Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Luke 6:38
I sometimes feel that we have lost our understanding of giving; that the term giving has taken on a different meaning than the original understanding with regards to our relationship with the Creator of all that is. We often times try to wrap our blankets of humanity around God to confine Him to our vision. When it comes to giving, we think about God giving ‘x’ amount of resources to us and we in turn give ‘y’ amount of resources towards God. But the truth is that God gives to us out of His never-ending abundance and we, in turn, give back from what we see as our limited assets. By doing so, we put a self-imposed cap on how much we can give back because we believe that God has a cap on what He can and will provide to us. We budget based on our own perception of how much we believe God will provide to us.
We listen to the stories and the parables that God has given to us through His son and His prophets, but we don’t really take them to heart. We struggle to believe that God will give us more than we need so that we can graciously provide for others. It is a human perspective that tells us that what is given to us belongs to us and that it is up to us to distribute it accordingly (i.e. phone bill, electric bill, water bill, mortgage, insurance, automobile, recreation, etc.) and whatever remains, we might consider giving back to the church or charities. We forget that we are simply the managers of God’s resources that He provides. As much as we want to believe that it belongs to us, it really belongs to God and He is expecting us to do the right thing with those resources.
It kind of makes us feel more gracious and kind when we give to others out of our resources, forgetting that they are really God’s resources to begin with. This concept of “this belongs to me, so out of love I give it to you,” makes us feel good. But when we consider that we are actually resource managers and that the assets that God provides to us are not really ours to begin with, kind of blows out the candle on that feeling of superiority.
When we take time to envision ourselves as a department manager with God’s allocated resources, our view shifts. Even in large organization the appropriation of funds for various departments can enlarge or decrease in contradiction to budgets based on the needs of new projects and concerns. God’s allotment of resources can be that way with us, based not only on our needs, but also on the needs of those we serve. Budgets don’t mean a whole lot to God when you understand that His resources are unlimited. But God can use the expansion or restriction of resources placed in our care based on His needs as He teaches us to be good stewards reacting to shifting priorities and concerns.
Just like a large company, God doesn’t give the resources to us for our own benefit. Yes, we receive an apportioned amount of those resources to maintain our livelihood, but we are expected to see that as an apportioned amount, and that we are responsible for reapportioning the remaining balance in a manner that pleases Him and benefits His kingdom.
A good manager of God’s apportioned resources understands this convoluted concept of giving versus re-appropriation. As Christians, we understand that everything we consider as “ours” really belongs to God and is simply placed in our hands to reapportion, redistribute, or re-purpose. I know that there are among us believers who choose to refuse to consider the church as a business, that we were never called to base the church on a solid business model. I get that. But I also understand that good business management and practices teach us how to re-apportion His gifts to us. It teaches us good discernment. We learn to ask ourselves, “ I WANT this, but so-and-so NEEDS that.” This teaches us to discern how God needs the resources that he provides apportioned appropriately. The better we become at apportioning those resources, the more responsibility God places into our hands.
Through the parable of the servants and their master’s bags of gold found in Matthew 25:14-30, we see Jesus giving us a visual example of how this works. The master’s gold never belongs to the servants and the servants never believe that it is theirs. But each apportioned amount is placed into the hands of the servants to care for and when used appropriately, that amount grows and can be reapportioned as needed by the master through his servants.
We, as a people, need to stop seeing what God provides for us as a termination point for resources. Instead, we should see ourselves as managers of those resources for reallocation purposes. By doing so, we can visualize our purpose as the vessels of God providing resources and meeting the needs of those around us.
