The unmet, basic needs among the poor in the developing nations are incredible. The desperation among poor believers in these nations has motivated them to look outside of their borders to richer believers in other nations to provide relief. Yet the priority responsibility remains within these poor nations to reach their own people. There are too few outside benefactors to meet these needs! So the culture and mindset of Christians in these nations must change.
The New Testament makes it clear that even poor believers in Jesus Christ in that first century gave generously and sacrificially to meet the needs of poorer believers, both locally and internationally. One of Paul’s international mission projects was to passionately gather offerings from churches from several regions of the world to relieve the poor believers in Jerusalem. And the desperately poor from Macedonia were among the first to give! In Acts, those who had more material blessings helped those in need. This kind of sacrificial giving had much to do with growing the first century church.
Yet my personal travels within the developing nations in this century have proven to me that the church has lost this vision for sacrificial giving. As I teach and preach God’s Word in churches and conferences overseas, the fact is that many, many Christians (many of these are pastors and leaders) are not giving their tithes and offerings. I call these believers to repentance in every place I go! So these believers have simply justified their positions that they can’t afford to give, for they are poor. Let the rich man give instead!
Yet the Word of God is clear and needs to be applied to every believer---rich or poor. Unless the poor believer is faithful to bring his tithes and offerings to the Lord for the Biblical purposes of supporting workers in the harvest and serving the poor, God’s blessings will not be poured out upon him. It is that simple! If you expect to have an inheritance in Heaven, you must invest your own talents. You cannot expect another to do it for you. My giving will not cause you to grow your Heavenly treasure---only your own giving will count. And this is not measured in the total amounts you give, but according to your ability and sacrifice.
So, please, please, stop expecting the rich to meet the needs of the poor in your nation. Personally, if I waited for the rich to help me before I did my work in missions, I would do very, very little! So I must trust the Lord to raise up support from many, many people with average incomes---not a rich man. So you can do the same thing, but you need to get your mind renewed to understand these principles. And the New Testament is the place you must go to get your education. So stop expecting someone else to provide the funds---do everything you can among yourselves. God will bless you and expand your ministry as you are faithful to do so.
The New Testament makes it clear that even poor believers in Jesus Christ in that first century gave generously and sacrificially to meet the needs of poorer believers, both locally and internationally. One of Paul’s international mission projects was to passionately gather offerings from churches from several regions of the world to relieve the poor believers in Jerusalem. And the desperately poor from Macedonia were among the first to give! In Acts, those who had more material blessings helped those in need. This kind of sacrificial giving had much to do with growing the first century church.
Yet my personal travels within the developing nations in this century have proven to me that the church has lost this vision for sacrificial giving. As I teach and preach God’s Word in churches and conferences overseas, the fact is that many, many Christians (many of these are pastors and leaders) are not giving their tithes and offerings. I call these believers to repentance in every place I go! So these believers have simply justified their positions that they can’t afford to give, for they are poor. Let the rich man give instead!
Yet the Word of God is clear and needs to be applied to every believer---rich or poor. Unless the poor believer is faithful to bring his tithes and offerings to the Lord for the Biblical purposes of supporting workers in the harvest and serving the poor, God’s blessings will not be poured out upon him. It is that simple! If you expect to have an inheritance in Heaven, you must invest your own talents. You cannot expect another to do it for you. My giving will not cause you to grow your Heavenly treasure---only your own giving will count. And this is not measured in the total amounts you give, but according to your ability and sacrifice.
So, please, please, stop expecting the rich to meet the needs of the poor in your nation. Personally, if I waited for the rich to help me before I did my work in missions, I would do very, very little! So I must trust the Lord to raise up support from many, many people with average incomes---not a rich man. So you can do the same thing, but you need to get your mind renewed to understand these principles. And the New Testament is the place you must go to get your education. So stop expecting someone else to provide the funds---do everything you can among yourselves. God will bless you and expand your ministry as you are faithful to do so.
