We all read them.  Those one time drive by posts about how "no church is perfect", statements saying "my pastor is only human" and the inevitable "our church is great so just get over your bitterness already."  These statements usually stir up those old feelings of anger and take many of us back to the years of spiritual abuse we endured under such ignorance.  I mean let's face it, the issue of bad pastors and mismanagement of money is the main reason why this blog continues to exist.  If CBC and other MFI churches would clean up their act, there would be less need for us to continue.  But every 6 to 9 months it seems like we get another influx of stories about a particular church and/or pastor abusing people.  Over the years we've hit hard on CBC, TCC, CCC, ACC and now we have the awful COTH in the mix.  So for those who make such comments, I've listed a few questions below that a person should be asking about their church and to their pastor. (And if our readers have any good one's they've asked before, please feel free to post and I can add them in).

1. Does your pastor or has your pastor done anything else in life besides pastor? Do they, or have they ever had a "real" job outside the church?

Reason: Usually those that have worked outside the church understand people better and know how to interact with others in the real world.  Also they have some work skills and aren't solely dependent on the church for survival, which is important to the church using its money for other things besides supporting people's livelihood.

2. Is the pastor/church leadership open about the church's financials? How many salaries does the church pay? Where does all the money go?  What are the biggest areas of expense? Are there any outside organizations or charities, apart from the church, the church supports?

Reason: The key to a financially sound church is accountability. If a church is open about it's financials it usually means they are not misappropriating funds.  The more secretive a church is, the more likely there are problems.  If your church does not open the books to the congregation at least once a year or speak openly about where the money goes, you should not be giving your money to them.

3. Do other members feel pressure to tithe?  Are there people who attend your church on a regular basis who don't think tithing is mandatory?

Reason: The mindset of church members is key to determining what kind of church you attend.  If people feel like they have to give all the time, and are fed guilt trips for not giving then it usually means the church is one that makes money a top priority, which in turn means its not a gospel centered church. 

4. Are people free to leave your church as God guides?  Does leadership give people who leave a hard time for it? 

Reason: Leadership that feels like it has to hold onto members and control what church they go to is not good leadership.  Pastors who understand it's God's job to lead peoples lives are the best kind of pastors you can find.  Try telling your pastor (or one of his sidekicks) you are thinking of going to another church and pay close attention to how they respond. If they say, “I’m sorry to see you go, but that’s between you and God not me,” then you probably have pretty good leadership.

5. Is it OK to ask questions in your church?  If your pastor is preaching a message or series on a specific topic (i.e. money) are you encouraged or discouraged from asking questions?  If you disagree with something your pastor teaches, is there an opportunity for you to reach the pastor for clarity?

Reason: Pastors who have a "closed door" policy for members who disagree with them are not good pastors.  Churches that don't foster a democracy but rather run like a dictatorship on a "take it or leave it basis" are generally churches you want to leave.

KariMichelle writes:

Well, JP maybe you need to take it to the next step. Bring all of us with you. I'd be happy to sign a petition or pen a letter asking Frank to meet with you and I'm sure everyone else here would too. You kind of represent all of us. If he is truly a man of God, I'm not sure how he could refuse. But if he did, then take it to the eldership. If they still refused, we could excommunicate THEM.

Unfortunately, I don't think he would meet with us, and since Frank's eldership is made up mostly of "yes men" I don't see that going anywhere. Of course the idea of trying to excommunicate THEM is hilarious…

Personally, I was quite shocked that he refused to meet just with me. I realize there might not be much to come out of our conversation, but Frank loses so much credibility by hiding from me. This is why I was so impressed with Howard Rachinski for taking the time to talk. He showed he wasn't hiding anything and that he wasn't scared of me. Frank is simply furthering his controlling stereotype.

The problem for them is this, by meeting with me they lend credibility to what we do and say here…and the second they do that their empire could crumble. Of course by refusing to meet, they go against everything the BIBLE says and teaches…clearly they are more concerned with their empire then the Bible…I think we've covered that in a few places on this blog.

