The Generous Invitation
In his second letter to the church at Corinth Paul writes ‘Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. The passage is often cited when we are talking about financial giving. But I want to suggest that God loves a generous invitation. When we cheerfully rather than reluctantly give an invitation, God blesses the giver as well as the receiver of the invitation. I am generally in my seminars dealing with the Christian attitude of ‘do I have to give an invitation?’ I think our attitude should be ‘I don’t have to invite I get to invite!’ Invite someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church.
