Being the one to challenge prevailing worldviews is not easy.
In raising support, that’s precisely what we sometimes do. When I go on an appointment and challenge somebody to join my team at $100 per month, I am challenging their worldview. God is using me (in some cases) to rub them the wrong way, because there is nothing more fundamentally American than the dollar. I don’t make it my goal to offend, but I do make it my goal to challenge people to something bigger than the certainly-not-almighty green paper.
Like the video I shared yesterday points out, so many Americans are treasuring the wrong things. Goals like bigger houses, more cars, and fatter 401(k)s are choking the spiritual life out of us. Do I think those things are bad? Not necessarily. But if you got defensive at their passing mention, it might be a sign you are inordinately treasuring them.
Saving for the future is biblical. Investing is thoroughly biblical. Hoarding and investing so that you can find your security, happiness, and purpose in a fat bank account is satanic.
I’ve even said this myself, (using the excuse that we don’t have a huge income) but I am tired of the line “I don’t give much now, but I want to invest so that when I retire I can support X number of missionaries.” Here’s a reality check: if we aren’t giving sacrificially now, adding some zeros to our paycheck won’t make us give sacrificially then. The giving habits we form now will be the giving habits we have when we retire. Jacqueline and I have had to wrestle with that, given our financial position now. We’ve got money, but we have not always been the best about giving. We’ve rationalized it, and had spurts where we gave sacrificially, but on the whole we have not been as generous as God calls us to be.
This is not a ploy for you to give to us. Give to Jesus. Do you believe the gospel? Give like it. Here’s some places I feel confident your money would go toward the furthering of the gospel:
- Blood Water Mission
- Grace Community Church
- Global Aid Network (Haiti)
- International Expansion with Campus Crusade for Christ
As always, I’ll start. We’re going to be giving to one of the above ministries (over and above what we already have), once Jacqueline and I pray about it.
After all, there’s no better way to spit in the face of a satanic worldview than to put God’s money where His heart is.
** Update** I added the clarification “sometimes” to the first sentence of the second paragraph and the parenthetical “in some cases” later in the same paragraph, because my wife said it might otherwise come off like we think everyone we meet has a poor worldview. And she’s right. I don’t want it to seem like I am looking down on anyone. My apologies for having misspoken.