Comments on: Your Money+Our Community

By: decisivelyuncertain

decisivelyuncertain — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:18:17 +0000

I think it comes down to the heart of the person. When a speaker visits my little fellowship we don’t pay them. One of our elders has a habit of saying when pushed that if what a speaker has to bring is so important for us to hear that God will provide the way. When a person comes we normally make a love offering to them. The end result might be the same but the process by which it is achieved is far more important.

It’s about the heart of the person. A person going on missions should not be seeking to be a burden. It’s why Paul was a tent maker. In the same way when a speaker visits a local congregation they should be seeking to bless him in continuing his or her ministry. I can certainly see the need for full-time ministry but I think it’s not the ideal state of affairs.

I think it’s important to maintain a distinction between what the Jews did under the Law and what we are Christians are meant to do. Tithing is a certainly a biblical concept; certainly a Jewish concept but I don’t think it’s necessarily a Christian concept in the New Testament with regard to Paul’s directions to the various Gentile churches on collections for the church in Jerusalem.

There are important things to remember with regard to tithing. It’s all God’s money any way and how you spend your time and effort are as a much an indicator of your priorities than what you do with your income whether it’s gross or net

By: teresa

teresa — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:47:39 +0000

kriss kross will make ya…jump! jump! (i am so gonna get it!)

By: joshmickelson

joshmickelson — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:34:17 +0000

haha, no I didn’t add the comment. I just did a google image search and BAM

By: thatgirlkate

thatgirlkate — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:16:29 +0000

hilarious picture josh! was that an original caption you added there?
(i am thinking about a real answer to your question. i have been on both sides and want to have a somewhat intelligent answer to offer. so i will check in again later.)

By: joshmickelson

joshmickelson — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:08:33 +0000

haha, I can just see him now, wearing his jncos and baseball jersey backwards.

By: teresa

teresa — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:24:18 +0000

i’m not sure if you noticed, josh-mac-daddy, but paul was heavily influenced by 90’s rap. haha!

By: joshmickelson

joshmickelson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:30:00 +0000

Extremely interesting example, Archie.

By: Archie Mck

Archie Mck — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:58:27 +0000

Great questions here Josh, I wish I knew more.
The comments reminded me of a situation two of my good friends were going through. They were married and lived on their own working hard to make ends meet. His dad was the pastor of the church they had both grown up in/later returned to. Both of them had attended college for awhile but left before getting degrees so were taking on extra jobs to pay for finishing their educations. Meanwhile her parents (her father was an elder at the same church) were hosting in their home another married couple who felt called to the ministry. They were both enrolled full time in seminary but neither had a job. The church and families whom they were connected with were basically paying for both school and room/food. What was the saddest of all was how my friends heard this couple talking about how once they wouldn’t have to be like everyone else once they had masters degrees. I wish I were making this up. I can’t help but imagine how this looks from the outside. Are these “chosen”/”called” people privileged(?) to live lives that are free from the hardships others endure (in this case the exact same thing) because they are “doing it for God?” I remember thinking that we are all called to lives that glorify God, this didn’t sync. All in all I get pretty grossed out thinking about this kind of entitlement. Remembering all the college students in my old church sending out letters asking for support to go here or there on a “mission” trip. Thinking about how many people the cost of just a one way ticket could feed. It all just seemed a vacation that was fairly suffering/obligation free (not down playing missions, just the reasoning behind some trips). Not sure if any of this adds to the convo, just struck a chord with some thoughts that were in my mind. I just can’t help but think that it’s easy for us to put ourselves ahead of resources that God may have intended for others…missions or not

By: joshmickelson

joshmickelson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:53:37 +0000

@paul, thanks for the input! Just what I was looking for. It REALLY does question ministry motives when money is out of the question.

By: joshmickelson

joshmickelson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:48:37 +0000

@mark So do you think there is a way to carry that attitude over to full time ministry? You have direct experience, so I am curious.

Also, I am suprised no one has commented on my awesome picture…haha