Cheerful Giving
Many churches are shy about discussing giving. But I believe that in not talking about it, they do a disservice to their parishioners because the Bible presents giving in a positive light, filled with commendations, challenges, and promises, one of which is accompanied by an exception to one of God’s commandments.
Let’s start with understanding that God doesn’t need our money. We’ll see that giving is for our benefit as well, or more than the recipient’s. We’ll also see that it’s not about the amount. It’s always about heart attitude.
Jesus had a lot to say about giving.
He was with His disciples observing people giving money at the synagogue when a widow dropped two copper coins, amounting to a cent, into the treasury. Jesus noted that she gave more than the rich people who had given large sums because they had given out of their surplus. She gave out of her poverty (Mark 12:41-44).
In Old Testament times,
the tithe (10%) was a starting point. There were other specific times when more was given. People ask, “Should I tithe on the gross or the net?” My (somewhat flippant) reaction is usually, “Do you want to be blessed on the gross or the net?” There is no law saying how much we are to give. Again, God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
In 1 Cor. 8:1-5, Paul gives an example of sacrificial giving by the churches in Macedonia because of “their abundance of joy and their deep poverty [that] overflowed in the wealth of their liberality…begging…for the favor of participation in the support of the saints…they first gave themselves to the Lord” Talk about the right heart attitude. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if churches today thought that way. Studies have shown that the average churchgoer gives between 2%-5%.
There are other aspects of giving
that should be mentioned. One of which is Matt. 6:2-4, “When you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do…so that your giving will be in secret: and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
One of the things that we should remember is that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). And He gives us many examples of His giving to us. I’ll just mention one here. In the first chapter of James, we’re told that if we lack wisdom, which we all do, we are to “ask of God, who gives to all generously [overflowing abundance] and without reproach [expression of disapproval] and it will be given to him.”
God is above our scrutiny and questioning
when it’s done with pride, thinking we are smarter than He. Look at two examples of His reaction to this foolishness. In Psalm 2, “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and against His Anointed…He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury.” And one more in Psalm 95:8-10, “Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put Me to the test, they tested Me, though they had seen My work. For forty years I was disgusted with that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart and they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in My anger, they certainly shall not enter My rest.”
You can see that God doesn’t fool around
with those who disrespect Him. On the other hand and going back to our discussion on giving, He offers one exception to His children. Malachi 3:10 should be all the encouragement we need to become cheerful givers, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
There it is. It’s like God is calling our bluff and saying, “You don’t believe Me? I’ll prove it to you. Do your thing, and I’ll do mine.” Consider that God doesn’t lie. He is faithful. He wants only good for us. And He’s already proven Himself through Christ’s sacrifice for us. How can we not trust Him for this too?
Think about all this
the next time you’re writing a check to your church or a stand-alone ministry doing God’s business. Do you want overflowing blessings? Thanks for reading.