For all you CBC faithful who read this blog, let this be a sign of where Frank's heart is really at. He's currently speaking on the importance of Community, talking about how we need to spend time with each other, loving each other, caring for each other…why then won't he commune with me? 

Is community supposed to be easy? Should you only care for those who are in agreement with you? Are his sermons only meant for those inside his church…should you ignore the rest of the world?

Here is a fitting comment from Tom Sparks in regard to CBC not wanting to meet or debate scripture with me:

He doesn't want to debate scriptures for two reasons.  1)  Because it is just too hard to biblically prove and support the doctrine they hold.  They know many great writers have written rebuttals to this approach they take, and they don't want to get into the debate.  2)  Because if they allow you to take them on in debate then they will feel they have to give the same treatment to everyone that comes along, and they know it would wear them out and distract them from the goals they have in ministry.  To one extent this is reasonable, but if they take this position then they must understand there will be those who censure them, both privately, and publicly on your blog.  They can't have it both ways.  If you reference in your blog comments that the things you write are not about a personal unresolved offense with Frank, but rather with the goal of helping folks get free from false doctrine and its effects, then they will have to just leave you alone, unless they desire to turn it into a formal debate, which they understand will play out on the blog before the watching world.  This would be problematic for them, since they are clear that they want to be able to do what they do inside their four walls, without censure and debate.  Sorry Frank, but you can't have it both ways…

Actually Tom, as long as they can convince people that CBC is THE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY and "SPIRITUAL COVERING"…they can have whatever they want.

And on to the final section. The end of the debate:

In my humble opinion, God's word is very clear. We are expected to give and give generously and cheerfully. We should expect God to bless us in return. God expects us to invest what He has blessed us with into the lives of others and into the kingdom of God.

Hope this helps. Sorry about the lengthy email, but it should be some clarity as to the doctrine of sowing and reaping.

When I look at the words of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, I never read a word about tithing nor see Him supporting the sowing and reaping doctrine that I hear from you and Frank. As a matter of fact, what I understand Jesus to say is just the opposite of "if you sow money, then you'll reap more money," "if you sow a car, then you'll reap a car," etc.

Please read Matthew 6:25-34 and give me your application of these powerful words of Jesus.

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[a]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

When Jesus refers to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, He makes it perfectly clear that they DO NOTHING TO EARN their Father's daily provision:

1- "they do NOT sow or reap" 

2- "they do NOT store away in barns…" 

3- "they do NOT work or make their own clothing" 

…and yet "your Heavenly Father takes care of them!" And, on top of that, He says, that His children are even more important to Him than the flowers of the field and the birds of the air, which He takes care of so automatically and seamlessly! When Jesus could have agreed with Frank's Law of Causation and told His followers that the way to get their material needs met was to tithe and give big offerings at the temple, instead He told them to seek His kingdom and his righteousness and, then, "all these things would be added". 

The main picture of God that Jesus brings to the world is that God is a good and generous Father who freely takes care not only of His children but also of all mankind, because of His great love He has for everyone. On the contrary, the main picture of God that you and Frank bring to the world is that God is an investment banker and a tax (tithe) collector, who sits every day in heaven and makes sure that He does not allow anyone to receive one blessing from His hand unless it has first been paid for in full through a tithe or a local church offering. There is no hesitation in my heart as to which picture of God I like more; neither do I doubt which one is more accurate to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ!

I hope you can understand where I am coming from. It is not my intention to "tear down" your church; in fact it is just the opposite. I would love to see your church grow and continue to help many more throughout the city. I do not, however, see that happening with truth and integrity under the current unbiblical teachings. 

Please understand that I have heard countless stories of people who felt abused under the CBC system. For some reason that I do not completely understand, I feel like I have been called to bring these abuses to your attention.

