In her book God Knows My Heart
, journalist Christine Wicker interviewed a man named Vincent Hall. Mr. Hall is chairman of the board of a major credit union in Dallas, Texas, and is a committed Christian. A particular sermon changed his life. His pastor preached on three different kinds of believers: “if,” “because,” and “regardless.”
Having voted on the church budget today, let me use this as the general outline of my sermon on different kinds of givers to the church using the 2nd letter of Paul to the Thessalonians as our text.
While Paul doesn’t talk about giving directly in the passage for today, he does talk about the responsibilities of every Christian. In chapter 1 verse 14 he encourages us to: “not be weary in doing what is right.” In encouraging us to work and not be idle, he really is talking about Christian Stewardship.
Let’s now talk about the different kinds of giver.
First, there is an “if” giver. An “if” giver only gives if he or she is going to receive a blessing and reward in return. This person waits to see what God is going to do first, then decides whether or not to respond by giving.
How many of us would pray like this: “God, if you just give me a good grade for my exams, I will serve you more faithfully?” Or, “God if I win the lotto, I will give the church part of that winning.”
I know this because it comes to my mind sometimes that if God will let me win the lotto without me buying a ticket, I will build a church somewhere in a far-flung barangay.
Have you ever thought about how much we take God for granted? If you think all the complex details that have to come together every day, just to sustain our lives, we cannot help but be grateful to God. Yet, how often do we stop to thank God for what God has done for us?
When we don’t give thanks but take advantage of God’s Providence and run off, Paul calls it as “eating someone else’s bread we did not pay for.”
I do not want to make a big deal out of it, but that phrase: “eating someone else’s bread without paying for it” kind of struck me.
It can apply to other areas of life including in the life of the church. When we take advantage of the ministries of the church, and expect the church to continue to do its ministries without our support and involvement, it is the same as “eating bread we did not pay for.”
The second kind is the “because” kind of giver. The “Because” giver gives because God has blessed him or her and wants to keep receiving that blessing. While not the best theology or the best reason, that person is better than the “if” giver.
A “because” giver gives to God’s church because God blesses and rewards that person. That person has seen the connection between his obedience and God’s blessing, and he wants to keep it going.
We all know that we can never repay God for our salvation, but we bring God what we have. Our offerings are often poor, and sometimes we are embarrassed to bring them at all. But we bring them “because.” “Because” we know God has blessed us and “because” we want to say thank you to God.
But I wonder if we would quit giving, quit attending Church activities, quit supporting the ministries of the church if God quit blessing.
Of course, I believe that God will continue to bless us, no matter what. But what happens if one becomes sick, or if one losses his wealth? Do we continue to give? That’s the danger of being only a “because” kind of giver.
Then there is the kind of believer that we call “regardless.” They have faith, they give, they attend, they support, and they reach out, “regardless.” “Regardless” of whether they like the preacher or not. “Regardless” of whether they agree with all the ministries of the church or not. “Regardless” of their circumstance in life. The “Regardless” giver stays involved, remains faithful, regardless of whether or not they feel they are blessed because they know that God is faithful.
The “regardless” giver is able to say with the Psalmist:
[28] You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
[29] O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
The “regardless” giver gives, participates, supports the ministries of the church, comes to worship and prays simply because he or she loves God. And these givers, having experienced the unconditional love and faithfulness of God share it with others.
It doesn’t make any difference whether life is good or life is tough, they love God and know that God is faithful in the midst of every situation life throws at them. And we are called to do and be the same.
For those of us who are “if” givers or “because” givers, or “regardless” givers, there is this Good News. God is God regardless of what we do or how we respond.
“If, Because, Regardless” doesn’t make any difference to God. God is God. All of these types of givers are still loved by God. God accepts you as you are. God may not leave you there, but God meets you there and loves you as you are. No strings attached.
And if we are open to God’s grace and our spiritual life and relationship with God grows, usually the “if” Christians grow to become “because” Christians. And most “because” Christians grow to become “regardless” Christians.
I do not know what kind of giver you are now. You are the only one who can tell. Maybe for some of us we are a mixture of all three. There are times when we give if God does something for us. There are times when we give because God has been good to us. And there are also times we give regardless of what God has done for us.
No matter where you are now in your journey as a steward of God, remember that God still loves you. But I pray that in our coming together as Christians in the community of faith, we will grow to become “regardless” givers because God loves us “regardless” of who we are.
