Slush Funds...

"For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness." -2 Corinthians 8:13-4

"I think love lays in wait for us." -Bob Goff

I don't remember when I first heard the words "slush fund."

But I do remember that when I was a kid, all the bad guys had off-shore bank accounts in Jamaica and Zurich and that's where they kept their bad money. I always wondered why you'd want to keep your money in a bank on the ocean, but eventually I discovered what "off-shore" meant.

And I knew I wanted one. It seemed exhilarating to have a stack of money that nobody knew about and that the police couldn't find out about or I'd be in big trouble! It seemed exciting.

Well, since I've gotten older and my allowance has gotten bigger (and stopped coming from good old Mom and Dad), I've started my own slush fund for purposes nobody knows about. It's exhilarating. And I'm going to let you in on the secret, because having secrets is sneaky and fun.

You ready? Here's the secret: I give it all away!

Yeah. That's right. I have this "secret amount" in my savings that I make sure to give away every year.

Now, I haven't always done this, of course. From my childhood, I hoarded all my money. Of course, when I was seven it was because I had to save to buy another pack of Pokemon cards. But nevertheless, that pattern didn't change much into my teenage years and early adulthood.

I work for the church, after all. And I still hated giving money away. I didn't give any money to the church. None. Nada.

The first inkling I got that there might be something better for my money to do was in my senior year of high school. I heard about this idea that you could sponsor a kid in Uganda. And that seemed pretty cool. I'm not sure why, but I was intrigued. So I found a guy whose birthday was near mine, and at Christmas I started sponsoring Sande in Uganda.

Nine and a half years have passed, and a lot has changed. But not Sande. Nope, we still write letters every month. But the seed that that one gift planted has grown into a full-sized tree.

You see, Jesus talks A LOT about money. More than anything else as a matter of fact. He has much to say about it. And how we use it. And I missed that for a long time, probably because the numbers on my bank statements were causing a glare in my focus every time I read his words. But eventually, after lots of God's patience, I started to see it.

Maybe there was something to this giving business. It must be important, otherwise Jesus would have talked about other, more important things, like puppies and rainbows. (Surprisingly, neither made it into the gospels!)

So little by little, I started to give away. But not alone. I had lots of friends who showed me how. It seems silly to have someone show you how to give money away, but when your hand is so trained to grasp the bills tightly, you need others to help you loosen your hold. I saw mentors and teachers giving recklessly. And I wanted to be like them.

So I made a radical change.

There's an idea in the bible of something called a tithe. It was the offering God's people would make of the first 1/10 of what they harvested. It didn't come after taxes and the bills were paid. It was the first tenth. Everything else in the budget got set after the tithe was offered.

For some reason I thought this seemed like an adventurous goal. So I started. And after two years, I've never thought about stopping. God hasn't given me more money. I haven't been blessed with more because I've given more. I'm pretty sure God doesn't want me to have an airplane. I'm pretty sure God is not a whimsical bank teller who pays out dividends when our itemized tax deductions get to a higher bracket.

But everything else in my budget has adjusted. The things in my life have gotten re-prioritized. Heck, I've added car payments and retirement contributions, and my budget hasn't gotten any tighter somehow. (And let's be clear, I'm a youth minister. If my salary can support any of this, anyone's can. Don't wait to give until you have enough. You'll never get there!)

It has focused me on the things that are important. Not perfectly. But it's helped. The more I've given, the more I've laughed. The more I've loved. The more I've grown.

But back to the slush fund, because I don't consider my tithe my slush fund. There's not much "fun" in tithing. It just kind of happens. No no, I have a separate fund for the fun!

About a year and a half ago, I took another, smaller amount and started giving it away to people and places I knew. Now, before you think I'm crazy, I didn't just start filling envelopes with cash and sending them out. That's ridiculous (but also a really interesting idea!)

No, I started going on the lookout for places to give to people who needed it. So, when local food banks send out notices asking for Thanksgiving help, I can help! And when friends are trying to raise money for mission trips or classroom projects, I can help! And when schools are starting in Uganda and selling bracelets to fundraise, I can help! And when old youth are raising money in college for their sororities, I can help!

And then I get to be a part of their stories! I have something to pray for. I have something to follow. I have pictures to look at and stories to hear. And I get the profound pleasure of helping others pursue their own whimsical stories and adventures to see what God has in store for them! I like to think of my money as the seed to others' extravagant and holy adventures. That seems like a worthwhile investment that will always pay out.

I don't say all of this to brag on myself. Oh goodness no! I have so far to go in learning about generosity. I have so far to go in letting Jesus teach me so much more about letting go. I'm such an unfinished product.

No no. I share all this to offer a little glimpse into the extravagant joy of giving. I share this to tell you that having a slush fund is just as exciting as the movies tell you it is.

So may we all learn to grow in generosity. May all of our fists loosen just a little bit. May we see our money not as our own to be stored up, but as a gift to plant seeds of grace and adventure and whimsical mischief. As as we do, may our priorities shift and our love be re-oriented towards the God who is in all things and gives all good things.

forever unfinished...