A Necessary Advancement

Hi. My name is Christian Reese and chances are you already know that because really, to be honest, at this point the only people seeing this are my friends. I tend to be like most people in that I don't jump into a new technology until EVERYBODY already has, which is why the development of this blog has only just now found life. The beautiful part is I'm the consultant for new technology at a local company. Wow, I'm already rambling....

So this blog is now created and for the moment it's been for only one reason: I saw something that caused me to want to say something publicly. I subscribe to a blog called Church Marketing Sucks, a website dedicated to the usually horrid world of church marketing and overall image. A recent poll on their blog asked church staff what the most obvious result was in their churches since the beginning of the current economic struggle. The number one answer? "Offerings are down". A few years ago this would have been a boring poll. But now, to me at least, this is a great snapshot of the current times.

I haven't always been a giver, especially when it comes to church. I tithed when I could, which is to say I gave of my excess. Lovingly, God placed me at The Rock Church in Asheville, NC where I got my senses straightened out. There's nothing loving or generous about giving when you don't have to think about it. It's the proverbial tossing money toward a birthday at work. Real giving occurs when it costs you. Like it pulls from you. Like, it costs you. We don't like that. Which is why most people don't give.

Yet God is really clear on the issue. Give, and He will give to you. You give, He gives (more than He already does, by the way). Better yet, you give, He blesses. That's an awesome idea. And that never comes with a contingency plan. Again though, it has to cost you. It's not about giving in the harvest; it's about giving as a lifestyle. Giving when your blessed is like going to church or praying when you're blessed. The more I think about it, that's actually a bit redundant.

So the challenge has been set forth at The Rock. An initiative we've coined The Generosity Experiment. Till the end of the year make it priority to tithe and be generous to God's House and the people in your world. "Test me now in this," God tells us. So, let's test Him. Better yet, let's prove Him right. Economic crisis or not - generosity, blessing and abundance are lifestyles. And if we can so easily turn them off, then what's the point of building our lives on them.

+ Christian