Tonight I went to my church congregational meeting. (It was a bit boring in places, but it was never uncomfortably tense. This was an answer to prayer, so praise God for that!)
As each person signed in, he or she received a dollar bill. Then, about two hours later, an elder speaking for the Building Oversight Team stood up and asked us to show off the dollars.
"Now say 'Mine!'" he said. "Say it like a two-year-old!"
A chorus of "Mines" came obediently back at him, and then he asked for the dollars to be passed up to the front. Amidst some good-natured muttering, they started moving.
And then he told us about a remarkable opportunity.
My church has voted to break ground on a building in April of this year. For the past 10 years or so, we've been meeting in an elementary school. Well, we've outgrown it. Navigating the halls in winter is not pleasant, to pick out a point that is mostly comfort-related. We also look forward to having a building of our own to grow our ministry opportunities. What new Bible studies will take place there? What services can we provide for members of the community in which we have been placed?
When we approved the motion to break ground this year, it was with the knowledge that at the time of the vote we didn't have enough money to build the building we had in the plans. Unless more money came in, we would have to put a few stages of the building on hold.
And now, the U.S. government is quite possibly going to vote for an extra $600 in tax returns for every person who pays income tax.
And maybe even $300 extra per child.
My church has a LOT of children.
This measure seems made for us, the elder pointed out, and the numbers went up on the screen: If everybody in my church donates this extra portion of their tax return, money that wasn't even a glimmer in their eyes a few weeks ago, then we could add $200,000 to the building fund.
Wow! Exciting stuff! I hope everybody does this.
But it got me thinking....
Wasn't the rich man who Jesus saw putting so much into the treasury donating the ancient Israel equivalent of an unexpected tax break?
I didn't join in the chorus of "Mine's" in the gym tonight, because when I was sitting there with that dollar I knew it wasn't mine, and that I was probably going to be called to give it back at any second. So why claim what clearly wasn't mine?
I want that attitude to grow in my life. Because in the ultimate sense, it's not my money. It's not my stuff. It's not my time. It's not even my life. My life is in Christ, and I want that to be increasingly obvious.
I don't want to just give him the extra bits that I won't miss.
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3 comments:
Interesting.
I wasn't at the meeting. With Impending Snowstorm Doom on the way, a bedroom to clean, and more homework than I'll be able to finish by Thursday, I opted to stay home, even though I did want to be there.
That being said, and not having heard the whole "story", I do think it's kind of presumptuous of us to assume that the purported tax break is God's way of building a building.
Because I'm convinced that it was very likely God's way of paying for my recent car repairs.
Sixteen years, Suzanne. I am the almost exact embodiment of the length of time we've been at CCES. I am a Child of the Gym. And I'm amazed at what God is doing right now in our church- things are happening, aren't they?
Of course, assuming God wants you to pay your car debts with that money is also presumptuous, in that the definition of presumption is presuming to know something, and sometimes that is something we can't really verify. Presumption isn't always a bad thing, even though often the word carries negative connotations.
I find I'm always easiest convinced that God wants me to use my money for me...on far lesser things than staying out of debt. For example, I was first thinking this would be a great opportunity for me to buy a new computer.
That said, God has more than one reason for doing anything, and it's very rarely solely connected to our perceptions of it.
(And thanks, Janessa, for embodying Harvest for me. :) I knew it was at least ten because I first went to Harvest in 1997 and it was in the gym then.)
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