Dr Paul Allen

On its own, it’s hard to make sense of Jesus’ eye-lamp metaphor. However, the ambiguity fades when our interpretation of “the eye is the lamp of the body” involves reading Jesus’ words in context. He’s using imagery from the Hebrew Bible to say that one's spiritual health can be assessed in part by observing the way one uses material possessions. First, this single sentence belongs to a large body of teaching found in Matthew 5-7, known as the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus talks about the body’s eye-lamp in a section of the sermon that focuses on the dangers involved with wealth. This context helps us see that his metaphor specifically speaks to our relationship with money and possessions. Second, as a Jewish teacher, Jesus appeals to common idioms in the Hebrew Bible. Seeing how biblical authors use the metaphorical language of “light-filled” versus “dim” eyes—or “good” versus “bad” eyes—can help us gain a deeper understanding of Jesus’ intended message. For Jesus, the eye becomes an...

“Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.” ( Philippians 4:15 ) As Paul went on his missionary journeys, he never asked for money for himself from the people to whom he preached. He later wrote to the Thessalonians “because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God ” ( 1 Thessalonians 2:9 ). He did stress the teaching of Christ that “the labourer is worthy of his reward” ( 1 Timothy 5:18 ; Luke 10:7 ) and that “even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” ( 1 Corinthians 9:14 ). But he himself said: “I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me” ( 1 Corinthians 9:15 ). Thus, he was especially moved when the impoverished Christians at Philippi , without being asked, “sent once and again unto my neces...

English: First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), located at 1401 Sixth Avenue in Beaver Falls, , . (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) As I reviewed the Giving USA 2012 report*, I found it interesting that  religious giving continues to decline,  falling an estimated 8.1% from 2009-2011. This is not a new trend. Adjusting for inflation, we have seen a steady decline in this sector overall for some time. The significance of this has been masqueraded  because religion is still the largest category of charitable giving reported, representing $95.88 billion of the total $298.42 billion. However, church leaders need to pay closer attention to the downward trend and consider the reasons why. Three key thoughts: People aren’t motivated to give to church just because it’s church . We find many churches (even growing churches) where the vast majority of regular attenders give an extremely small percentage. Many Christian donors feel the church isn’t the place to inve...