Mike, GREAT post. Great questions. I heard someone say, "Jesus tells us to give ourselves away. What would it look like if the church gave itself away?" Because, you know, most churches I've worshipped with aren't ready to give themselves away. Including my church--which I love. We take up tithes and donations and we spend them on keeping the church running, keeping the staff paid, keeping the building in good shape. Of course, these things are important too. But they don't feel like we are giving ourselves away. Sometimes its more like we are funding our own little community center. Dan put it this way on his blog yesterday, "Christ transforms our lives, but we treat his sacrifice like the down payment on a country club membership." Good stuff.