The Recognition We Received – And How We Hope To Never Get It Again
First Baptist Church was recognized as being in the top 25 churches (out of 492) for per capita giving at this year’s Northwest Baptist Convention. That means we gave more per person than most other churches (even if most other churches may have given a bigger total amount).
Sounds great, right?! Well, yes, in one sense: giving the way God says to give is a great sign of Christian maturity.
But here’s the problem: We don’t want to be a church full of mature Christians.
Wait, what??
Here’s what I mean by mature Christians: people who make disciples intentionally everywhere they go, give sacrificially, serve regularly, forgive every single time, and who remind themselves of the Gospel daily. Yeah, we shouldn't all be like that.
We want our church to be a mix of people who are at every stage of maturity.
Let's be a church with atheists exploring the idea of God again, backsliders on the rebound, baby Christians who constantly make messes just like a real baby would, young Christians who have never served before and are just starting to find their place, teenage Christians who move from tipping God to giving so much it hurts, and yes, we do want some adult Christians who are making disciples of Jesus.
So I hope we never again receive this recognition. I hope our church has lots of people giving as God commands – but I hope they’re mixed in with a LOT MORE people just learning about giving to God!