I admit that my tactics in the past have not been the best. By God's grace, I am still learning and growing. Nevertheless, I do not feel that my imperfect approaches should be an excuse to dismiss any or all of my valid concerns about how Frank is not accurately representing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not correctly interpreting God's Word from the pulpit of such a great church as CBC. 

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

-Johnpaul

 Ok, here is part 3 (of 4). In all honesty, I don't think my emails made him think one bit, but they really challenged me and caused me to grow a lot more confident in my belief that CBC's "give to get" Faith Harvest period (and their basic view on giving) is flat out wrong and deceitful.

7. Jesus himself said you should expect a return on your giving, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  This would be a tough one to refute. It is plain and simple. If you give, IT WILL COME BACK TO YOU. This applies to all areas of your life as we have discussed in the law of reaping and sowing, and again in context, will also apply to things you give materially.

Pastor X, you need to look at the context of this scripture. It is not talking about money. It is a context of his disciples paying the price of being prophets of the Gospel (vs. 23,26) who will suffer rejection from their enemies. But how are they to react to the persecution? By sacrificial love: Giving even to your enemies (v27) and "everyone who asks you" (v30) mercy, forgiveness and even food – and then, hopefully but not always, receiving back the same from them.

"Receiving back from them" is similar to Jesus words, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." (Matthew 5:7). Do merciful people always receive mercy in this life? No, but when will they receive it? The context implies in the next life (v23).

Also, as an interesting side note, in the same context he condemns the rich (v24) and well fed (v25).

8. All of the being said, THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT of all of this is to understand the motive of WHY we would want to be blessed. Paul made it clear that our motives should never be for selfish gain, but for blessing the Lord, others and extending the kingdom. AGAIN, please understand our heart and motive is to see people blessed SO THAT they can bless others and see the kingdom of God advanced. There is great honor and noble rewards to those that desire to see others who are need helped. God blesses us so that we can bless others. This truth applies from Genesis to Revelation.  We teach this biblical truth, so that we might have the resources to reach out to the thousands of people monthly that are less fortunate. God forbid that we, you, or any other Christian would teach that God blesses us to build a haven for ourselves on earth, but the kingdom of God. Hence, we are proud of both our teaching and motives in believing God for our finances.

Can you show me how you back this up?

I would like to challenge you in two ways:

1. If you all believe this so much, why don't you just encourage the saints at CBC to give their money directly to the needs of the community, instead of to CBC? They should still receive the return for their investment. If the principle is true it should work even if they don't give the money directly to the Church. (I have never heard anyone from your pulpit tell the congregation to just "give". It has always been in the context of "give money" and "to this local church".)

2. If CBC truly believes in the guaranteed results of the Law of Divine Retribution then they shouldn't have to put so much pressure on the congregation to fund their debts and programs. They should have the faith that after they have given what they have to give, God will automatically add it all back and then some.

I would have more confidence in your teachings if I saw you leading by example. Instead Frank says things like "If we don't have any money above the tithe we can't: help the community, open other campuses, give out food boxes. If we're poor how do we feed the poor? How can we do that if we don't have anything to give?" This is the exact opposite of what you teach your congregation to believe. Don't you feel this quote implies that you want to reach the lost after you help yourself? This example is not found anywhere in the Bible. As a matter of fact, the Bible says NOT to give money to the rich – those who already have it! "He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-both come to poverty." Proverbs 22:16

In my opinion, Frank should have his own "Faith to Receive" and have the attitude that says "We are just going to give the churches tithe and offering money to whatever cause and believe in God to bring in the funds". Then, if this principle works, you will have more than enough to "help the community, open other campuses, and give out food boxes… " Without that, it looks like a double standard. What do you see?

I know that CBC began by sowing a roughly $65,000 "seed", this is a great start and thank you for doing that (I am not trying to ignore the good that you do). The problem for me comes when Frank says that a lot of the Faith Harvest money you receive will go to CBC's personal needs. It seems to cheapen your "gift" when you know you will be receiving all that and more back from your own congregation. Does this make sense?

