Giving Back to God
BY John Boda
We can never really give anything back to God, until we first see that everything comes from God in the first place! I know it may sound like a non-issue, but ask yourself if you’ve really come to the realization that EVERYTHING comes from God?!
NO, I don’t believe that sin, sickness, and all evil come directly from God, because we are told that God is NOT the author of evil, and that he is pure, holy, perfect and the very essence of good. (Sin and evil can be understood more as an absence of good, more than a thing in themselves. Much like darkness is really just the absence of light.)
But when I speak of everything, I mean everything involving life, even life itself in all its vast diversity! Of course, it also involves everything that makes up you and me. Our personality, our likes, dislikes our appearance, our skills, our natural talents, and everything about us.
The Apostle Paul clearly understood this concept in Romans Eleven, when after writing in depth about the great mystery of God’s divine election, he ends up by just overflowing with praise to God in what has been called – The Doxology, and ends it with;
For from him…and through him….and to him…is all things.
To him is the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36 NIV
The Message Bible says it even better;
Everything comes from him
Everything happens through him
Everything ends up in him.
Always glory – Always praise.
Yes – Yes – Yes!
Do you see it? It is like a divine circle! Think of it like a big clock, everything starts at the top at 12 – with God. Then keeps moving clockwise through God in us as we serve in our gifts. Then it keeps moving clockwise back to God again in praise and worship to start all over again!
Giving back to God in service is simply entering into that beautiful circular flow of grace, and it is all by God’s grace every step of the way!
The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, also knew this concept and prayed that people who didn’t know God would enter into this circle and find him;
May all godless people enter his circle of blessing, and bless the One who blessed them. Psalm 72:17 The Message Bible
Solomon may have learned this from his father, David;
I hate all this silly religion, but you, God, I trust. I’m leaping and singing in the circle of your love. Psalm 31:6 The Message Bible
When we give back to God in service of any kind, we are really entering into that divine flow of grace. I am convinced that God always gives more THROUGH us….than he will ever give TO us!
We all want more of God! But many times God is waiting for us to give away what he has already given us, so he can then give us more within the circle.
Every Christ follower should be more of a vessel for grace to flow through, than a container to hold and store it.
Why Serve?
Besides the above stated reason, which is to get more from God, there is another more primary reason that all Christ followers should serve in their gifts – Because of Jesus’ example!
If we follow Christ, it means we hope, seek and pray to become like him. In fact, the word – Christian – simply means “Christ-one” or “Like Christ”.
Of course, none of us can ever sacrifice ourselves as the price for the sins of the world, but the Bible does tell us to “Take up our cross daily”, again, to follow the example set by Jesus.
After Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he said;
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. John 13:15 NIV
We should not try to take that literal and go about washing everybody’s feet in the church! But Jesus was giving all of us an example to become a servant unto others, in any capacity. The point is that we should become servants, and servants are those who serve! Jesus is our ultimate example, and this is what he did, not just this time, but during his whole life. This is also what Paul commands us to do;
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all! When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death – and the worst kind of death at that – a crucifixion. Philippians 2:5 – 8 The Message
Three Areas of Service
As I have read and studied the scriptures, I try to summarize concepts and make things as simple as possible, (mostly for myself!) But I believe that this is the best way to begin to see and grasp important principles in the Bible.
In the subject of serving and giving back to God, it really can be summarized into three basic aspects of service unto God, which all begin with the same letter to make it even more easy to remember;
Here is a brief summary of each one;
Time
The key verse for this is found in Ephesians 5: 15-16; (EST Version)
Look carefully then how then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil.
Or again, in The Message Bible;
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
The actual original Greek word for “Time” in this passage is – Kairos
This means – A season, an opportune time, or a period of opportunity. It is not just a succession of moments on the clock. There is another Greek word for that – Chronos.
In other words, we are not just to try to find something to do to “kill time” or keep from becoming bored. But rather, we are told to be wise and make the most of every opportunity within every day, within every hour, within every minute. Not just getting busy, but accomplishing something of spiritual significance, something of eternal value within our day!
Some of us may not have much talent, and not much money, but you may find that you have a lot of time on your hands. This is a precious commodity! We will all be held accountable to God for how we spent it. Yes, we can enjoy life, go on vacations, I am not talking about non-stop working for God. That madness only leads to major burn out. But rather, being aware that God desires to use us everyday, and every moment, and many times in ways that we can not even think of or be aware of!
Someone once said, “Preach the word of God everyday and everywhere, and use words….if you must.”
Before I move on to the next point of service, I want to include the lyrics of a great song by Chris Rice. A man who seems to really understand this concept of serving God with our time. It is from a beautiful CD entitled: “Smell the Color Nine”.
Life Means So Much
Everyday is a journal page
Every man holds a quill and ink
And there’s plenty of room for writing in
All we do and believe and think
So will you compose a curse?
Or will today bring the blessings
Fill the page with rhyming verse
Or some random sketching
Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much
Everyday is a bank account
And time is our currency
So no one’s rich, nobody’s poor
We get twenty-four hours each
So how are you gonna spend
Will you invest or squander
Try to get ahead
Or help someone who’s under
Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much
Has anybody lived who knew the value of a life?
