Vintage Worship Gathering

Information may not be reliable

Why is giving to the Lord such a controversial topic? Andy Stanley made a comment that was shared on Sunday - "God doesn't look at the amount of dollars you gave He looks at percentages." This gave a lot of people pause. Stanley explains that we often think we are generous when we drop $20 or $100 or even $1,000 in the offering but for most people that is a fraction of a percent of what they earn. He goes on to say that the average American gives 2% to charity. (Politicians give the least!!!) He says you have to look at the percentage you give in order to see if you are actually being generous.

Someone said, "God doesn't look at percentages, He looks at the heart." True. God is not a bean counter and He doesn't need your money. He wants your heart. The problem is that Jesus equates where you spend/give your money with where your heart is. He says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So, where is your heart? Is it in being generous with what God has given you or are you holding on to your extra with a clenched fist?

Stanley encourages getting a giving plan together by planning to give a percentage of your income based on where your heart is. We pull out percentages of our pay check for savings, HSA's, insurance, 401k's, etc. Then we spend most of what's left and give God the left overs. That's not being generous. Why are we as believers so opposed and angry about setting aside a percentage for the Lord? The only possible explanation is - "mine." "It's mine. I earned it." Maybe you did but everything you have was ultimately given to you and made possible by God. And when you die the abundance of your possessions will count for $0. Nothing.

Let's look at the widow's offering for a second in Mark 12. Jesus was watching as all the wealthy people put in large amounts of money. It's implied that even though the amounts were large the percentage didn't amount to much compared to the offering of the widow, who gave everything. Her offering amounted to almost nothing in dollars but it was everything. 100% Was Jesus looking at percentages? Yes. Why? Because the percentage you give is a reflection of where your heart is. She gave in her poverty and it cost her everything. The rich gave out of their wealth (their extra) and it cost them almost nothing.