Scoop Meet Cause and Effect

Determining cause and effect is always an extremely tricky thing. Sometimes the relationship is obvious: wreck into a telephone pole and your car will look like a crushed can. Eat a gallon of Bryers everyday and you’ll be looking for a new size of jeans. Sometimes the relationship is not as obvious. Was your headache caused by stress, diet coke withdrawal or is it the pollen?

The better you get at connecting the dots between cause and effect, the wiser you become; the more you can easily navigate life’s difficult waters.

I have become of student of cause and effect. I look forward to learning from my mistakes and study the experiences of others.

Here’s one that has officially stumped me: earlier this month, our church held one of the most amazing Scoop Meetings that we’ve ever had. (our version of a congregational meeting) FINALLY, our church is on the edge of becoming self-supporting. Kinetic regulars have become incredibly generous and our members are really beginning to trust God with their finances. That is a victory worth celebrating: yeah church!

And at our Scoop Meeting, we celebrated! (touchdown dance included) The meeting was amazing. [singlepic=19,216,155,,right] So, here’s the part where I become baffled by cause and effect: every offering, subsequent to the scoop meeting, has been grossly under budget. (see chart) It’s true, I have noticed that whenever I praise our church for giving, our offering tanks…every time! Cause and effect? Maybe. Coincidence? Could be. Vacations? Sure.

It may be too soon to make any assumptions about cause and effect, but I wonder. I am afraid that we may have members who are donating to meet the needs and shortfall of Kinetic Church. Once the goal is achieved, then they are done. God’s call for our lives is much richer. God wants people whose lives are committed to seeking His praise by bringing their tithe to Him regularly. God is honored and glorified by that kind of worship and that level of trust. Fortunately, the job of praising and giving to God is never completed and will never end, even when the short-term goals of our local church are satisfied.

Then again, maybe this entire thing is just my crazy imagination paired with diet coke withdrawal symptoms. Like I said, "cause and effect is always an extremely tricky thing." .