Recently on the weekly podcast, Ben and I talked about the theology and joy of giving because Sovereign Grace is in the process of writing a biblical, theological approach to giving paper, meant to equip, inspire and stir giving for mission and ministry with the emphasis on experiencing joy.
And it's a joy to serve the church and to labor for the church. It's a joy to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to people. It's a joy to pastor people, whatever they're walking through. And so it's a vocation of joy that we're involved in, but it's not only our joy, it's for those that we serve that we are to cultivate joy. Paul said as much in one of his letters, he said, "I work, I labor for your joy". And so joy is to mark the Christian Church, not only what pastors do, but what members enjoy.
And I think there are a number of ways that we labor for the joy of our people in our churches. I don't know that we would put generosity in giving near the top of that list. And so I think we've gotta have a fresh perspective when it comes to the call to give, to sacrificial giving, because when you give sacrificially people experience a joy, right? That actually can be very contagious and they want to be even more generous as a result. And we don't want to deprive our people of that joy is maybe the way to say it. And so that's really the motivation of writing a theology of giving paper. ~Mark Prater
Mark Prater is the Executive Director for Sovereign Grace and serves as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church. A weekly podcast with Sovereign Grace updates, hosted by Benjamin Kreps, is posted on his blog.