“I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back—but God has a bigger shovel.” – R. G. LeTourneau
R. G. LeTourneau, a Christian industrialist, dedicated his life to “being a businessman for God.” He was very successful, designing and developing his own line of earth-moving equipment. LeTourneau was the creator of nearly 300 inventions with hundreds of patents in his lifetime.
As he succeeded financially, he increased his giving to the point where he was giving 90% of his income back to the church. Some of you may think, “I could give 90% too if I was a multi-millionaire.” Maybe so, but LeTourneau didn’t start out wealthy. We have to be faithful in the small things before God gives us more.
Maybe for some, you have thought, “What if I give this gift and I do not have enough?” This thought of insufficiency or lacking is always on our minds. But this thought of, “What if I don’t have enough for what I need?” normally boils down to, “What if I don’t have enough for what I want?”.
During our Campfire series here at Journey Church, we had a churchwide challenge. We had taught on the parable of the servants and their talents found in the book of Matthew, and we gave out $10, $20, and $50-dollar envelopes and challenged everyone to put that money to work. What our church brought back in was almost four times as much as we gave out. In our life, it is the same way. We may not be someone that is a multi-millionaire, but we can still put what God has given us to work.
At Journey, we just finished our missions conference, a time we set aside to focus on missions and how God uses our church to help fulfill His mandate to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). As we talk about these things, there is a need for the church.
Pastor Darrick talked about the idea of paying it forward and how Christianity is all about paying it forward. We at Journey Church want to pay it forward like the church in Antioch. We want to send out people and finances to the world so that people can come to know God. We are blessed to be a blessing.
We can’t give what we don’t have. We can only give what we do have. Remember, it is not the amount we give that matters, but it is with what heart we give that makes all the difference. The Bible lays this out clearly, as Mark writes in chapter 12:
“41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you; this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
When we give sacrificially, we give until it hurts. We do not give just out of our abundance, but we give with sacrifice. As we look at our own lives, we see many times where we give when we have much, but our giving changes when we have little. I want to challenge anyone reading this to look for opportunities to increase your giving and see what God does. Our giving is the only time God tells us to test Him (Malachi 3:10).
In our giving, what we give to missions matters. You may be in the season where you have little, but take some time today to pray and ask God what He wants you to give, whether it is a $20 per month or $1,000 one-time gift. You may be in the season of life where you have an abundance. I want to challenge you to give out of your abundance and then give more. Watch what God will do with your finances. Remember what R.G. LeTourneau said, “I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back—but God has a bigger shovel.” We can never out-give God.
What we give this next year will impact the world and in that impact, lives will be changed. Change the world because the World-Changer lives within you. Thank you for your faith-filled giving to missions.