Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June 16/56

Contributor - Jacob Blaauw

Title - What Do You Expect For A Dime?

Topic - Stewardship

A father attended Church one Sunday morning with his young son. He did not attend the preaching of the Word very regularly, but this beautiful Sunday morning he managed to get ready and went. On the way home after the service he complained and grumbled about the people being so unfriendly, the choir was not very good and lacked harmony, the building needed repair, and the preacher had not preached to suit him either. For a while he kept up his fault-finding with the service and the church in general until his young son interrupted him and said: "But, dad, what do, you expect for a dime?'

Here is revealed a sin very common among church people today. The Christian Church, where God's Word is faithfully and fearlessly proclaimed, is the most vital institution not only in the life of every nation, but also for us as families and as individuals. Here is proclaimed the message of the Gospel of the Grace of God which deals with our eternal salvation and destiny. How we and our children need to hear and be instructed every week, yes, every day, in that Gospel, for to know Jesus Christ as Saviour is LIFE, and not to know Him is to be eternally lost. And not only is the Christian Church the only institution to deal with this most important factor and seeks our eternal welfare, but for this institution our Lord Jesus Christ died and "Purchased it with His own blood." The Church is God's institution, it belongs to HIM, and HE sent it on its holy mission into our sin sick world.

We who are members of His Church and profess to know Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour bear the responsibility and privilege of maintaining it in this world, for God looks to His own people for its support. He instructs us how to give to it, and so to HIM, and. tells us that we are to give "cheerfully", proportionately, systematically, regularly, sacrificially and lovingly (I Cor. 16:1-2, II Cor. 9:7). But how many church members deal with the church (arid with her Lord) as a beggar and "throw in a dime or perhaps a quarter" and think they have "done our duty" and "the Church has then no kick coming". What do they expect for a dime or a quarter, and how will they ever explain this disobedience and sin to God when they meet Him after while face to face? Above all the genuiness of our profession of faith is tested by our liberality, for the amount of our giving declares the measure of our love for the Lord. "GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER."

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