…Of Sowing and Sentiment, (My BAD Science on the ART of taking up/giving offering :)

We’ve ALL experienced it. A ROCKING service, the worship was PHENOMENAL, atmosphere ELECTRIC, Its REALLY shaping up to be the BEST SERVICE EVER!

THAT is, until the M.C takes the mic and makes that dreaded announcement…

“…Turn to your neighbor and say, Its TIME FOR THE OFFERING..,”

and all of a sudden ATMOSPHERIC KILLSWITCH!
…and ‘AWKWARD’ walks in to his universal theme song of…crickets, wearing nothing but a stupid smile, a Yellow Viking hat and a giant CLOCK. ( and everybody mutters under their breath….Awwwkwaaard!)

So Why does the AIR get sucked out of a room and it suddenly gets super awkward when it’s time to take up an offering?

I believe its because of my following bad science. Bear with me, and if anything, take away the sentiment and not the science of my post. (Since I’m clearly not a scientist) I mean, what scientist is busy blogging on a Saturday morning and not curing cancer?

I believe As HUMANS, we are inherently selfish and consequently hopelessly sentimental to the things we deem necessary for the sustenance of our comfort zones. Once we GET something, it becomes almost fundamentally IMPOSSIBLE for us to give it away. Any act of BENEVOLENCE on our part as fallen humanity is always contrary to the way we are inherently wired. Which explains why acts of philanthropy are often celebrated as glorious exceptions and not merely regarded as our species’ behavioral norms. It is NOT natural to give,

to share,

to SOW.

Thats why the PUREST expression of LOVE is GIVING.

       “For God so loved…”-Jesus (John 3:16)

GIVING Is simply a declaration that I have found someone ‘WORTHY’ of expanding the limited scope of my ‘SELF’ for. When you LOVE, you GIVE in such a way it defies even ‘personal’ logic.Yet giving to the object of our affection seems almost NATURAL because its a natural outworking of the most POTENT drive we possess as humans. LOVE.

You can NEVER divorce LOVE and GIVING.

SOWING however is a different BALLGAME entirely. See whereas LOVE-compelled GIVING is a natural outflow of affection, and therefore feels like it comes naturally,

SOWING is an ACTIVE and DELIBERATE engaging of our MENTAL, COGNITIVE and VOLITIVE faculties to RELEASE, contrary to nature, what our HUMAN NATURE has taught us to GATHER for the ‘survival of the species’.
In order for a LOGICAL human being to SOW, He needs to have a predictive knowledge of these 3 variables

1) The Expected/Projected Harvest. (How much does this type of seed typically produce)

2) The natural Conditions for procuring that Harvest. ( What Climate works with my type of seed. Is this good ground? )

3) The Maintenance of that Seed ( How do i cultivate corn as opposed to wheat)

Deeply embedded in our SUBCONSCIOUS, these 3 processes are ALWAYS the deciding factors to whether we SOW or NOT.

    (DISCLAIMER: You have FULL LIBERTY to use the words SOWING and INVESTING Interchangeably throughout this post.)

Whether spiritual, empirical or metaphysical, We are inherently WIRED to internally ask before we sow,

1) Will I have a sure and substantial return from this harvest?

      2) Are the natural, spiritual and economic indicators favorable to me procuring a substantial return from this harvest?

      3) How much MAINTENANCE will I need to put into this?

The higher up the scale we score on those 3, the more our offering will be.

A good ‘OFFERING TAKER’

or  ‘Christian Investment Pitcher’ 🙂

(…because taking up an offering is merely glorified (literally) value propositioning methinks)

KNOWS how to ENGAGE his prospective givers and speak to those 3 internal concerns in order to settle them and procure a good offering or investment because how EFFECTIVELY we quell those concerns (as offering taker uppers) is directly proportional to the level of our benevolence (as offering giving urrers.) -Not a word Hehe.

See The most PAINFUL part of SOWING is watching the seed DIE!

Our selfish humanity by reflex shies away from That TRANSITIONAL period that happens AFTER we release whats in our hands and BEFORE the harvest comes.That TRYING period when the SEED loses ALL relevance and significance to our immediate lives and for the duration of the gestation and germination period of that seed, we are LITERALLY operating at a loss.

But that’s NEVER how a seasoned farmer’s mind operates is it?

So lets HACK the seasoned farmer’s brain using scriptural principles so WE can rewire our minds to master the art of GIVING, and the ‘bad’ SCIENCE behind it. 🙂

As RATIONAL and LOGICAL human beings, we’d RATHER have our proverbial ‘Bird in the Hand’ NOW than trade it in for the promised ‘2 in the Bush.’

Its just human nature.

Survival is NOW not later!

In the CONTEXT of seed time and harvest therefore, FAITH, TRUST and HOPE are NON-NEGOTIABLES.

1) We ANCHOR our TRUST on God‘s sovereignty and INTEGRITY on ensuring that whatever we RELEASE into his Kingdom  we will indeed REAP the promised and projected hundredfold.

2) We PLACE our HOPE on the intended harvest, based on the TRUST we have placed on the master of conditions Jesus.

3) We use FAITH and FAITH-FILLED confessions and professions to maintain the spiritual growth of that seed and navigate through our trying ‘waiting period’ as we wait for the much anticipated harvest.

I feel like if WE as givers can engage ’seasoned farmer’ mode and use the above 3 virtues TRUST, HOPE and FAITH to decondition our selfish tendencies and recondition our minds to GIVE, not out of compulsion, but as LOVE CRAZED INVESTORS then not only will we begin to see glorious harvests, ( since lovers give more, and confident investors invest more), but we will begin to disinvite Mr. Awkward from our sacred convocations.

🙂