It's Giving Tuesday, and everyone wants your money, except it isn't really yours

It's the most wonderful time of the year for Canadian charities, but not because they're all busy celebrating Jesus's birth. Many are celebrating the glorious day that is the first Tuesday of December, otherwise known as Giving Tuesday.

Today, you might see advertisements asking you to sponsor a child, save a kitten, or give money to help dig a well or plant a tree. The opportunities for giving are endless. Some requests are very worthwhile, others are not.

The thing is, everyone will be asking you for money that isn't yours in the first place. Psalm 24:1 tells us:

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

Many other scriptures speak this very truth, such as 1 Chronicles 29:11, Haggai 2:8, Psalm 50:10, Job 41:11, and Colossians 1:16. If the fullness of everything on the earth belongs to God, surely that has to include “our” money.

This is the very essence of the Christian notion of stewardship. The gospel tells us that on the cross, Jesus purchased us with his blood. Those who have received him by grace through faith now belong to Jesus. This was the basis of the Apostle Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians not to use their bodies to fulfill their illicit sexual desires. 

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

If gospel-shaped stewardship determines how we use our genitals, surely it should also shape our generosity.

I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon in Canadian churches, including ours. For many, there is a desire to be open and vulnerable when it comes to admitting a struggle with sexual sin and asking for help to glorify God with our bodies. But when conversations turn towards glorifying God with our money, the response is often a much more guarded, “That’s a private matter between me and God.” Of course, there is wisdom in being sensitive to matters we consider more private, such as our bedrooms and bank accounts. However, as crucial as sensitivity is, it cannot be our ultimate aim and should never used as an excuse to withhold. Our desire for sensitivity should never exceed our willingness to be faithful. There wasn’t much that was sensitive about Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for us; let’s be careful how we hold sensitivity when it comes to our sacrifices for him.

The future glory of the church, his bride, was at the forefront of Jesus’s mind when he climbed Calvary’s hill. God so loved the world that he gave His Son, and His Son so loved the church that he gave Himself. Good Friday is immeasurably greater than Giving Tuesday. 

Grace City Church, let’s not forget that we are not our own. We’ve been bought with a price. Let’s glorify God with our bodies, our money, all that we are and all we have, knowing it all belongs to Him.

Much love,

Rich