In my opinion it violates the "spirit" of sowing and reaping you proclaim so strongly to others. Jesus gave up everything for us, not so that we can have a "rich" life, (I know you never come out and say "give and you will be rich" but what else are we supposed to believe if, based on your thoughts here, we give money we will get more money back?) but Jesus sacrificed so that we can spend eternity together. There's your blessing.

Additionally, there are so many warnings throughout the Bible on riches; they are dangerous thing to "have". The more we have the less we will rely on God and that is a scary thought. I am not claiming that the Bible says "riches are inherently evil", but what I am saying is that as I read the NT most, if not all, of what I read are continuous warnings against greed, materialism and the love of money! Why is this Faith Harvest teaching appearing to me to be so different, as a whole, from the teachings of the New Testament?

Picking up where we left off… more sowing and more reaping: 

4. In spiritual things there is a correspondence between what is sown and what is reaped.

(a) Sowing to the flesh produces its own natural harvest-corruption. The mere animal life, the life of worldly interests, the life of the lower self, is itself a life of corruptible things. Its soil and nourishment are earthly and cannot outlast death. When the grave opens all is lost. Even before death thieves steal, and moth and rust eat into the treasures. The soul itself, too, is corrupted by such a life. Its faculties are dissipated and decay away. It descends to the evil state of moral rottenness and death. 

(b)Sowing to the Spirit produces its own harvest of eternal life. Spiritual things are eternal things. Treasures in heaven are beyond destroying influences. In proportion as the spiritual within us is cultivated we have what will outlast death and what no grave will ever claim. Already we have an eternal life in living in the things that are spiritual and therefore eternal. Money goes, but faith remains; the pleasures of the senses pall upon us, but the peace of God never fails; self-seeking leads to dissatisfaction, the love of God sustains us with undying interests. 

Again the problem is this: without acknowledging the cross you simply have what the Buddhists and Hindus call "Karma". Do good receive good, do bad receive bad. Thank God there is more to life than "Karma".

Yes, Luke 6:38 (which you quote later) says "Give and it will be given to you", but this context gives only ONE SIDE to divine and human reality… and it isn't talking about finances.

I think Paul understood that when he said, "7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ" (Philippians 3:7). Does this sound like someone saying "sow money to reap money"? NO, he considered it all loss.

He goes on to say ‘live according to the pattern we gave you. (v17)" "…many live as enemies of the cross of Christ." (v18) "…Their mind is on earthly things." (v19). What is more earthly than money?

Scriptural Examples of sowing and reaping: the harvesting of grain. The term is used figuratively for the final judgment (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43; Rev. 14:15-16), evangelism (Matt. 9:37-38; Luke 10:2; John 4:35-36; Rom. 1:13), and recompense for good (Hos. 10:12; 2 Cor. 9:6; Gal. 6:7-8) or evil (Job 4:8; Prov. 22:8; Hos. 8:7; 10:13; Gal. 6:7-8) 

To me, all these scriptures in the list above help to show why Gen 8:22 cannot be applied as Frank uses it. Sowing/Reaping is used in so many different metaphors; you simply cannot say it always applies to giving and receiving financially or any other single way for that matter.

III. APPLICATION OF THIS PRINCIPLE

5.   As this law applies to all of life, it must also apply to every area specifically, this includes finances. If you plant wheat seed in the ground, you expect an abundance of wheat to be harvested. I know of no farmer that would plant and not expect a return. You invest in a 401k with the complete expectation of seeing a return. You give of your time at a job expecting a paycheck and hopefully a promotion. PLEASE remember that the context of 2 Cor. 9:6 is giving of MONEY, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." Paul is making it very clear that there should be an expectation to receive directly proportionate to what you give. I don't think you can translate this any other way. This is a great scripture to validate the point that if you give of your money sparingly, you will reap a minimal harvest!

