When You Give

You may not realize it, but your family has unbelievable potential. God has called the Christian family to be His heart to a lost and dying world. We are the city set on a hill that lets our light shine before men in such a way that they see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). This should not stoke arrogance in our hearts, but rather, it should cultivate a humble reverence that God would choose to use an imperfect group of people like our families to represent Him on the earth. We are not great, but we serve a great God who loves and cares for the people around us, and for some odd reason, chooses to use us despite our weaknesses and imperfections.
But we need to stop watching the news. If we listen to the pundits and the critics, we might begin to conclude that the convictions that live within us are a bad thing. Somehow, many of us have been led to believe that our beliefs are indistinguishable from, if not inferior to, the other philosophies and theologies that exist in the world. Many have begun to believe that Christ is just one of many paths to heaven, but that is simply not true. Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except by Him (Jn. 14:6). If that is true, then the theology and the practices of the Christian family are the gold standard over every other system of man, and we are called to be the change agents of our society. That’s a big responsibility.
We all have different family units. No matter whether you are single or married, a parent or childless, if you are a Christ-follower you are one of the change agents. No matter the shape of your family, you are part of the family of God and represent Him in the world. Each of our families are a testimony to what God can do. We are blessed so that we might be a blessing and point the way to Jesus. The Christian family is one of the most powerful entities in all the earth. We have the potential to be one of the greatest change agents for good in our world.
The Haas family has the potential to be one of the greatest change agents for good in our world.
The Howington family has the potential to be one of the greatest change agents for good in our world.
The ________ (fill in your family’s name) family has the potential to be one of the greatest change agents for good in our world.
Do you believe that?
In the book Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money by Christian Smith, Michael Emerson, and Patricia Snell, the authors address a significant question: What difference would it make if American Christians were more generous? Listen to their opening paragraph:
Let us begin on a positive note. The up-side potential for good in the U.S. Christian giving is immense, almost unimaginable. If American Christians were to give from their income generously, not lavishly, mind you, only generously - they could transform the world, starting right away. Ordinary American Christians have within their power the capacity to foster massive and unprecedented spiritual, social, cultural, and economic change that closely reflects their values and interests. To achieve such dramatic, world-transforming change, ordinary American Christians simply need to do one thing: start giving reasonably generously from their income, let us say 10 percent of post-tax income.10
After working through their research project, they conclude this:
Our research has shown simply that, if American Christians could somehow find a way to move to practices of reasonably generous giving, they could generate, over and above what they currently give, a total of another 133.4 billion a year to devote to whatever purposes and needs they would choose. What good in the world U.S. Christians could do with an additional 133.4 billion, year after year, is almost unimaginable, simply astonishing, nearly beyond comprehension.11
With those kinds of resources, it could mean that every church would have what it needed for ministry, every missionary could be fully funded, and we would have enough money to address many of the needs of our communities. The Church of Jesus Christ would truly be looked upon as the source of good in our lost world even more than it is now. The content in chapter one alone is worth the price of their book, as they lay out in practical terms what could be done if Christians in America just began to give generously. We highly recommend their book. The potential, collective financial power from followers of Jesus is staggering, and it is easy to see how God might use our resources to make His Name famous throughout the earth.
However, this book is not about the collective impact of us all, but rather is focused on the individual impact of your family. We love that the worldwide family of God can have a global impact, but we will focus on the impact of your individual Christian family.