“With My Money I Have a Voice.”

â??No one will ever listen to me.â? â??My vote does not matter.â? Considering the political season and the decision to vote for President of the United States left me wondering what effect our vote, more specifically â??myâ? vote, will have. It stands to reason many people think this way and so voter turnout is not close to representative of the overall population. If it represents anything, it illustrates despondency often ruinous to healthy change.

Giving up is not in an â??achieverâ??sâ? vocabulary. We must be able to make a difference. The size of the difference does not matter. So I have some ideas that began germinating hearing Scott talk about the current moves made with One Village Coffee.

Scott made the comment, â??With my money I have a voice.â? In the context of a church setting the implication is often understood as a means to exert power or influence. Ron Fannin used to say people vote with their hand, their heart and their pocket book. Often people vote with their hand and not their pocketbook ; which is a â??noâ? vote. In this way the statement Scott made would be viewed negatively.

We often do not think about what we do with our money. Scott talked of Hives for Lives. He noted he would pay more knowing his money was going to help others. With his money, he has a voice.

If you have not clicked on the link to One Village Coffee, do so and learn of the ways these young mission minded entepreneurs hope to influence communities to collaborate for the good of the world. Scott reported today that his father uncovered a small village in another Country needing to find avenues for their coffee bean crop. Connecting this small group to those who would buy will go a long way to bringing a more sustainable living context for these villagers.
In church how we spend our money on things such as plates and coffee and in the process illustrate who we speak for. Adam noted that his young church plant took Scott’s story to heart and stopped buying paper or Styrofoam cups and instead will be using coffee cups – real coffee cups. Realizing the effect we have with the consumption of paper products, this young church is using its voice.

Too often churches slip into the role of consumer thinking what they buy really only effects the given church. Scott’s statement and the work of companies like One Village Coffee and Hives for Lives should spur us all to consider what our money says about our values.

About the Author
Husband to Patty. Daddy to Kimberly and Tommie. Grandpa Doc to Cohen, Max, Fox, and Marlee. Pastor to Snow Hill Baptist Church. Graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reading. Photography. Golf. Colorado. Jeeping. Friend. The views and opinions expressed here are my own and should not be construed as representing the corporate views of the church I pastor.

2 comments on ““With My Money I Have a Voice.”

  1. Andrea says:

    Thanks for the post!

    I went to hear Muhammad Yunus speak today in Philadelphia and he was encouraging people to start what he called “social businesses.” In brief, he was talking about individuals that would use their resources to start a for-profit business with the purpose of helping people.

    I was encouraged by him and your words because I feel like both capture what we are trying to accomplish at One Village Coffee. Thanks!

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