He is generous in all of the things we talked about yesterday. 

Generosity is a sign of God’s grace (v.14) and it is something that blows minds.  Have you ever tried to give something away to somebody?  Usually, they’re shocked.  They expect that there’s a catch to your generosity, that somehow it’s a bait and switch.

Every year in Saxonburg (where I live) the firemen host a summer carnival.  For a week in June every year, it’s the talk of the town.  Along with the carnival come carnival workers.  And those of you who are reading this just formed an opinion about the carnies.  Everybody does.  They’re not exactly embraced in our community.  Being a carnival worker isn’t the easiest life in the world – they’ve got no permanent home during carnival season; many of them are away from their families or support systems; and many of them are pretty young and trying to make a go of life on their own for the first time. 

So many years ago, some folks from our church decided that we wanted to bless them with no strings attached.  So we started an annual “Cookies for Carnival Workers” ministry.  We asked folks in our church to make a couple dozen home made cookies, and a team of us would walk through the carnival grounds during one of their break times and hand out cookies and pray with them if they wanted us to. 

To a person, they were absolutely shocked.  After all, many of them make a living through the old bait and switch at their games of skill and luck.  “How much are they?”  “No, I’m not gonna take them because you’re going to make me pay you.”  “Why would you do this for us?  Everybody hates us.” 

That simple act of generosity blew their minds.  It was for us an opportunity to show people – many of whom were admittedly far from God – how extravagant and wonderful His grace is.  Some were moved to tears.  We had the opportunity to pray for and with many of them.  I don’t know if any of them came to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior through our simple ministry and generosity, but I know that they tasted God’s grace in an environment that is pretty devoid of grace. 

Being generous isn’t something that comes naturally to most folks – especially when it comes to financial generosity and giving to the church.  But this is exactly the context of 2 Corinthians 8&9 – giving to a local church in support of the ministry and mission of that church and how generosity changes lives for eternity. 

We’ve talked about the “why” of generosity – in response to the generosity of Jesus.  We’ve talked about the “how” of generosity – according to what we have, and not according to what we don’t have.  And we’ve talked about the payoff of generosity – that God increases our opportunities for generosity and changes lives for eternity because of our generosity. 

Do You Want to be Generous?

Most people hate it when preachers or churches talk about money.  The topic can cause even a visceral reaction in some people.  Clenched fists, shifting in their seats and mentally checking out.  “Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . I get it, you want more of my money.” 

I think one of the reasons for this is that far too many of us see giving as an obligation to God, or even worse, as an obligation to a church or to a pastor.  I’ve made the mistake before in preaching in trying to shame people into giving more.  Lesson learned.  Giving out of compulsion or guilt isn’t what God wants, and it’s not what I want for the people that I pastor. 

In today’s reading from 2 Corinthians 8, Paul tells us in v.4 that giving to God’s work here on earth should be seen as a privilege.  In v.8, he says that giving is a way to prove that our love for Jesus and for others is real. 

Most importantly, giving is something that we do in response to what God has given to us through Jesus Christ.  Read slowly and prayerfully what he says in v. 9: "You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich."

When we consider the generosity of Jesus – the generosity of his love, kindness, healing, mercy and power – and what we have in Him, this should encourage us to be generous with what we have been given in this life.  Jesus didn’t hold anything back from those that he loved and cared for.  He has given us absolutely everything we could ever want or need.  Giving generously is an opportunity for us to become like Jesus and to further the advancement of His Kingdom on earth. 

One of the most common excuses I hear from people about deciding not to give generously is that they don’t have enough to give.  I get that.  Most people I know are like my family – you live paycheck to paycheck.  You have a mortgage, a car payment, utilities and other living expenses.  If you’re fortunate enough to have an employer that gives you a 3% cost of living raise each year, that meager raise hasn’t kept pace with the rate of inflation for the things you buy.  I know that some people absolutely cannot give financially, and that’s OK.  Paul even says in v.13 that he doesn’t want his friends to give so much that they suffer from not having enough.  So if this describes your current situation, you can check out and quit reading. Sometimes unexpected situations come up – unforeseen medical bills, unemployment, underemployment, etc – and you absolutely can’t give.  And that’s OK for a season.  And if this is the season you’re in right now, let your church help you get back on your feet!

But if you have enough to give financially to God’s work on earth, and you want to become a more generous giver, keep on reading.  Or if your financial hardship is because you’re living above your means and racking up stupid debt, keep reading. 

In v.12 Paul begins by saying, “If you are really eager to give . . .”  The question for all of us to ask ourselves is this – Do I WANT to give generously?  Do I want to be faithful in obedience to God with my money?  Do I want to partner with God in seeing lives changed for eternity?  This is the context for his instruction in this chapter.  He’s addressing a church body that believes that generous giving will change lives for eternity and they want to be generous in giving! 

Generosity is all about desire and intention.  Generous giving doesn’t happen accidentally.  Generosity comes out of an intentional desire to honor God and serve others with your money.  If you want to give, you can give.  If you want to be generous, you can be generous.  If you don’t want to give, or if you don’t want to be generous, you don’t have to!  The issue isn’t dollars, it’s devotion! 

