So how much is enough?

How much should I give?  10%?  The tithe?  Is that before or after taxes?  Should I include any extra monies that I receive?  What about my investments and any interest they make for me?  Should that be part of my giving?  And who should I give this to? Should I give 10% to my local church and support other ministries and charities out of the rest of my income?  Or can I dole out this 10% as I see fit? 

And the questions just keep piling up, one upon another.  The truth is that all these questions are really just stalling for time. The proverbial 'red herring'. No matter what the answer, the questions highlight that we are anything but gracious and generous in our giving. We want formulas. We want guidelines. We want someone else to tell us how much.

I like Paul's answer to these questions.  In 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 he says:

"I am not laying down any rules. But by showing how eager others are to help, I am trying to find out how real your own love is. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty." (2 Corinthians 8:8-9)

Paul says that it simply comes down to this.  "How real is your own love?"

How real is your love for the Lord and his sacrifice for you? How real is your love for his church? How real is your love for your local faith community? How real is your love for your fellow believers? How real is your love for those in need?

When I read about the life of the early church in the letters of Paul and in the Acts of the Apostles, it is obvious that the love of the people for Christ, his church and one another shapes their core values.  When I see the life in the church today and hear some of the messages being preached in various parts of the church, it appears that the core value is being shaped by self-interests and consumerism.

So how much is enough?

Well, how real is your own love?