Tag: Money

Church Collection Agency

I had an odd phone call this morning.

I’m doing my morning devotions, reading the Bible, and praying and I get this phone call. On the other end is a very nice lady, very pleasant offering the services of their company for our church. They were a collection agency.

They thought they could add a lot of value to our church by freely collecting any debts that might be owed to us. She mentioned that if we rent out our hall we could get those debts back for free.

The thing that struck me was how off and odd this was. I’ll make a strong statement: Church’s shouldn’t be using collection agencies. Our two enterprises should never connect. The fact that they called assuming this would be a good thing demonstrates how misunderstood the church is.

Jesus frees us from our debts, rather than demanding payment in full. He covers over our transgressions rather than seeking to hunt us down, and find retribution. The whole thing just struck me as so odd that I actually started laughing. The point where the church starts hiring collection agencies will be the moment when we know we’ve missed the point.

I’m not saying that debts don’t deserve to be paid. They do. We should honor our word, pay what is fair, and respect the contracts we enter. All I’m saying is that Jesus’ example and model is a bit higher and deeper than that; because he pays what we deserved to pay.

So I’m sure you can guess already, but I ended the phone conversation by saying, “thanks for the offer but we won’t be needing your services”…

by Andrew Mills

Generosity Should Hurt

I like to think of myself as a generous person. Really who doesn’t like to think of themselves as a generous person. But it’s easy to think you’re generous, sometimes practicing it is hard.

Last week a friend contacted me with a need. It was real, it mattered, and I could really help him. It would just cost me some money. But here’s the thing giving when it costs is hard…

Inwardly I had a little struggle. I knew I should give but was reluctant. Not reluctant because the need wasn’t real or worthy, but because it would be hard and might hurt a bit. Krista and I just came through Christmas, Hudson’s birthday, and didn’t have a lot of disposable funds lying around.

And that’s when I learned something about generosity. Generosity shouldn’t just come out of our surplus. Giving out of our extra is good, but giving when it’s hard isn’t just better it’s godly.

Jesus gives up everything to give to us (Phi. 2:7). He doesn’t give out of his extra, but out of his very self. His extra doesn’t determine how much he gives us. He gives till it hurts, and is hard.

So generosity should hurt a bit. That’s hard to learn, and even harder to live out. But the more I look at Jesus the easier I find it. And here’s the funny thing. After I gave to my friend, I found Jesus right there as he shook my hand and said thank you.

So all in all…it hurt a bit…but was so worth it…

And Jesus knew that all along…

by Andrew Mills