And don’t you think giving his own
Would prove the worth of yours and mine?
Teach us to count the days
Teach us to make the days count
Lead us in better ways
Somehow our souls forgot
Life means so much
Life means so much
Life means so much
Talent
The key verse for this aspect of serving and giving back to God is found here;
We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve, if it is teaching, let him teach, if it is encouraging, let him encourage, if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously, if it is leadership, let him govern diligently, if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12: 6 -8 NIV
Although Paul does not once mention any of the “gifts” that we usually think of, like music, video and lights, those all can be included within “serving” and “contributing to the needs of others” in helping people to enter into worship.
We must always realize that although every word of the Bible is divine and accurate, the cultural setting was about 2000 years ago, and many times we must be careful in not confusing the two.
Every one of us has been given certain gifts by God’s grace. Some are more visible, and others are more to be used behind the scenes, but we are to give back unto God, what he has given us by serving others.
The Parable of the Talents – Matthew 25:14 – 30
Jesus gave this parable about a man about to go on a journey, and he gives his servants “talents”, which even though it is an ancient form of money, it represents actual talents and gifts that God gives to all of us!
(Don’t get confused! A talent was worth about 1000 dollars, but represented a gift that this master gave his servants. He also expected them to use this gift in service, and earn interest upon his return)
This man gave one servant five talents, another two, and then the last servant got one. When he returned, and wanted to see their progress, the one who had five gained five more, and the one who had two gained two more. Both of these servants gained high approval and a grand entrance into the master’s house. But the servant, who had one talent, hid it in the ground out of fear, and gained nothing. When he attempted to give back to his master exactly what had been given him, his master called him wicked and lazy, and took his one talent away and gave it to the one who had ten!
This parable is buried between two others, one about the ten virgins, and the other about the sheep and the goats. So it can often be overlooked or just lumped together as a bunch of odd stories that Jesus told one day!
But it is very important! Dr. John MacArthur has said that this parable illustrates four basic aspects of spiritual opportunity;
The responsibility is that we all have been given gifts from God! We are all responsible to God for what we do with them. If our reaction is to use them in service, then we enter into that circle of grace and God does the multiplying! If our reaction is to keep it to ourselves and never use it, then nothing is gained for us, or anyone else! Our reward will be based on which reaction that we choose.
Treasure
Finally, we come to the last area of service, which is our treasure, our money, ouch!!!
Yes, I’ve saved the best for last! Here is the key verse;
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously, will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly, or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times; having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. II Corinthians 9: 6 – 8 NIV
There are some people who don’t seem to have much talent, and they have very little time because it is spent working so hard at long hours. But it is these people who usually abound more in this area, and have accumulated wealth in finances. Just like in our gifts and time, God will also hold all of us accountable for how we spent our money, especially those with ample supply.
Notice that Paul states in the verse above that each one should decide what to give, not under compulsion, but cheerfully and out of love for God. Many churches make the mistake of commanding their staff, leaders, and even the volunteers to tithe at least 10% of their income. This is a good idea, and a great place to start, but it should never be a forced rule!
If Godly people were to seek God and deal with this issue on their own, there would be ample supply of money, in fact an overflow, and the problem would be how to decide where to give it away in missions. (See the last verse quoted above, that God is able to make all grace abound and supply all needs in context of giving financially.)
Once again, everything that we have comes from God, including our money. If we decide to give 10%, we should never think, “I am giving God his tenth cut, and the rest is mine!” No, rather, it ALL belongs to God, and whatever we give back, is a small token of service to further God’s kingdom on this earth, as churches and people all have bills to pay like everybody else.
In fact, a good thing to remember about giving is this; whenever we give to God, in any capacity, time-talent-treasure, it is always THE LEAST that we can do for all he has done for us! If we keep that in mind, it is very hard to become bitter, or think of cutting back during tough times.
Also, whenever we give in finances to God, it should never be what is left over at the bottom of our check book after all the other bills are paid. The very best way, and Biblically sound way of faith, is to FIRST, write out the check
For whatever amount for the Kingdom of God, THEN, proceed to pay all your bills! I have been doing it this way for years and can personally say that it is the very best way! God deserves the first slice, every time!
Conclusion
I have gone through the some important concepts of giving back to God, for every Christ follower. As we come to the conclusion, the best teachers always try to summarize everything previously stated to help solidify the points and help you remember them better. I think I can do it! In fact, there is one Biblical story which can summarize everything much better than I can do.
The Good Samaritan
We are all aware of this story found in Luke 10: 25 – 37, where a man falls prey to thieves while on a journey, and both a priest and Levite pass by the badly injured man. But a Samaritan passing by came and took pity on this stranger. He bandaged him, took him to an inn, then came back and paid for his care and said he would pay even more if needed!
This Samaritan, commonly called “The Good Samaritan” exemplified all three aspects of giving back to God!
No wonder this Samaritan is called “Good”! This may have been a parable, or it may have been a true story, but either case, it does have a practical application for all of us, right now today.
It is found in the last verse of this story, Luke 10: 37;
These are the words of Jesus in context of this Good Samaritan story, which still echo for all of us today, and with these words I’ll conclude:
Go and do likewise.