The Dessert First Concept

This is an excerpt from Cell Phones, Dessert, and Faith by Steve Clapp:

Early in my ministry, I had a church member named Lucille who always ate her dessert before the rest of the meal. Whenever we had a potluck at the church, we would see Lucille go to the dessert table and make her selection before going through the main line for an entrée, vegetables, and salad. She would proceed to eat the dessert before anything else. She shared her philosophy with me, and it impressed me so much that I made it the core of a devotional booklet that I wrote called Dessert First: Reflections on Stewardship and the Spiritual Life. Here’s the core of her philosophy:
  1. Lucille believed in eating her pie or other dessert before the rest of the meal. She said, “When you get to being seventy-eight years old like I am, you fill up quickly. I always want to have dessert, so I just eat that first.”
  2. Lucille also believed in giving ten percent of her money to God through the church before she spend anything else. She said, “I don’t have a lot of money, just social security and a small pension, so it’s easy to spend it all and have nothing left for God. What I’ve discovered in life is that when I really put God first, I end up having enough for everything else that I need. In fact, I’m able to save a little bit of money each month. I don’t know how God works it out; but it’s like putting Him first causes everything else to work better.”
Lucille’s philosophy seems upside down for our times. She ate dessert first, and she gave first to God. We feel like we should eat the nutritious food first and then consider a small portion of dessert if we still have room. We also tend to use our resources of money, time, and talent to meet our own needs first and then give to the church and other charitable causes from what we have left. In North America, similar attitudes affect the way that we treat the valuable environmental resources God has provided.

But Lucille’s philosophy is very consistent with the biblical message. When we accurately perceive the incredible blessings that God has given us, our hearts overflow with gratitude. With Christ alive in our hearts, we embrace the blessings of life, including dessert. Our motivation for giving is rooted in gratitude and thanksgiving rather than in guilt and obligation. And by putting God first, we free ourselves to use our other resources with joy rather than shame.

Lucille’s philosophy is rooted in the recognition that everything we have comes to us from God. For those of us in North America, who have a disproportionate amount of the world’s resources, it’s especially important to recognize that God is the true source of all that we have. Deuteronomy 8:10-18 warns of the danger of forgetting about God and about God’s generosity.
Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the LORD your God, for it he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. [vs.17–18]
Lucille recognized God as the source of everything–including the dessert that she enjoyed and the money that she shared with others. She had confidence that God would provide for her, a confidence that reminded me in many ways of my mother’s faith. Paul spoke clearly to this in 2 Corinthians 9:6–15, in which he assures people that they will have enough.
And God is able to provide you with every blessings in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. [v.8]