I’m currently thinking international, but (here we go) I reckon that’s a cop out, and I think that largely because: – stuff is cheaper there – I don’t have to go face to face with anyone, especially people I might know – or spend a lot of time organising something

Which then makes me wonder why I care about those things – getting more for my/His $ should be a good thing given a need to be a good steward; why do I NEED to go face to face with someone – does the importance of the ends justify ignoring the means?
Of course, these are things I feel I’m weak in; and I want to be the all-star evangelist, but probably not for His glory.
It’s a goooood task, sure is making me think about so much more than a stupid green banknote.

I think you’ve put your finger on it.

And that makes for a more complelling reason to do the international thing.

The language of “cop out” and the notion of “significance” play into our desires to be great and a self-orientation, which I think is exactly the wrong direction…

We also push the wisdom/stewardship thing (rightly so, but it is so difficult to figure out) and in this case you can help so many more people with such basic and important things by going international.

Some biblical reflections:

• Mt 6:1ff has the idea of giving without others seeing it, no desiring that others see it
• Mt 25:35-40 deals with those basic elements of food, drink, hospitality, clothing, health…

More reflection and prayer!

I suppose the thought that I had was that it was given to me by the minister, so it’s the (small c) church’s $$, even though it’s His money; but given some thought (hey, that’s new), it is, of course, primarily His money, secondly under the (cap c) Church’s stewardship, then the (small c) church’s stewardship and finally, my stewardship.
Primary focus of all these things is to bring glory to God, secondary is to assist in seeing His kingdom grow, and in this case, good stewardship is the tertiary factor.
I think BY having good stewardship, and by ploughing it into an evangelistic effort (an ‘awareness’ exercise?) where I get the most God-glorifying effect to the largest group of most-un-aware people, I should cause the secondary focus to come to be; which is to assist the growth of His kingdom (or the spread of awareness…. ah, but it’s more than Awareness, it’s awareness+response).
Hmm. Good to wrestle with.

...and then there’s Mt 25:14… with which the money was given…

There’s an argument to say that one of the best uses for the said $100 is to take it and make it grow, so that many more $100 can come out of it. But how? And is this honouring God? Really?
Is it possible, do you think, to take money that may or may not be ‘clean’ and use it to grow MORE money in an ethical, and God-pleasing way? Does God care if I do this? Won’t He just provide more anyway?

Yeah, there’s some interesting stuff here…

As for your previous post, I think the link between “His money” and “your stewardship” is much closer – there is no “Church” or “church” steps. The money came directly to the “church”, skipping “Church” and you are the “church”, which means to my mind that we are responsible for the use of every dollar in our communities…

that doesn’t mean we all vote on every dollar, but recognise that we can and do need to ask stewardship questions and suggest improvements and create new opportunities for “outgoings”

I don’t want my answer to God’s question about my stewardship to simply be “...I gave it to him/them…ask him/them…”

Further, with the focus thing, ‘bringing glory to God’ equals ‘seeing His kingdom come/grow/healthier’ equals ‘good stewardship’. I don’t think you can seperate them much, which we all have a tendency to do. Every action, every dollar, every thought, every relationship is to be brought into this equation, at a personal, family, church level.

(Most recent post) With the stewardship thing, to take it to it’s extreme, World Vision or Oxfam or whoever ought to keep all the money, so as to get the best investment returns until they’ve got enough to solve the problem…!

Hmmm…no.

As for “grow more”...I think that’s what “work” is about. You take your skills, work, add some dollars and “get educated” or “resourced” or whatever and you work some more or start a business or invest and you gain a return – that return is for kingdom purposes – all of it.

Alongside that is the faith aspect – when God calls you to engage in certain things, it is your personal cost, sometimes dollars, but He’s big enough to have others come to the party.

“...the God I believe in isn’t short of cash…” – Bono

more wrestling…

If our God is not short of cash, is that an inidcator that we could/should take a faith-step and begin something that willy either carry on beyond our $100, or indeed cost a lot more than the cash that we’ve been fronted? Or is that simply playing up to that innate christian desire to be the all-star evangelist?

In response to roh’s first post, and to touch on what Matt was saying, how do we balance up growing the money as suggested in Mt25:14 with the intention of being able to do so much more wiht the added resources, with following the example that Jesus told us to do these things without fanfare, without seeking recognition or anything like that? In terms of this $100, should we be looking for a way to bless people without seeking the recognition that could come with doing something potentially life-changing for someone?

Should we even be standing up in church on Dec 11, telling people what we did so that we’ll all get patted on the back after the service is over?

No fair, roh! You’ve gone and gotten my mind stuck on this track. More later!

Ro, you’re right (of course) – I’m definitely being led to supplement this amount with money of ‘my’ own as well; that was almost the first thing I had peace about.

Burkie – It’s an attitude thing: we can either stand up in December and talk about what we’ve done for the enlarging of our own ego, or we can do it to bless and encourage the church (by informing them of what you’ve already done to bless the Church). Likewise in the way we sit there and listen to others. We can choose to rate (and judge) or be inspired and encouraged.

The only one who’s really in any position to rate one’s effort over the others is God himself – we want to be careful a: about how we seek and receive praise and b: about how we give out encouragement – how often do we say “hey, I want to encourage you for both your attitude and the effort you make to see your actions match that” – instead I think it’s easier for us to say “good job, I liked what you DID”, which leads us down the path of rating actions, which leads to lengthy, florid prayers, and large, visible donations….
(not to mention blog entries that make use of the word /florid/)

I think more than anything else I’m being encouraged to act with boldness and confidence in this thing: I believe I’m probably going to be of greatest worth by making what energy, passion and belief I have obvious to others, and I think the second-level meaning of the Mt25 thing that certainly as relevant as “increase what you have” is “act without fear”.

So, abandon reason, and just do what you do with confidence? No, but I think one trap is being disabled by debate! I’m relatively sensible, there’s plenty of need, and in the end does God care about the difference between Vita Brits and Weetbix?