Paul's focus is clearly on the "sowing" and not the "reaping" as you and Frank would suggest. Does God bless those who give? Yes, but we can't and shouldn't say how or when or what.

Is every rich drug dealer or porn star wealthy because they have obeyed this principle? Of course not. Did Jesus say that the widow who gave her last two mites was now going to become rich? Of course not. In my opinion, the problem is that you take the "sometimes" and turn it into an "always" in order to inspire the investors to invest. Everyone likes a guaranteed investment, but as I read the Gospels, I do not find that becoming rich is what following Jesus is all about. The fact is that the majority of texts concerning wealth in the New Testament are warnings about the dangers of having riches – not ways to get more of it by sowing and reaping financial seeds.

I believe we should give because God has blessed you with the only thing you really need, salvation. At the end of 2 Cor. 9, Paul states:

14And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

That gift, of course, is salvation. I believe that should be at the heart of every sermon preached, whether the message is about money or anything else. Verse 15 should help us keep a proper perspective toward money and possessions.

6. Here is another scripture that pertains to reaping and sowing in the financial arena, 1 Cor. 9:10-12, "Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?. If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?" Again context is important. There is both a spiritual and natural context here, and also a financial one as it pertains to material harvest. There is an emphasis here of a hope of receiving something from the sowing of the same kind. You should plow in "hope of sharing" in the harvest… including a material harvest as stated.

This contradicts your previous statements of "what you sow you reap" (need a house, sow a house payment etc.). If the Law of Devine Retribution is always true, how could Paul and the rest of the apostles sow spiritual seed among the Corinthians, and then expect a material harvest?

According to what you said previously, they would need to sow material seed to reap material harvest and it would not be possible any other way.

 My Original response which includes a point by point discussion of this pastors comments were 9 pages long. I don't think anyone wants to read all 9 pages at once (if you do email me and I'll be happy to send it to you). I've decided to break it down into sections to make it easier. Here is part 1.

I. IT IS A LAW OF NATURE THAT THE REAPING SHALL CORRESPOND TO THE SOWING.  

This is part of the general law that, other things being equal, the same cause always produces the same effect. There is no known exception to the law of causation; there is no possible evasion of it. We see it plainly working in human affairs. The eternal constancy of nature assures us that the consequences of which certain conduct is known to be the cause will undoubtedly follow (sin, relationships, health, career, finances).

My initial concern is that you start out by relying on an observation of nature rather than the Bible. I would like to believe that we should start with a Biblical foundation and move on from there. Wouldn't you agree?

Although there are many metaphors we can take out of the Old Testament I do not believe it is proper hermeneutics to form a whole doctrine on them without having Jesus or the Apostles make the point somewhere in the New Testament as well.

The special law of sowing and reaping is that the product of the harvest will be the same in kind as the seed sown. Tares will never produce wheat, nor wheat tares. But each seed reproduces its own kind. This is seen in human affairs. Commercial industry tends to commercial wealth, intellectual study to a state of intellectual culture, etc. It is vain to think that money will buy refinement or that learning is the road to wealth. Each pursuit has its own consequences in accordance with its own nature; finances are included in this principle both naturally and spiritually.

I have to stop and ask a question at this point. What is your definition of grace? I believe you would say it is "unmerited favor", correct me if I am wrong. I bring this up for obvious reasons:

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death…" (i.e. when you "sow" sin "you" reap death), "…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. (i.e. we sow sin yet reap life).

How do you see these verses in relation to the "Law of Causation"?

The way I see it, these two scriptures alone refute that "law" and also show the beauty of Christ's message. We must rely on God to save us, despite what we sow. You can sow all the goodness, kindness, finances, time, love, joy, whatever and in the end you will reap death… unless Christ saves you. Isn't this the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in which we both strongly believe?

