As a Christian we are often confronted with the giving of our finances. Televangelist beg for every dollar you can give, they promise special books, hankies, plates, and other nice novelty gifts in exchange for our kindness. Churches seek our money for their growth, building projects, in-church programs, and so on. Now, in all honesty, if you are so inclined or are lead to give to those ministries then you should. And let's face it, the world runs on money, including the needs of the church. Practically everything in this world requires money.
As a Christian when we give based on our faith, God honors that and does bless our giving. As a Christian, I also believe that we are to responsible about our own giving. Jesus gave us the parable about the master and the servants. In this illustration the Master gave the servants money and they each did with as they saw fit. When the Master returned he judged what the servants did with their money.
We have all heard this sermon, many times probably, but an angle which I think we might need to look at is that he gave his servants RESPONSIBILITY over the money. The smart servants didn't throw there money in a hole, they wisely invested it in something that gave a return. I believe THAT is a very important point that needs consideration when it comes to giving, even to ministries. We should use wisdom in giving. As I stated before, I believe God honors our giving, and it is the responsibility of the receiver to use what they have received wisely as well, but too often we have a tendency to give blindly without a thought of how our gifts and donations are actually being used. Lately we have heard about too many ministries and organizations who are using those donations improperly and even illegally.
I know that we are not able to find out exactly how our donations are being used and exactly where they are going. But I also believe that it is NOT IMPROPER to ask ministries and organizations how our gifts are going to be used. Most upstanding organizations will offer some type of disclosure of what our giving goes for. Some organizations go as far as to use third party accountability groups to reassure us that donations are used responsibly.
Now hold on, I also know that if we are giving to our local church we are attending we can have a certain amount of trust that they are using the finances properly...paying the bills, the minister, supporting their missionaries and so forth. Most of our churches have finance meetings that disclose what they are doing with the donations and how our money is working. They act very responsible. Many non-profit organizations have public records that are available to givers to show them exactly how they are using their donations. i.e. The Red Cross and so on. And we should check the records out once in a while. We should hold them accountable for how they use our donations. It is proper. I honestly believe in my heart that it is not rebellion to ask how a ministry how they are using your tithes and offerings. I believe it is just being a responsible giver and a good stewart.
Be obedient and give as God directs you with out reservation. But remember God wants us to use wisdom in all things.
Seek Him, and SHARE JESUS FREELY!
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