Stewardship and Paying it Forward

[kathleenmariekg]

What are your beliefs about the money in your possession?

When I lost my faith, this past time, I still believed that the money in my possession was not mine. I was vague about who it belonged to, because I had no belief or disbelief in any specific deity, but I knew it belonged to something bigger than me, and that some things only came into my possession so that I could transfer them to their rightful owner.

What I had never believed, before or after I lost my faith, was that others had the same responsibility to let resources flow through them. Their money was their money. Period.

Another thing that I never believed was that to refuse help, and remain in a weaker state that was less able to do my father's work, might be a sin.

When I took help from charities, I thought I had to become whatever they wanted their beneficiaries to be, or not take the help at all. It was very black and white to me, and I was afraid to apply to charities if I felt like there was anything about my situation that was not exactly how they wanted it before and after taking that gift. I believed that they owned more than the gift; I believed that they owned ME if I accepted it.

I had zero belief that if my siblings had ideas about the money in their possession that were in opposition to what our father wanted done with that money, then I was responsible to do our father's will not my siblings' will.

I came very very close to refusing Benjamin's gift of a wagon. I was afraid to take it. I started thinking of all the things that I then owed him and other people here, and my brain just kept branching out with fears of being trapped and powerless. But when I clicked on the link and saw immediately how it would make me more powerful, I had to stop and breathe. And for the first time, I realized that the money of others belongs to the father.

I finally understand more of the parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son took half the money, and then came back and was obviously tapping into the other half of the money too, which AFFECTED how much money the other brother had. But the prodigal son did not take his brother's money. The money belonged to the father: all of it. The father allowed the younger son to waste half of the FATHER'S money. Then the father welcomed the son home and lavished more on him. The story ends, but I am assuming the prodigal son is supposed to accept all that it takes to heal and grow strong again, and then he is to get to work with whatever work the father assigns to him. None of this is about the other brother. Both sons answer to the father, not each other. Both sons have to pick up with what is left of the money, moving forward with the father's will.

I have opened myself up to attack. By accepting the gift and even more to post this. But ... again, I am to do my father's will. Every day, I am understanding this more. My siblings are my siblings, not my father. If I do what they want, and that means disobeying the father, I am going to get a spanking.

Taking the cart meant more time to study and I know I am supposed to be doing that. There are Bible stories of one brother being sent to resupply his brothers out tending the sheep. Imagine the brothers refusing to take the food, and walking home to get food instead of staying with the sheep. Thanks Benjamin for the resupply, so I can stay out here. LOL.

I have no idea what comes next. I don't need to. Daddy knows what comes next and that is all that matters.

 

[Salty]

My concern about many charities is that they give things away with no accountability.
Apparently, you are one of the exception!
In fact, the local food bank here in Syracuse, prohibits recipients from doing ANYthing to receive
food. This would include something as simple as asking them to answer the phones.
With those requirements, I would never accept food from that organisation to use when our church has
a food bank.
In addition - I would want to know WHY a family needs help. I would have Mr. & Mrs Deacon go to see the Jones.
If Mr. Deacon opens up the fridge and the only thing, he finds is a case of beer, we might have an ideal of what the situation is. Then Mrs. Deacon needs to sit down with Mrs. Jones and show her how that with a ound of hamburger, and hamburger helper ..... Meanwhile, Mr. Deacon will explain to Mr. Jones, that they need to stop purchasing T-bone steaks.
I realize that many of these charities mean to help - BUT many simply are only putting a band-aid on, when major surgery is required.

Obviously, there are exceptions - a house burns down - no questions.... give help,

 

[kathleenmariekg]

It is all so controversial.

When I read scripture, I changed my beliefs about what I was required to think and do, but I never applied any of those requirements to others.

I was still looking 100% sideways, and not up, when it came to receiving from others. I gave charities 100% control over me if I took anything from them. So I often self-neglected instead of putting myself into a relationship that made me so powerless.

I have been reading the minor prophets as I have listened to the McGee Thru the Bible radio shows and have been struck by what is said about poverty and justice.

I have been reading some of Exodus and listening to sermons about why the former slaves needed to wander the desert and why many of them were not allowed to enter the promised land. They were not able to move beyond their sideways slave mentality, and look UP.

I'm still trying to figure all this out.

 

[Benjamin]

I came very very close to refusing Benjamin's gift of a wagon. I was afraid to take it. I started thinking of all the things that I then owed him and other people here, and my brain just kept branching out with fears of being trapped and powerless. But when I clicked on the link and saw immediately how it would make me more powerful, I had to stop and breathe. And for the first time, I realized that the money of others belongs to the father.

I carry a different philosophy about gifting than, not that it is a bad thing, than what “Pay-it-Forward” seems to represent sometimes, because the two elements that I find to be most important towards giving are “love” and “grace” and what makes these elements so special is that they come by and are learned from God’s example rather than mine.

Let’s take the greatest gift ever given, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, this gift was done out of “love” and there is no way we can pay-it-back, the gift was freely given in “grace” and not only did we not deserve it but to try to pay it back sort of takes away from the spirit in which it was given, again freely.

I believe the greatest gifts are those that are done in the greatest need of the recipient and are done without the prospect of being paid back, but rather done in the sense of love that one has learned by example, namely, Jesus Christ who acted solely out of love in giving a 100% free gift that we could never adequately pay back.

So, to be honest, I trust that my greatest blessing would come in freely giving a gift wherein if I could I would prefer to give it anonymously where I receive no credit from this world but only did it in the spirit of love, for God is Love.

