Saturday, September 22, 2012

The Offering Plate

 Give, and it shall be given to you.
Luke 6:38

A Christian might say, "God does answer the minister's prayers -- 
He sends people to give money to the church!" 
If this is the case, then the people are puppets, 
and God is stealing their money by 
forcing them to give it to the church. 
The absurdity of that situation is obvious.
If God were answering the prayers of the minister, 
there would be no need for the offering plate. 
God would provide the money that the church needs, not people. 
God is Imaginary - Proof #10  Watch the Offering Plate

The biggest problem with the logic of the writer of the 50 proofs on the God is Imaginary website is that he believes that God thinks like him - like a human being.  He speaks of God and His actions in very human terms, when God says plainly, "I don't think like you."

God does not force Christians to give their money to the church.  In fact, God does not force Christians or anyone else - believer or nonbeliever - to do anything.  He can and does ask us to do things as His representatives in a world that questions His existence, but He does not force us to acquiesce.  He respects our power of choice, and leaves the decision up to us as to whether we will or will not give, do, or act.  I am not God's puppet.  There are no strings attached.  If I love Him, serve Him, and act as His representative, it is because I choose to do so - because I want to.

Yes, I suppose that God could surreptitiously fill the offering plates - causing the money to just appear in the church bank accounts or in the little wall safe.  God could print His own money if He so desired, but He simply does not think nor act on that level.  He knows that we humans tend to be stingy hoarders of everything we can get our hands on, and that it is in our own best interests to stir within us our charitable side - to reach out to those who walk beside us on this journey through life.  So He calls on us to give - not just our money to the church, but a cup of cold water to the thirsty, food and care to the homeless, friendship to the prisoner, clothing to the poor, solace to the grieving,  compassion to the sick.  And we do so, not because He pulls a string, but because He touches our hearts.

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