I give when I go...
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"I give when I go!" That is the response too many church members make to a stewardship caller who is encouraging them to make a pledge. The saddest thing about that response is that it was learned during that person's days in Sunday school. When, as a child, this person attended Sunday school, he brought an offering. But, on the Sunday he didn't attend, he was not taught to put something aside for God's work out of his offering that he might bring at his next opportunity. The "I give when I go" response was taught at an early age.
The second sadness felt from that approach to stewardship is that it forgets our history. Israel was commanded to remember their history, to make confession of how the Lord had heard them and rescued them from the hard bondage of Egypt as part of the dedication of the "first fruits" of the harvest. When we sing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," or "All things come to thee, O Lord," it needs to be with understanding and conviction.
The second sadness felt from that approach to stewardship is that it forgets our history. Israel was commanded to remember their history, to make confession of how the Lord had heard them and rescued them from the hard bondage of Egypt as part of the dedication of the "first fruits" of the harvest. When we sing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," or "All things come to thee, O Lord," it needs to be with understanding and conviction.
