A gift is appreciated because of what a person can afford, not because of what that person can’t afford, if it’s apparent that it’s done willingly. It isn’t that we want others to have financial ease and you financial difficulties, but it’s a matter of equality. At the present moment, your surplus can fill their deficit so that in the future their surplus can fill your deficit. In this way there is equality. As it is written, The one who gathered more didn’t have too much, and the one who gathered less didn’t have too little.2 Corinthians 8:12-15 CEB
Every week the ushers come forward and pass a plate down each aisle as we take up our weekly offerings.
For the casual observer this must be a strange drama to watch. It must look like a collection of the weekly dues for being a member of the church and benefiting from all the programs. I confess that sometimes we (the church) make it sound like that as well.
The offering is about ministry. The offering supports the ministries of the church.
But, it is not an equal pay system. Each gives as they can.
We give out of our abundance - as we can afford. We work together to provide all that resources needed for mission and ministry.
When we are able to shift our way of thinking from "all that we don't have" to "all that we do have", we will be able to be more generous in our giving and . . .
Our giving will become a natural response to the generosity already shared with us by God through Christ.
Read all of the eight chapter to get a better understanding of the offering's purpose in your church.
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