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The following is an excerpt from The Secret of Generosity
After writing, reading, and reflecting over this book, I felt it needed one more chapter. Though I wanted this work to focus primarily on the heart of generosity, I believe a few pages on the practical instructions of scripture for our giving would be beneficial. Therefore, the following chapter is designed to provide a crash course on biblical guidelines for giving. I have chosen to limit my scriptural references for the sake of brevity and encourage readers who would like a more in-depth analysis to pick up a copy of Dollars and Doctrine.
Flunking the course
I remember a history course I took in college. The professor, after a brief introduction, turned to face his new students and said: “Let me tell you how at least ten of you are going to fail this class.” He went on to explain that the bulk of our grade would be coming from our term paper, and if any of us used the Internet to research in any capacity (which he believed was singlehandedly dismantling the world of academia), we would automatically fail—no exceptions.
While finding out two minutes into class that ten percent of us would be repeating the course was anything but encouraging, I have to admire the clarity of his communication. In light of calling this chapter “Giving 101”, I want to take a moment to do the same thing—to expose the ideas surrounding generosity that the Bible gives a failing grade.
Legalistic giving: Generosity will never save a soul. When we make giving necessary for conversion or continuance in the faith, we have abandoned the gospel. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone.
Prosperity gospel giving: The health and wealth gospel distorts scripture to self-serving ends. Ironically, it twists the very idea of generosity towards consuming instead of contributing (elevating self-interest above God's interests).
Social justice giving: While Christian giving does alleviate the pains of poverty, this is not the end in itself. The gospel, and the God of it, must go with our contributions. Otherwise, we have turned what is spiritual into social idealism.
Heartless giving: In more than one location, the Bible teaches that a person's giving can be worthless. We must stop thinking that as long as we put money in the plate everything is ok. God requires wholehearted generosity.
There are bits and pieces of these in all of us, but we must see them for what they are and leave them behind.
Essentials
I believe the following principles, though they will vary in application from one believer to the next, are irreplaceable components of sound, biblical generosity.
Give first (Prov. 3:9, Ex. 34:26): The Bible consistently stresses the idea of giving first. When God is put first in our budget, it shows that He is first in our hearts (and shows that we trust in His provision). On the other hand, when God gets what is left over after we are all done spending on ourselves, we prove that His kingdom is not our top priority. Giving first is a symbolic action of our heart's allegiance.
Give wholeheartedly (2 Cor. 9:7, 1 Chron. 29:17): Grace-based giving insists our contributions are to be willing and authentic. Heartless offerings do not bring glory to God. We must allow Him to transform us into willing, joyful givers.
Give secretly (Matt. 6:1-4): Jesus instructed His followers to give in secret. We must avoid the temptation to give generously so that we may be honored by men. As best as we are able, we must seek to keep our name separated from our gifts. This allows all the glory and gratitude to rise to the Father rather than us.
Give sacrificially (2 Sam. 24:24, Mark 12:44): The Bible calls our giving to follow the example of our Savior's sacrifice. God is glorified when we give in a manner that costs us something. If we part only with what is leftover after we pay the bills and ourselves, then we have little to say of our love for the Lord or our devotion to His kingdom. However, when we sacrifice so that we may extend the work of the gospel, we have room to speak of our dedication and affections.
Give proportionally (Acts 11:29, Ezra 2:69): The principle of proportional giving is biblical. Those with more are called to give more, and those with less are called to give less. This is different than percentage giving (in which all believers give a certain percentage). Those with more are instructed to give a greater percentage of their resources than those with less.
Give only what you have (2 Cor. 8:12): It is not biblical to give what we do not have. Even the poor widow who gave all she had to live on did not give what she did not have (Mark 12:44). We are commanded only to give from the resources that we have available to us.
Give freely (Luke 6:35, Matt. 10:8): Expectations are sure to spoil even our best attempts at generosity. Sadly, our approach to generosity is often part of a complex balance sheet where favors are given, returned, owed, and repaid. God's generosity is not conditional, and neither should ours be. We are to be wise stewards of our gifts, but we must be careful that we do not destroy our generosity with self-serving expectations.
I recently slacked on my giving. I have been praying that God would bring something along my paths to give to. Life is to short to be wrapped up in yourself.
Posted by: Jeff Crews | January 08, 2012 at 11:03 PM
Nice! Straight to the point and true to every Word! Christ bless you!
Love you!
Ricardo
Posted by: Ricardo | January 09, 2012 at 01:20 AM