II. THIS LAW APPLIES TO SPIRITUAL SOWING AND REAPING.

1. Here the future depends on the past and present by a certain law of causation. No words could more plainly assert that our conduct is shaping our own fate; and these are not the words of James, but of the Apostle Paul, and they occur, of all places, in the Epistle to the Galatians, where the doctrine of justification by, faith is most vehemently asserted! Moreover, they are not addressed to Jews still under the Law, nor to heathen who have not yet availed themselves of the privileges of the gospel, but to Christians who have come into the justification by faith, as it is to Christians that St. Paul says elsewhere, "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God" (Rom. 14:10). We are here reminded that the future consequences of conduct are natural, not adventitious-that they are caused by what we are and do, that they flow of their own accord from our lives, and are not assigned from without by any arbitrary decree. We simply reap what our own sowing has produced for us.

Another scripture to look at:

Romans 3:23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Justified freely, I love to hear those words; they tell me the gift is free. Christ, through his work of grace on the cross, has overcome both the laws of nature and the law of causation.

You can also look at it from the other side. Christ "sowed" a perfect life and yet he "reaped" death, mocking, and torture. This should also show that while the "law of sowing and reaping" may be a natural principle, those that believe in Christ are not necessarily bound by "the natural". Actually, salvation and our walk of faith with Christ is a supernatural life from beginning to end.

Also, look at the lives of the apostles. Many went through all kinds of trials and tribulations, despite sowing all kinds of wonderful seeds… why do you think God put them through this?

These are all exceptions to your Rule of Causation and, in my opinion, this Biblical thinking of God's grace through the cross destroys the seemingly airtight logic of "Tares will never produce wheat or wheat tares but each seed reproduces its own kind". Was the rejected, beaten, and crucified Jesus, therefore, a "tare" because He reaped suffering and death? 

When we look at it closely, the Law of Causation is actually rooted in pagan religious thought that knows nothing of the reality of the grace of God!  It is because the pagan world is under such naturalistic thinking that Christians need to take the Gospel of grace to the ends of the earth.

  I spent some time emailing a CBC pastor about their Faith Harvest time and Frank's use of Scripture during it. When all was said and done we had gathered about 30 pages of emails and failed to change eachothers mind. He did however help me better understand their "case" in defending this line of thinking.

 Here is an article sent to me by a CBC pastor attempting to explain the "Faith Harvest" / "Law of Causation" / "Sowing and Reaping" Doctrine. I may post my response to him later, but for now…

Reaping & Sowing:

I. IT IS A LAW OF NATURE THAT THE REAPING SHALL CORRESPOND TO THE SOWING.

This is part of the general law that, other things being equal, the same cause always produces the same effect. There is no known exception to the law of causation; there is no possible evasion of it. We see it plainly working in human affairs. The eternal constancy of nature assures us that the consequences of which certain conduct is known to be the cause will undoubtedly follow (sin, relationships, health, career, finances).

1. The special law of sowing and reaping is that the product of the harvest will be the same in kind as the seed sown. Tares will never produce wheat, nor wheat tares. But each seed reproduces its own kind. This is seen in human affairs. Commercial industry tends to commercial wealth, intellectual study to a state of intellectual culture, etc. It is vain to think that money will buy refinement or that learning is the road to wealth. Each pursuit has its own consequences in accordance with its own nature, finances are included in this principle both naturally and spiritually.

II. THIS LAW APPLIES TO SPIRITUAL SOWING AND REAPING.

1. Here the future depends on the past and present by a certain law of causation. No words could more plainly assert that our conduct is shaping our own fate; and these are not the words of James, but of the ApostlePaul, and they occur, of all places, in the Epistle to the Galatians, where the doctrine of justification by, faith is most vehemently asserted! Moreover, they are not addressed to Jews still under the Law, nor to heathen who have not yet availed themselves of the privileges of the gospel, but to Christians who have come into the justification by faith, as it is to Christians that St. Paul says elsewhere, "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God" (Rom. 14:10). We are here reminded that the future consequences of conduct are natural, not adventitious-that they are caused by what we are and do, that they flow of their own accord from our lives, and are not assigned from without by any arbitrary decree. We simply reap what our own sowing has produced for us.

