by Joe Ranney

This Gleanings series has been running for over a year now. Have you read each of the articles? This seems to be a good time to have a little review before moving on to additional topics. Good, let's go!

A Go-er or a Sender?

The Great Commission is God's great command to all believers and all churches. Mark 16:15 states, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation" (NIV). This applies to us, the average church member, not just to missionaries and pastors. To fulfill the responsibility of The Great Commission, tens of thousands have been called to go into foreign missions, hundreds of thousands have been called to "full-time" ministry and the rest of us, the millions, are to be "senders" to the mission field. For 55 years now, my wife and I have proven the exciting and delightful reality and relevance of this hypothesis. Clearly, God did not call the two of us to go, but rather to send to the mission field. If you have never realized that The Great Commission's call was for you, and that the Lord wanted you to accept and surrender to that call, would you do so just now?

The Lord wants us all to be a part of The Great Commission's call to "go" or "send." About now, you might be thinking, "That is true, but how do I go about it? What should I do?" Each of us "senders" can accomplish this by diligently earning money and watching how we spend it. By wisely managing and carefully budgeting the use of our income, frugal spending means that more can be given to our local church and to other ministries as well.

I learned a long time ago that success in life is not to be measured by how much money I make, but how I spend what I make. Three options are available to define your philosophy and way of life towards spending. The first is "I want it." The second is "I need it." Finally, the third is "Do I have to have it?" That third option is our Lord's preferred way for us, and therefore, the way I have always tried to live. Galations 2:20 is a good reference point for this type of disciplined lifestyle. I paraphrase the verse this way: "My pocketbook is crucified with Christ, nevertheless it goes on spending as I live with The Great Commission call to send . . . ." See also 2 Timothy 2:3-5. 

To be most effective in this walk of stewardship, we commit ourselves to harnessing our treasure, talents and time for the Lord. With God's help, we can resolve to build and live on a budget that places our tithes and offerings in a top priority position. We also need to tithe of our talents (personal gifts and abilities) and time (a precious commodity these days). 

Malachi 3:8 presents a sobering fact: "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings." James says that faith without works is dead. Giving, loving and believing are inseparable. One of the greatest evidences that Jesus is Lord of our lives is the fruit of giving, loving and believing being worked out in our lives.

It is interesting to me that Jesus used 16 of 38 parables to teach His disciples about money and possessions. Did you know that one out of ten verses (288 total) in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John deal with money? In the Bible, there are 500 verses on prayer, 500 verses about faith and 2,000 on money and possessions. Obviously, there is much the Lord wants to teach us on this important subject. When we fully commit ourselves to Commandments 3, 4, 5 and 6 we can rejoice. More on this next time.

As a Christian who has recognized my sinfulness and has accepted Jesus Christ as my sin-bearer and Savior, I write this series primarily to fellow believers, like you. However, if you have never accepted Him as your personal Savior, would you do so right now? Turn to the Knowing God portion of this Web site to find out more. The Bible has the answers to all of your concerns and need. Get to know our precious Lord Jesus through your Bible. Jesus yearns to be not only our Savior, but also our Lord as well.