If you decide in your heart that you want to be generous, Paul continues in v.12 by telling us to, “give what you have, not what you don’t have.”   I think this is really the heart of the matter for most people that struggle with financial generosity.  We think about all that we don’t have instead of what we do have.  When we look at what we do have, and what we expect to have, we can plan to give generously.  When we live with a spirit of generosity because of what Jesus has done for us, giving generously becomes a priority in our lives and we give from our wealth instead of our poverty. 

Look, I’ll offer a disclaimer here that I always offer when I talk about money and giving.  It’s weird for me because my salary and the financial well being of my family is directly tied to the generosity of the people that give at my church.  If people didn’t give generously, I wouldn’t be able to take care of my family.  If people didn’t give generously, we wouldn’t be able to pay staff at our church, pay the rent where we gather for worship, fund the ministries that we carry out and give financially to individuals and ministries in our community and around the world that are in need.  I fully understand that I am the beneficiary of generous giving and that everything that happens at our church is the direct result of generous giving.

But here’s the other thing you need to know.  I don’t ask people to do what I don’t do myself.  As I read through God’s Word today, I’m challenged myself in thinking through my financial devotion to Jesus.  Is what my family gives to the ministry of my church generous, or am I holding back?  One of the hardest things about being a pastor and teacher is living out what I encourage and challenge others to do. 

Paul reminds his friends in v.14 that right now they have plenty and can help meet the financial needs of the ministry in their church.  How ‘bout you?  Do you have plenty right now?  Are you planning to be generous with your finances, or are you holding back from being a blessing?  Do you see giving as a privilege or a chore?  Do you see giving as an opportunity to show that your love for Jesus and others is real?

Be Like Jesus

When I was a kid, Michael Jordan - one of, if not THE, greatest basketball player of all time - was one of my heroes.  We watched in awe as Air Jordan jumped higher, flew further and did things with a basketball that nobody had ever seen before.  

And as we watched our hero, we were encouraged to become like him!  To wear his shoes.  To wear his clothes.  To drink his drink.  You might remember, the advertising wasn't so subtle:

Be like Mike.

I used to believe that I wanted to be like Mike.

But now I know that I want to be like Jesus.

If I could help people understand one thing in life – heck, if I could understand one thing in life – it would be this. 

Be like Jesus. 

Think about how things would change in your life if you made this the focus of your life.  Think about how much would truly be different if your overriding desire in life was to live out what Paul wrote in today’s reading from 2 Corinthians 3:18: "And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more."

Spiritual growth is a life long process, but really there are two components to it.  Gonna throw around a couple of $.25 theological words here on the blog this morning, but they’re vitally important to what we’re looking at.

The first is justification.  This is the first step where Paul talks about having the veil removed.  In justification through faith in Jesus Christ, our sins are not just forgiven, they are removed from us forever.  Through Jesus, the guilt and stain of our sin are removed in God’s sight, and we stand covered by the person and work of Jesus Christ and God declares us righteous, based on our faith and trust as Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 

The second component is sanctification.  It’s the process of becoming sanctified, or holy.  It’s the process of becoming like Jesus, and it’s the work that The Holy Spirit does in our lives from the moment we are justified in Christ until the day that we die.  This is the second step that Paul talks about in our reading today – . . . so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord.

Jesus claims us as his own and redeems our lives for His glory and for greater purposes.  If you have trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you know that you are forgiven and justified, your life has a greater purpose – greater than anything else you say or do – and that is to “become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.” 

Is being like Jesus the goal of your life?

Think about the things that you have to accomplish today or this week.  Probably a pretty daunting list for many of you.  Maybe even paralyzing.  Maybe some of you have so much stress at work or at home that becoming like Jesus is the furthest thing from your mind – you’re focused merely on surviving to advance another day. 

But how might your surviving turn into thriving if as you went throughout your day or week, you changed your focus?  What if you began each day this week by asking Jesus to reflect his glory in your life and to give you His power and strength to become more and more like Him?

Becoming like Jesus is a choice.  It requires a radical re-orientation of our priorities.  Everybody would say that they’d like to become more like Jesus, but very few people make the minute by minute; hour by hour; day by day commitments that are necessary to do this.  It doesn’t just “happen” by being in the right place at the right time.  It comes through discipline, self-sacrifice, ongoing repentance and humility, and by reading God’s Word and spending time in prayer.  It comes by seeking, asking and knocking when we believe that Jesus wants to do greater things in our lives and we hunger for them.

But that change can start right now with a decision that right now, in this moment, you want to shift your priorities today.  Ask God, through His Holy Spirit, to make you more like Jesus.  He’ll do that!  You might not like the process so much – after all think about all that Jesus endured in His life for greater glory.  He calls us to take up a cross and follow him; not to lay down a pillow and take a nap.    

Are you tired of living for you and becoming who you thought you wanted to be?  Is it time for a shift and a re-orientation of your priorities?  Are you ready to be like Jesus?