1. 2.In spiritual things there is a correspondence between what is sown and what is reaped.

(a) Sowing to the flesh produces its own natural harvest-corruption. The mere animal life, the life of worldly interests, the life of the lower self, is itself a life of corruptible things. Its soil and nourishment are earthly and cannot outlast death. When the grave opens all is lost. Even before death thieves steal, and moth and rust eat into the treasures. The soul itself, too, is corrupted by such a life. Its faculties are dissipated and decay away. It descends to the evil state of moral rottenness and death. 

(b)Sowing to the Spirit produces its own harvest of eternal life. Spiritual things are eternal things. Treasures in heaven are beyond destroying influences. In proportion as the spiritual within us is cultivated we have what will outlast death and what no grave will ever claim. Already we have an eternal life in living in the things that are spiritual and therefore eternal. Money goes, but faith remains; the pleasures of the senses pall upon us, but the peace of God never fails; self-seeking leads to dissatisfaction, the love of God sustains us with undying interests. 

Scriptural Examples of sowing and reaping: the harvesting of grain. The term is used figuratively for the final judgment (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43; Rev. 14:15-16), evangelism (Matt. 9:37-38; Luke 10:2; John 4:35-36; Rom. 1:13), and recompense for good (Hos. 10:12; 2 Cor. 9:6; Gal. 6:7-8) or evil (Job 4:8; Prov. 22:8; Hos. 8:7; 10:13; Gal. 6:7-8) 

III. APPLICATION OF THIS PRINCIPLE

1. As this law applies to all of life, it must also apply to every area specifically, this includes finances. If you plant wheat seed in the ground, you expect an abundance of wheat to be harvested. I know of no farmer that would plant and not expect a return. You invest in a 401k with the complete expectation of seeing a return. You give of your time at a job expecting a paycheck and hopefully a promotion. PLEASE remember that the context of 2 Cor. 9:6 is giving of MONEY, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." Paul is making it very clear that there should be an expectation to receive directly proportinate to what you give. I don't think you can translate this any other way. This is a great scripture to validate the point that if you give of your money sparingly, you will reap a minimal harvest!

1. Here is another scripture that pertains to reaping and sowing in the financial arena, 1 Cor. 9:10-12, "Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?" Again context is important. There is both a spiritual and natural context here, and also a financial one as it pertains to material harvest. There is an emphasis here of a hope of receiving something from the sowing of the same kind. You should plow in "hope of sharing" in the harvest… including a material harvest as stated.

1. Jesus himself said you should expect a return on your giving, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  This would be a tough one to refute. It is plain and simple. If you give, IT WILL COME BACK TO YOU. This applies to all areas of your life as we have discussed in the law of reaping and sowing, and again in context, will also apply to things you give materially.

1. All of the being said, THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT of all of this is to understand the motive of WHY we would want to be blessed. Paul made it clear that our motives should never be for selfish gain, but for blessing the Lord, others and extending the kingdom. AGAIN, please understand our heart and motive is to see people blessed SO THAT they can bless others and see the kingdom of God advanced. There is great honor and noble rewards to those that desire to see others who are need helped. God blesses us so that we can bless others. This truth applies from Genesis to Revelation.  We teach this biblical truth, so that we might have the resources to reach out to the thousands of people monthly that are less fortunate. God fobid that we, you, or any other Christian would teach that God blesses us to build a haven for ourselves on earth, but the kingdom of God. Hence, we are proud of both our teaching and motives in believing God for our finances.

In my humble opinion, God's word is very clear. We are expected to give and give generously and cheerfully. We should expect God to bless us in return. God expects us to invest what He has blessed us with into the lives of others and into the kingdom of God.

I'm not sure what textbook this comes from so if anyone recognizes it I'd love to know.