The Poor: A Cornerstone of Christian Generosity, Part 3

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

The following is an excerpt from The Secret of Generosity, an excellent book on what the Bible says about the power of generosity. The author has kindly allowed me to publish excerpts of his chapter on "the poor" in support of my Red Kettle Challenge to help the needy. Today's excerpt is a continuation of last week's part 3.

The social justice gospel

In response to the previous portions of this chapter, we are in danger of making a critical mistake.  Excited and inspired to change teams and use our resources to rebuild lives, we are tempted to leave God behind.  There is a growing movement in modern Christianity that minimizes (or eliminates) the spiritual elements of biblical generosity.  This ideology focuses only on the physical effects of generosity such as food, water, or medical treatment, and neglects to offer the Bread of Life (John 6:35), Living Water (John 4:10), or the Great Physician (Matt. 9:12-13).  In a matter of speaking, this viewpoint worships giving itself rather than the God who calls us to live generously—turning faith into social idealism.

We have to take the gospel with us; otherwise, we make ourselves to be humanitarians or philanthropists rather than  Christians.  I believe this is one reason why Peter, immediately after challenging his readers to be eager to do good, reminds them:  “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Pet. 3:15, NIV)

The church must certainly focus on the physical needs of the poor but not in a way that neglects their spiritual needs.  After all, Christ did not come to make this world a better place.  He told us plainly that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36).  Instead, He died and rose again so that the dead (in sin) may rise with Him (Rom. 5).  This must be our aim as well:  To bring the redemptive, restorative power of the gospel to the broken, needy, and afflicted—not to fix society.  When we focus only on the physical effects of generosity, we begin to trust in the power of our resources rather than our Redeemer—our money rather than our Maker.  The gospel, and the God of it, must go with our generosity.

Should the poor give?

Because of how frequently I get asked this question, I felt it would be beneficial to include it in this chapter.  Before diving in, I would like to start with a little aside:  Study after study has shown time and time again that the poor tend to be more generous (proportionally) with their money than their higher-earning counterparts.  While we often can be a little melodramatic when debating this question, the poor themselves have apparently already answered it!

Should the poor give?  First, the Bible teaches that giving:  “is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” (2 Cor. 8:12)  Therefore, if someone literally has nothing, then they have nothing to give.  This is permissible by scripture.  Secondly, several passages in the New Testament instruct grace-based giving to be proportional (Acts 11:29), meaning that a person with less means is free to give less.  However, the poor widow in the gospel accounts was unwilling to follow this principle and gave “all she had to live on” (Mark 12:44).  When Jesus observes her doing this, He does not correct her.  He commends her—pointing out her generosity to His disciples.

I think this is an issue where Christians are free to disagree, but personally I believe the poor should give for several reasons.  First and foremost, biblical generosity revolves around the heart.  If giving finds its anchor in the heart not the amount, why is our call to give dependent on our tax bracket?  When we distinguish subgroups as exempt, we unintentionally make giving about numbers.  Focusing on the heart would lead us to believe that the poor should give (even if it is a very small amount).

In addition, biblical giving is about spiritual principles not physical assets.  There are countless lessons in generosity that have nothing to do with money.  We reduce the spiritual aspects of generosity to economics when we instruct the poor to withhold their contributions (not to mention completely neglect God's promise to provide for those who are generous, Luke 12:22-34, Phil. 4:15-19).

Finally, if we say that only a certain income level is called to give, we get into the ugly mess of trying to decide what exactly “poor” means.  It's easy to see how quickly this would get complicated.  For all of these reasons, I would encourage the poor to give what they are able with a cheerful heart and faith in the Father's provision.

Final thought:  Eat your vegetables!

I am not casting the stone.  I have said the same thing to my own children on more than one occasion.  We all know the scene:  Children who won't eat their vegetables are urged on by their parents to do so because “there are starving kids in Africa who would be thankful to have food to eat.”  As I have heard this phrase fall from my own lips, I have begun to wonder just how cramming broccoli down my son or daughter's throat in the name of African children does anything to help the hungry mouths in Africa...or any of the other continents for that matter!  In fact, it gets me thinking that from a very young age we make our children aware of the less fortunate in a context that has nothing to do with helping them.  How powerful would it be if we began to teach our children how to help the starving children of the world rather than keeping that soundbite in our back pocket to help get the vegetables down?

I remember having a meeting in the middle school room at my church and seeing hand-written posters hanging all over the walls.  Curious, and having time to kill, I began to take a closer look.  Each poster was titled:  “How will I be a part of a generous generation?”  Below the question were hand-written answers, signed by their authors, explaining how they were going to try to be a generous Christian in a self-centered, consumption-driven society.  I was inspired.  It gave me hope for tomorrow.  How remarkable of a legacy could we leave if we not only challenged our children with this type of thinking, but also lived out an example to follow?

Comments

[Luis]

This is the best explanation i've heard about giving yet. To add just one thing I'd note that tithing tends to take away the spiritual aspect of giving because it brings numbers back into the picture with taxes and everything else IMHO.

[Maggie@SquarePennies]

I love the posters! A great way to get the kids thinking. I used to teach in a school where most of the kids were below the poverty line. They collected pennies to help "the poor." It made them feel less poor themselves and helped them experience being able to help someone. Since it was a public school there was no religious message officially attached to their charity.

I wouldn't want people to experience pain while I withheld pain medicine and preached the gospel to them. Relieving suffering has to come first in my humble opinion.

[Brian]

I think these messages are so important. I really respect the aspect of giving and especially now during Christmas with so much spending going on. Let's remember that we have so much more to offer to this world.

[Georgia]

My late husband always said, "you are not poor when you have something to give." We tithed, but we also gave food, time & love. God asks us to be whole persons, not just giving machines.

I give to the church a smaller portion than I give to others. I support 3 Christian ministries, the Christian college I attended, and missions for good such as the Salvation Army, Red Cross and the Pacific Garden Mission. Each does something special for many people. I feel the college giving will be returned 4 fold or more because it is helping others give of their life and resources.

Thanks for the article. I will try to get the book and read it all. Even your blog is doing a lot of giving to all of us who need advice on how to manage our money to get the most out of it. Thank you for giving us more than money tips.

[BD]

Agreeing with Luis. It bugs me when I see Christians who are well-off, smugly saying on their blogs that the poor MUST give 10% exactly, because that's what God wants, and God always provides. Sorry but I've seen cases where poor Christians are horribly in debt because they can't even afford food or rent, and still give, but yet, no money magically drops in their laps. They just keep getting farther behind. I think God has different standards of giving for everyone. He may expect some people to give just 3% of their income, and others to give 53%. It's different for everyone, and I think it's wrong to pressure poor Christians to give or make them feel bad for not being able to give more.