Faith-Filled Giving

A couple of months ago, I heard about a book entitled The River Church by Larry Walkemeyer. When I learned that the driving force behind the book was Ezekiel 47 (the Biblical passage which inspired the name and vision of Riverwood), I knew I needed to purchase it.

The premise of the book is that too many churches simply seek to build "lakes" (i.e., gather as many people as possible in one location). Larry had built a wonderful "Lake Church" in an impoverished neighborhood of Long Beach, CA. But one day, as he read Ezekiel 47, Larry began to believe churches should be "rivers" which send people out to plant other churches.

However, Larry admits in chapters 4 and 5 that this idea was initially scary to him in the beginning. His church, at one time, had been the fastest growing church in his denomination. He knew how to build an impressive Lake Church. But as he sought to follow the Spirit's leading to be a River Church, he discovered many doubts and fears within himself. What if some of their best leaders felt called to go plant a church? What if some of their biggest financial givers left with one of these church plants? What if they sent so many people that Larry's church had to close? The level of generosity this new vision required had Larry doubting the Lord's plan.

The fears Larry felt concerning his church are similar to what many Christians feel about financial giving. The type of generosity God calls us to in 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 can cause us to have fears and doubts. Yet, our greatest joy will be found through faith-filled giving.

Giving by Faith

Today, we come to week two of our Seven Qualities of a Giver series. Last week, as we kicked off this series on the ideas shared in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, we saw that God calls us to sacrificial giving. But that type of giving can be hard! Which is why God also calls us to faith-filled giving.

In verse 3, we see that the Jesus-followers in Macedonia gave extremely generously despite their poverty. Here is how the English Standard Version translates it...

“For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord.” (2 Corinthians 8:3, ESV, emphasis mine)

The believers in Macedonia gave so sacrificially, Paul described it as “beyond their means.” But this lavish giving wasn’t done foolishly, like taking out a car loan you’ll never be able to repay. Their giving was made with faith that God could provide for them. After all, as Paul explains a chapter later in 2 Corinthians 9:8-11, if God could give the Macedonians their provision in the first place, He can also provide provision after they gave.

This idea ties in to what we heard last Sunday from my sermon on the Ownership Principle. If everything belongs to God, then what He gives initially isn’t truly yours, so you can give it with faith that He will still provide for you after you have given sacrificially. So if God tells you to give to a missionary, or give to a friend in need, or increase your giving (or begin giving) at Riverwood, you need to follow through, no matter what your bank account says. Because not only can He replenish what you gave but also increase it.

So if you follow Jesus, be open to the Lord’s leading to give, no matter how “beyond your means” it might seem to be.