I don’t want to be like the guy in the Bible who fasts and goes out in the street expressing the drama of the situation while beating on his chest and praying loudly for all to hear of his sacrifice (for he has then already received his reward here on earth) but rather I would prefer to go into the closet and pray in secret and express my love to God while being thankful the He brought love into world. I am thankful for the feeling, the opportunity, and for Him helping me to convince you to accept it.

Now, in the sense that I recognize a need that I can fulfill yet I cannot do it anonymously, if I have to sacrifice some of my blessing because it is known in this world then I made this sacrifice in “grace”, knowing I don’t deserve anything to begin with, and while not expecting the fullness of the blessing that comes in the sense of giving only in love.

That said, I wouldn’t want you to feel the need to pay me back because I don’t feel it works that way, but rather I’d like you to feel the gift that God put in the world which is His love coming your way and for you to accept the gift freely and give Him thanks.

I especially wouldn’t want you making sacrifices because you feel you must pay it back or forward. That will come naturally and the thanks goes to God. I’m glad I had the opportunity to help you with what I saw was a need I was able to address, it isn’t everyday that I get the opportunity to do that. My thanks is that I saw the opportunity and God gets the credit for putting me in that position and teaching me about love. In your case, I read about you lacking water because of having to haul it, your struggles of hauling food in general and though about the burdens like the energy you had to spend to meet your daily needs. It so happened that being a “tool guy” and a “fix it man”, which is also a gift from God, I immediately recognized a way to help with your needs and doing it did not burden me to give this help so please do not burden yourself thinking you should pay it back because as per example I gave the gift in grace – therefore it was 100% free you could never pay it back anyway! Haha.

Thank You and Merry Christmas!

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Thank you for sharing all this with me, even more than the gift of the wagon! I am very struck by all that I am reading in the bible that is in contrast to what I have been previously taught about justice and charity and worth and other things.

I don't want to be one of the Israeli not allowed to enter the promised land because they just could not recover enough. I am trying to figure this out. Forty years the slaves wandered, and many of them just had to die off.

I want to pull it together and be ready for what comes next. I sense the next when I look at the mountains. Thank you for being my friend right now!

 

[Yeshua1]

It is all so controversial.

When I read scripture, I changed my beliefs about what I was required to think and do, but I never applied any of those requirements to others.

I was still looking 100% sideways, and not up, when it came to receiving from others. I gave charities 100% control over me if I took anything from them. So I often self-neglected instead of putting myself into a relationship that made me so powerless.

I have been reading the minor prophets as I have listened to the McGee Thru the Bible radio shows and have been struck by what is said about poverty and justice.

I have been reading some of Exodus and listening to sermons about why the former slaves needed to wander the desert and why many of them were not allowed to enter the promised land. They were not able to move beyond their sideways slave mentality, and look UP.

I'm still trying to figure all this out.

God has a plan to combat poverty, but its always been in the local churches, not from Big government, but we on the whole have not stepped up to get it done!

 

[Salty]

God has a plan to combat poverty, but its always been in the local churches, not from Big government, but we on the whole have not stepped up to get it done!

The question is WHY? Could it be due to govt regulations?

 

[kathleenmariekg]

I am very interested in hearing what people think about this topic in GENERAL beyond my situation. I know that what I was taught inside and outside the church was wrong. As I come back to my faith, I am trying to get it right this time.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

I know the biggest thing that I was doing wrong was looking sideways and not up.

 

[Yeshua1]

I know the biggest thing that I was doing wrong was looking sideways and not up.

The big problem is that American church, especially in crazy charismatic ones, have gotten wealthy, but that goes towards the greedy in their ranks, not the needy!

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Disparity is growing. Some of the churches are holding a lot of wealth and do not seem to recognize what they are holding. I think I understand some of the reasons, but do not know that I understand the reasons. I am stepping back and trying to start from ground zero and with scripture. That is easier said than done.

 

[Yeshua1]

Disparity is growing. Some of the churches are holding a lot of wealth and do not seem to recognize what they are holding. I think I understand some of the reasons, but do not know that I understand the reasons. I am stepping back and trying to start from ground zero and with scripture. That is easier said than done.

American church by far the wealthiest, but give poorly towards missions and to the needy among us!

 

[kathleenmariekg]

How wealthy is the American church? How does the American church measure their wealth: absolute or relative? How does the American church measure poverty: absolute or relative?

Can we apply anything that we read about the early Jewish families when the father controlled all the wealth and the adult sons in the family had little final say over the resources they managed. They answered to the father, not their siblings. Is it like that for us in any way?

Do the teachings about members of the body include access to resources? Is it scriptural for the children of church members to have unequal access to education? Is the church weakened by the disparity among its members? Is the church united enough that the wealthiest members are actually weakened by the poorer members not reaching their potential and spending more time on survival instead of other things?

What is the purpose of the church? What does that have to do with economics?

 

[Quantrill]

I don't believe it is the Churches job to eliminate poverty locally or nationally. We who are the Church respond to persons in need, but that is not our primary function. Our primary function is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. (Acts 3:6)

A 'social' Christianity is just as empty as a 'Laodicean' Christianity.

Jesus was clear that poverty will always exist. (Matt. 26:11) Read the story of the woman with the alabastar box. (Matt. 26:6-13)

This waste of money, considered by the disciples and especially Judas Iscariot, pushed Judas over the edge. (Matt. 26:14) (Mark 14:4) (John 12:4-6) For after that Judas sought to betray Christ. (Matt. 26:14) (Mark 14:10)

Quantrill

 

[kathleenmariekg]

There are different guidelines for sharing within the local church body, sharing with the larger church body, and sharing as missions?