that miraculous, magic math.

The music of John Lee Hooker is a gift from God. As is coffee. Also, Real Simple magazine, hot bubbly brie, and the writings of N.T. Wright--all gifts from God.

I believe that God put these things on earth, and introduced me to them, because He loves me. There's no other explanation. Have you ever had brie baked with strawberry jam on top on the salty side of a triscuit? It's a religious experience. Every time.

Though I have no problems naming these small miracles, I am consistently bothered by some of the "miracle math" that is talked about in the church. Not just at James River. This is something that goes way back for me, and has popped up in almost every church I've been to. Suddenly it occurs to me that I should take some humility--if it pops up everywhere, maybe I'm the wrong one. Maybe not. I should probably take the humility anyway.

Either way, I have heard some variation of this story about a hundred times now:

"I really needed $50 and I prayed, and it just showed up."

I hate this story. I do. I'm sorry. I think it's representative of a much larger complex of Christian finance. That's probably best illustrated with another common narrative:

"We started giving our 10%, and we were so blessed in our bank account--there was just money there that had never been there before!"

I despise this story as well. Both of them have a sort of gee-whiz attitude towards money, and both are generally related as though something astounding happened. It didn't. There are no magic tricks in math.

By God's grace and with His prompting, you decided to get serious about giving. With His love, and wisdom, you learned to be more disciplined, and picked up the skills necessary to better manage your money. As He richly rewarded your discipline and devotion to gaining those skills, you were blessed.

We don't have to pretend that something is opaque in order to call it a miracle. Some miracles are transparent. And that doesn't make them any less good, or any less God. Not every miracle has to be a complete mystery. Though I'll concede that the nature of the miraculous, even the every-day variety, provides that almost every miracle is in part a mystery. (If for no other reason than that our very existence is miraculous).

Two aspects of this "miracle model for money" in the church are troubling to me. Firstly, I see it get caught up in a discussion of "Godly v. Wordly" wisdom in very odd ways. The outcome is that irresponsibility is passed off as Godly wisdom. Thus, poor decisions become systemic, and spiritually-rewarding (internally anyway).

A friend of mine was telling me that in her church, the pastors decided to instate a "double-giving December." They are asking the congregation to give twice what they normally give, during the month of December. To underscore their own devotion to the effort, the lead pastor and his wife announced that they'd be giving their entire month's salary back to the church. He told the congregation, with some glee apparently, that they were trusting the Lord to come through on their needs ("Godly wisdom"). My response to her was: "The Lord already came through. He gave them a paying job, and a calculator." ("Worldly wisdom").

The problem here is that the Lord "coming through" becomes practically translated into other people coming through. There's a deeper problem in this case, actually, which is that this church has had past issues with fiscal irresponsibility. So you have a pastor who has been involved in financial mismanagement of the church's money, coming back to the congregation for double-portions, making a personal decision that might cause his own life to become a microcostic example of the macrocostic problem area that has been his spreadsheet.

Even in the absence of a pattern in the red, the second problem ought to be apparent. When we as individuals show less than full responsibility for ourselves, we put the onus on our church to fill the gap. In cases of emergency and unexpected pitfalls, this is 100% appropriate. Churches ought to be places that take care of their own, just as should families. But when that care-taking is brought on by carelessness or irresponsibility, it holds back the church from keeping the great commission. It forces the focus from reaching outward to continually handing inward. The church as a place, and a process becomes a self-serving one.

Does that mean that we oughtn't share stories of a much-needed check in the mail? Or of the blessing that has come upon us as we tithe? Absolutely not what I'm saying. But I do wonder if we ought to be more nuanced in the way that we relate these stories and blessings. If by discussing them openly, and honestly, and in detail, we might lead ourselves out of the "miracle model" and to a more mathematical model. And that in changing the way we talk about these "miracles," we can then take on a more practical relationship with money, in the church. Not because I think that God is not involved in our finances, but because I think that He gave us the tools, and the abilities to use our cash for His kingdom. And to use it well.

We are not of the world, but for now, we're livin' it.