Jesus wants you to be an entrepreneur?

You have only 30 minutes for lunch. You pop the frozen dinner you brought to work into the microwave in the breakroom … and become impatient as the two minutes and 30 seconds tick away before your meal is done.

People hate to wait. Whether it’s for dinner to be done, a red light to turn green, to get an answer from the boss, or guidance from God, people hate to wait.

Except for the offering plate to be passed.

The one thing we seem to give no consideration to unless we’re directly asked is our financial gifts to God.

Perhaps that’s because we’re given very little instruction about the stewardship of our financial blessings. We hear the arguments for and against tithing, we’re encouraged to give cheerfully, and even liberally. But it’s not often we’re taught that stewardship is not only an active and ongoing part of the Christian life, but a pro-active one as well.

We need to be teaching disciples to be spiritual entrepreneurs and philanthropists, because that’s what Jesus taught. Read closely this lesson from Jesus:

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,'” Matthew 25:14-30.

Jesus paints a simple picture here: everything we have belongs to God and is entrusted to us as a stewardship. We need to pro-actively invest His blessings upon our lives — including financial blessings — in the building of the kingdom of God. God has not blessed us so we can bury our blessings, or lavish them only upon ourselves and a select few (such as our family), but to bring about a “return” for Him upon His return.

Instead of waiting for the offering plate to be passed before begrudgingly parting with a little cash, we should be seeking opportunities to serve others with our gifts and investing in those things that accomplish the purpose and will of God. We can support our church and mission works; we can feed the hungry and house the homeless; we can invest in those who have gifts we don’t that bring people to Christ, that disciple people, that help the hurting.

God doesn’t hand us a bag of cash and say,”Enjoy life!” He blesses us with what resources we have and expects us to expend those blessings as a stewardship in such a way that, when Christ returns, He will say to you and me, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

There are both simple and great things that can be done for the cause of Christ that are simply waiting on our pocketbooks, our stewardship.

Are you living as a spiritual entrepreneur and philanthropist? Or are you waiting for the offering plate to be passed?

Scotty