I would like to start a conversation between wise and experienced Christian parents for whom generosity has been a part of their lives probably since before they were parents. What is it about our children's generation that makes them so different.
Please post your thoughts, and your experiences, what has worked and what doesn't seem to have worked. Church as we know it will not exist if the next generation is responsible for its financial support-well, that's how it looks to me.
I remember when I was at uni (and living without parental support, paying rent, running a bomby car, living on the basics in terms of groceries) being quite used to giving, even giving away the last $10 I had to a cause that I felt needed it more than me. It took a little prayer, but not much angst. Giving was a habit. I think I learnt it from my parents. It wasn't because I was an especially good or unselfish person. It was something I was used to doing and it was also really satisfying.
It seems that our young people on the whole don't give this way any more. They say "I have to save" or "times are tough" or "I don't have enough" or "Its not my job- its someone else's".
But if life habits are usually formed before the age of around 22, what hope is there for missions, churches, charities, refugees, the poor in the third world?
But if life habits are usually formed before the age of around 22, what hope is there for missions, churches, charities, refugees, the poor in the third world?
This is what I see in the bible:
- In Luke CH 16 Jesus says to use your money for the kingdom of God. If we in the first world want more people in the kingdom, then its going to cost us money. Whats wrong with that? Don't we worship God more than we worship our money? What about our children? Who do they really worship?
- Proverbs 11:24 "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" (warning- not a verse about how to get more money)
- Proverbs 19:17 "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done."
- etc etc etc
What do you think?
2 comments:
start early with tithing. Demonstrate generosity - making meals for ppl, going to working bees (at local school and church), offering lifts, volunteering in any capacity, be generous and servant-hearted - like Jesus. The reward in doing something for someone outweighs the cost. Trouble is if we spend all our time working for $ ourselves, we then help others at the expense of family time.
I have been thinking a whole lot more about this and I have some thoughts. One is that the increasing individualisation of our children's generation is removing their sense of belonging in community groups, and this effects their understanding of what they might do with their money (and their time and their allegience). In past generations giving to a group one belonged to didn't equate with giving money away. It was an investment in your own comfort and a cause that you owned. (I wrote an essay about the individualisation of youth today last year - you can read it if you want to). So even though my children have been part of the same church for over ten years, they don't have the same sense of belonging there that i have in a church I have been in for four years. Kids today leave groups easily because they are not attached them. (Lots of reasons for this). Its no wonder they aren't interested in investing their money in them. They might not even be there next week.
Also, I find the word "giving" unhelpful when it comes to supporting a church financially (or any cause that our heart is in). Money that goes towards supporting the work of the gospel in a church we belong to is really like putting money in the bank. We don't call that "giving" because its not "Giving away". Neither is supporting a church. Its "investing" in our own lives and in those who might enter the kingdom with us. We get back what we put in and more. (Incidentally, I wasn't just thinking about "church offerings" when I posted my original question, but that is an issue our family have been talking about lately.)
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