You cannot outgive God!

One of the lasting memories that I carry from my adolescence, concerns my late father. We were a "churchgoing" family and, in the congregation to which we belonged, most people, including the Ross family, gave their offering in special envelopes. These, my mum and dad filled each Saturday evening, one for each of them, and one each for me and those of my siblings who were old enough to attend the worship service.

I recall, clearly, one specific Saturday. I don't know if there had been some additional, and perhaps unexpected, household expense during that week, or coming up in the week ahead, but my mum told my dad that they would have difficulty putting the usual amounts in the church offering envelopes. However, my dad had one personal pleasure - he smoked a pipe. Suddenly he said that if he did without tobacco in the coming week, the envelopes could be filled as usual. 

My mum tried to dissuade him, but he was adamant. "After all", he said, "the Lord is no man's debtor". I had never heard that particular saying before - but it has stuck in my mind for, now, some 65 years. I should add that, on the Monday evening, there was a knock at the front door. My dad went to answer it, and I could hear him speaking with someone. When he returned to the living room, he had a smile that stretched from one ear to the other! "Who was that?", my mum asked. My dad named the person. "What did he want?" my mum asked. "Nothing!" replied my dad, enigmatically! Then he put his hand into his trouser pocket and pulled out a £5 note. "Which bank", he asked, "would take a deposit of  6 shillings on Sunday, and give me £5 on Monday?" It turned out that that my dad had done some work for this other person, and had never been paid. He had accepted the loss but, that evening, he had been paid - with interest!

Many years later, as a student at the Bible Training Institute in Glasgow, the student body were addressed by Stanley Collins, the then Superintendent of the Tent Hall. His message was on the subject of tithing. I had heard the word, but it wasn't something to which I had given a great deal of thought. However, he did say something that brought me up short! He made the point that many of us had given up much to study at the BTI, and that we probably appreciated every penny we received. Then he also told us that if we received a gift of £1 (remember that this was in the latter half of the 1960s) 2 shillings belonged to the Lord - our tithe! 

I am not able to claim very much for myself, but I can say that I have tithed ever since - and eventually added a "love offering". 

One more story! I was now married and the father of two healthy children. But I was also unemployed! I had occasional teaching jobs, but nothing permanent. Three or four times each week, I would sit down to check the family finances. I didn't have a computer with a spreadsheet programme, but pen and paper did the job. I wrote down our income; I wrote down our necessary expenditure; I arrived at a balance - usually "in the red"! However, we maintained our tithes and love gifts. Then, one evening, the Lord spoke to me. "Are you going to get through this month?", He asked. "No, Lord. It looks as if we will be short." "Were you going to get through last month?" came the question. "No , Lord, it didn't look possible." "Did you get through?" A moment of thoughtful silence, then "Yes, Lord. Actually we did!". "And the month before?" "Okay. That was the same." "Has there been a month since you became unemployed , in which you were definitely going to make it?" "No, Lord." Has there been a month when you didn't make it?" Another thoughtful silence. "No, Lord. There hasn't!" "Are you getting the message?" "Yes, Lord. Your mathematics work on a different plane than mine!" Since that evening, I only check the figures when there is a change in our income. 

I can testify, from personal experience, that I - and my family - have never lost out by giving to the Lord. I think it was the late Billy Graham who said: "The Lord can do more with the 90%, than I can with 100%! As my dad said, "The Lord is no man's debtor." 

Humility.

The apostle John records an interesting incident in his record of the Gospel. Referring to the Lord Jesus, on the night on which He was betrayed, John writes: He "rose from supper, laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a towel. Then He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” (John 13:4-5)

The Greek word usually translated "humility" occurs seven times in the New Testament, implying self-abasement and suggesting a meekness of spirit. In Greek literature however, it was used to describe a slave’s demeaning of himself before his master ‒ an outward prostration, rather than an inward character trait.

The idea that a master would set aside his status and voluntarily become a slave was probably incomprehensible to the world of Jesus’ day. Yet, we are instructed to “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8; emphasis added). He defined humility by His actions, as He did during that Last Supper with His disciples, So now we, if we claim to belong to Him, are to voluntarily take up His attitude and “... to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Christian humility arguably surpasses all other virtues. Expressing itself as more than acting in a humble fashion, it consists of an inward habit of self-abasement, showing consideration to all others.

This characteristic, in God’s eyes, is seen as one of great value. “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for « God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. » Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you.” (1 Peter 5:5-6; emphases added).

Being an "influencer"!

Some months ago, my wife and I were spending an overnight with our dear friends in Melun, south of Paris. I honestly cannot recall the context of what I am about to share, but we ended up talking about this modern phenomenon named "influencers"! I asked Jonathan how one became an"influencer", and he replied (not quite verbatim!): "One chooses a catchy name like, for example 'CrazyRev'. Then one posts a blog that people read; and one is an influencer!"

Now, I don't know exactly how accurate my young friend's answer was/is, but I found it interesting - and not just because of the personal application! You see, I realised that I had discovered the 21st century way to spell "disciple of Jesus" (okay, it's only recently that my thinking has moved in this direction!). That new spelling is "influencer"!

Permit me to explain. In the book of the Acts of the apostles, Dr Luke records these words of the Lord Jesus, just before He ascended to return to the Father: "So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority.  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”  And when He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight." (Acts 1:6-9).

Now, for many years I have pointed out that to be an evangelist is to receive a specific gifting of the Lord Jesus, for the equipping of the believers, and the building up of the body of the Christ. (see Eph.4:11-12). However, being a witness is a command of the Lord Jesus - to all of His disciples; and that includes you and me (if, of course, you are one of His!). The only question is: "Am I a good witness, or am I a bad witness?" But make no mistake - if you and I are claiming to be His disciples, then we are His witnesses.

Some will be familiar with the poem written by Annie Johnston Flint:

"Christ has no hands but our hands, to do His work today; He has no feet but our feet, to lead men in His way.

He has no tongue but our tongues to tell men how He died; He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.

We are the only Bible the careless world will read; we are the sinner's gospel; we are the scoffer's creed.

We are the Lord's last message, written in word and deed. What if the type is crooked; what if the print is blurred?!

What if our hands are busy with other work than His? What if our feet are walking where sin’s allurement is?

What if our tongue is speaking of things His lips would spurn? How can we hope to help Him or welcome His return?"

"We are the only Bible the careless world will read; we are the sinner's gospel; we are the scoffer's creed." Do you realise what that is saying? I suggest that it is saying that, by our words and deeds, we are influencing others!

So, perhaps I am, indeed, an "influencer" - and so, if you claim to be a disciple of Jesus, are you! Actually, no matter who you are, if you interact with others, you are influencing them - and they are influencing you! As my late paternal grandmother - a woman with barely any formal education, but tons of common sense and homespun philosophy - was often heard to say:"Show me your company, and I'll tell you your character." 

May the influence of each one of us be positive - and especially if we claim to be Jesus' disciples!