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Faithonomics
By Jeremy | March 5, 2007
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. ... Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.The source of money problems, what lies beneath it all: discontentment, the opposite of contentment. (v. 6) Overcome an appetite for greed (v. 7-10) by feeding a different, stronger appetite: generosity (v. 18). How? 1. An outside-in approach. "Where your treasure is," your heart will catch up. So practice the disciplines of generosity, beginning with tithing but not limiting ourselves to tithing since the New Testament Christ model is to give all. 2. An inside-out approach. Become a generous person by redefining what our treasure is. When our "treasure" is no longer money and meterial goods but rather Christ's love, generosity becomes a natural outflow and everyone wins. Quoted TD Jakes: the Dead Sea is "dead" because there's no outflow for the water's mineral deposits. There's lots more where that came from, so hook up an urban church plant and buy the CD. On a personal note, I really enjoyed the experience of being in a congregation that doesn't just claim to be multiethnic. From my vantage point at the back of the sanctuary, my friends at River City are practicing what they preach as black, white, bi-racial, asian and latino brothers and sisters all gathered for worship. Stay intentional.
Topics: daniel hill, economics, faith, money, multiethnic, race, river c3 | No Comments »
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