Giving Christ Your Portion
“And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums.And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” -Mark 12:41-44 (ESV)
This story in the Gospel of Mark describes a remarkable woman who, though she had close to nothing, gave everything she owned back to God. Since “many rich people put in large sums”, the offering box must have been filled with a large amount of money. Jesus could have chosen to commend any of these wealthy people who gave “out of their abundance”. Yet, Jesus noticed a poor widow who gave only two coins, though many other people may have seemed worthier of Jesus’s attention. Yet, her heart stood out in the crowd because she not only gave God what she could afford, but even what she couldn’t afford.
God wants our everything, regardless of the size of the portion He gave us. That applies to our money, talents, skills, securities, strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, dreams, and above all else hearts. Because of our great abundance, we as Americans can easily say that Jesus is Lord of our lives yet withhold some things from Him for the sake of our comfort. We want to only give God the things we can spare, the time we can afford, and the plans that are insignificant. Yet if we are to be like this poor widow, we must be willing to give Him our everything, no matter how painful it is.
After my mission trip to Cuba, I drew a deeper meaning from this passage. Based on the lives of Cuban believers, I discovered I withheld some of myself from God because I thought my portion was too small. The Cuban believers I met who had so little gave so much of themselves and challenged me to reconsider what giving my all for Christ looks like.
While our mission team gave of ourselves, we were humbled by the Cuban believers. Due to many difficult circumstances in their lives, Christians in Cuba do not own much, but never had I seen a people so willing to give back what God asks of them. That includes their money, careers, and dreams. They proved that we had much to learn about what it means to give God all our portions.
Churches in the United States thrive materialistically on the less than ten percent their members give. The churches we saw in Cuba thrived spiritually on everything their members gave. Christians in the United States require their churches to meet certain criteria. The church must have plenty of pews to fit their members, the sound and lighting systems must be top-of-the line, the worship leader needs to sing the songs we want, the pastors should not have their sermons go over, the church needs several rooms including classrooms and an activity center for the youth, we need air-conditioning and heating so we are comfortable, and finally the church needs to serve high quality coffee and sweets outside of the sanctuary. A church without these comforts is not worthy of our time, and we are tempted to go somewhere else if these things are absent.
The Cuban churches fall incredibly short of these standards; as one of the pastors stated, they could barely afford the tiny fan that they use to cool the room. They were, however, the richest church spiritually I have ever seen. Even though Christianity has opened up in Cuba, the government still does not allow Protestants to expand and have actual church buildings. The Christian believers rely on house churches to establish their community. One Christian family hosts a small church gathering in their home; as that church expands it eventually splits into another church at a different person’s home.
The main church we worked with had humble origins. The church was initially a tool shed and the bathroom a shed for pigs. They could only afford the church because of donations from a church in Pennsylvania. When they began construction, the floor was all dirt and had a large snake on it. Only through several months of work did the place begin to show fruit. This church had bland walls and could only hold about forty people, if that. Yet, its beauty comes from the fact these Cubans poured their all into their churches. Americans only give ten percent of their salaries to build extravagant churches, but the people in these buildings cannot match the passion the Cuban believers demonstrated when they danced during worship and prayed to God. The Cubans have invested their little wealth into what matters.
Pressure from the government have forced believers to sacrifice for God’s sake. One story that stuck with me involved a lady I met. Several years ago she pursued her dream of becoming a doctor at a university. One day, the head of the university brought her into his office. In this meeting, he told her to deny Christ. She along with another student refused to do that. Consequently, the university publicly ridiculed her in front of all the students and kicked her out. A few years later, the university let her back in. She graduated top of her class and is now a doctor. The two girls who would not reject Christ gained back their careers later in their lives. Two other girls decided to stop pursuing medicine even though they had denied Christ for that career. Matthew 10:32-33 says, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” While two of these girls denied Christ for a career they did not pursue, the lady lost her career path temporarily for Christ’s sake. She counted everything else that was not Christ as loss, and therefore Christ will acknowledge her before the Father in heaven.
The Cuban believers repeatedly spoke about Acts 1:8 which says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” This is the last commandment Jesus gave to the disciples, and this still applies to us today. Each location represents a different area in our lives. Our Jerusalem is the community God has placed us in, Judea and Samaria are the areas immediately surrounding our communities, and the end of the earth are countries other than our own that still need to hear the Gospel. Before this trip, I assumed Christians in Cuba would only focus on their community and Jerusalem because they have a need in their own country and can finally enjoy their new freedoms as their country allows more open Christianity. Although I believe they would have every right to care only about their country, they are willing to sacrifice their comfort and to travel to other parts of the world to share their faith. They may not have much wealth, knowledge, or skill to offer, but they are saturated with this Acts 1:8 vision and the love of Christ. Therefore, they go.
One pastor described his dream of living in Africa. He has this image where he is holding an African child in his arms. This idea is precious to him and heavy on his heart. Even though he could live in and be content with serving God only in Cuba, he told us that his dream is to die in Africa. He wants to serve God so much his desire is to die in a land different from his own. The Cuban Christians have a global mindset, understanding that Christ has commanded each Christian to make disciples of all nations.
Will You Give of Your Portion?
Christ is worthy of all your portion. My team served with our God-given weaknesses and strengths to glorify God and bless people in Cuba. The Cuban believers provided us incredible examples of giving their everything, even when they had seemingly legitimate reasons to hold back things from God.
These believers have caused me to ask, “Have I given all my portion to Christ?” I am still learning, and I want you to ask yourself the same question. Are you willing to give all your wealth to Him if He asks you to? Are you willing to give up your career for Him? Would you dare to dream to serve Him in a foreign land, even to the resolve that you wish to die in that place? God knows who you are and is worthy of your everything. No excuse can justify withholding something from God. Whether you are in abundance or poverty, give all your portion to God, and He will use that for His glory and Kingdom beyond your wildest imaginations.
