Mis-matched plasticware
A few weeks ago I was cleaning out the church kitchen and found what looked like a garage sale had vomited into the cabinets. There were used disposable plastic trays from a catered event that someone had washed and placed in the cabinet along with a myriad of plastic bowls with no lids and plastic lids with no bowls. There was a broken skillet, a rusty stockpot, and about two dozen spatulas in various stages of having been accidentally melted. It was clear that someone -- or several someones, more likely -- had cleaned out their kitchens to donate all the unwanted items to the church kitchen. This isn't the first time I had seen this kind of has-been kitchen collection in a church. In fact, I would wager that most church kitchens have cabinets full of used items that were donated by well-meaning members who had cleaned out their home kitchens.
Why is this a problem, anyway? Isn't it nice to donate things to the church? Don't they need plastic bowls and spatulas and other kitchen items? Isn't a used item better than none at all?
The problem is with the heart of the matter. Why should your church get the useless stuff you don't want? That isn't a sacrifice. Your church deserves the best you have to offer. Jesus offered the best of himself, after all. Why not treat the church building with the same generous spending you would offer to your own home kitchen. Do you have nice utensils to cook with in your own kitchen? Or plasticware with lids? Or cooking pots that are safe to cook with? If it isn't good enough to use in your own home, it doesn't belong in your church. Your church kitchen isn't a reject bin, it's a place where people serve others in the name of Jesus.
The same can be said with treating the church generously in the area of sharing your finances. The church deserves your first share (or tithe) of financial support, not the $5 bill you happened to remember was in your wallet only after you accidentally made eye contact with the usher. Do you believe in what your church is doing? Do you love your church and does it meet needs in your life and the life of your community? Do you believe that your community is experiencing Jesus through your church? Do you want your pastor doing the work of the church as his full-time job, rather than just speaking on Sundays while he earns a paycheck elsewhere (remember that he and his family have bills, too)? Do you want the church to have working heat, toilet paper, and other amenities when you visit? Running a church requires money. Your money. And it cannot function effectively on your leftovers.
The church can't fulfill its mission with a bunch of broken-down tools and cannot keep the doors open without an adequate operating budget. Are you giving your best to your church? Or are they getting the secondhand junk you can easily spare?
Why is this a problem, anyway? Isn't it nice to donate things to the church? Don't they need plastic bowls and spatulas and other kitchen items? Isn't a used item better than none at all?
The problem is with the heart of the matter. Why should your church get the useless stuff you don't want? That isn't a sacrifice. Your church deserves the best you have to offer. Jesus offered the best of himself, after all. Why not treat the church building with the same generous spending you would offer to your own home kitchen. Do you have nice utensils to cook with in your own kitchen? Or plasticware with lids? Or cooking pots that are safe to cook with? If it isn't good enough to use in your own home, it doesn't belong in your church. Your church kitchen isn't a reject bin, it's a place where people serve others in the name of Jesus.
The same can be said with treating the church generously in the area of sharing your finances. The church deserves your first share (or tithe) of financial support, not the $5 bill you happened to remember was in your wallet only after you accidentally made eye contact with the usher. Do you believe in what your church is doing? Do you love your church and does it meet needs in your life and the life of your community? Do you believe that your community is experiencing Jesus through your church? Do you want your pastor doing the work of the church as his full-time job, rather than just speaking on Sundays while he earns a paycheck elsewhere (remember that he and his family have bills, too)? Do you want the church to have working heat, toilet paper, and other amenities when you visit? Running a church requires money. Your money. And it cannot function effectively on your leftovers.
The church can't fulfill its mission with a bunch of broken-down tools and cannot keep the doors open without an adequate operating budget. Are you giving your best to your church? Or are they getting the secondhand junk you can easily spare?
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