by LMC Stewardship Team
The story is told of Sam Houston, a hero of Texas history, who gave his life to the Lord in the later years of life and asked to be baptized. He was taken down to a little country stream, and the pastor said, “General Houston, you should take your glasses off because I am going to immerse you in water.” There also were some papers in General Houston’s pocket, so he took those out as well.
Then, just as he was getting ready to go into the water, the pastor noticed that General Houston still had his wallet in his pants. He said, “Well, General, you might want to take that wallet out of your pants. It is going to get wet.”
Houston responded, “If there is any part of me that needs baptizing, it is my wallet.” So Houston was baptized, wallet and all. (a)
Perhaps we could say baptizing the wallet can be a sign of a total commitment to be Christ-like. A way for an individual to demonstrate repentance from the way they used to live before they met the Lord Jesus. When a congregation makes the decision to tithe to LMC, it could be one sign of a congregation’s renewed commitment to be a more active part of the body of Christ.
When Paul was teaching the church of Corinth to excel in the grace of giving (1 Corinthians 8:7-15 NIV), he used the need of Jerusalem to inspire the Corinthian congregation to demonstrate the sincerity of their love for Christ and for others by giving from their heart – from the desire to do so. The year before this letter was sent to them, the church of Corinth gave generously. However, Paul wanted them to show the consistency of their commitment by continuing to send an offering. The action of giving and receiving is a true image of sojourning together as a people of Israel and as the family of God. Like the collection of our daily bread, manna from the Lord, Paul said “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.” (v. 14-15).
Let’s keep this equality in Christ–this sharing willingly out of the gifts we have so generously been given. If you have given to LMC, thank you for your commitment to helping support the LMC mission–A Spirit-led movement to Make disciples of Jesus, Mobilize every member as a missionary, and Multiply faith communities locally and beyond! If you have not yet given to LMC, please prayerfully consider doing so.
May we excel in the grace of giving. Let us baptize our wallet!
LMC Stewardship Team