Giving
The subject of giving is a sensitive subject
for many people. Money presents a
unique challenge to every Christian. It
gives the illusion of power and seems to promise many rewards.
Whether rich or poor there are many whose desire is to have more money.
Giving runs contrary to that desire.
Instead of accumulating, the giver apparently is reducing his supply by
his generosity. Giving reduces
one’s ability to spend for other purposes (whether selfish or necessary).
Yet there are blessings to be found in giving that are greater than the
blessings obtained through receiving or keeping one’s money.
Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
(Acts
There is an interesting comment in Ecclesiastes 10:19: “Money is the answer to everything.” There are many who believe this and act in a manner consistent with that belief. It is important to note that the writer of Ecclesiastes begins by saying that “all is vanity” (useless). The book is written from the standpoint of one who has sought to find meaning in life apart from God. There are experiments in all sorts of things in order to find something that is not useless. From such a viewpoint, money appears to have the answer. It does not. That too is vanity.
Many churches encourage tithing and some seek to enforce it as law on their members. Such teaching fails to distinguish between the requirements of the Law and the requirements of the Gospel. The Old Testament and the New Testament are radically different systems. While the morals are pretty much the same, much else is different. The system of giving that characterized the Old Testament is not carried over to the New Testament. Tithing is not a requirement of the new covenant of Jesus. (Tithing is giving ten percent. A tithe is a tenth.) Having said that, the New Testament is far from silent on the matter of giving.
Offering sacrifices and giving have always been a part of God’s plan for people. One of the early stories is that of Cain and Abel offering sacrifices to God. (Gen 4:3-5 ) The story is short on details concerning their sacrifices. We are not given any insight into how the system of sacrifices began. We are only told of the results of what Cain and Abel offered. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s was rejected. From that we can learn that God is under no obligation to accept any gift that is offered. We must determine from what we have been told what an acceptable offering is. God’s word is given to guide us in reaching a correct understanding on that matter.
After the flood, Noah built an altar and
offered a sacrifice to God. (Gen
Abraham built altars on several occasions
and offered sacrifices to God. An
exception was his trip to
On another occasion, Abraham offered a tithe
to the priest, Melchisedec. After a
successful battle in which Abraham rescued his nephew,
The second example of tithing in the Old
Testament is found in Genesis 28:18-22
when Jacob vowed to return a tenth
to God upon his safe return to
Under the Law of Moses there were three different tithes. A general tithe is specified in Leviticus 27:30-32 . In addition there was a tithe given to the tribe of Levi (who were the temple servants and carried the tabernacle in the wilderness). This is in Numbers 18:21 and 24 . There is another tithe that was set aside by the Israelites to be spent when they assembled three times a year at the place God chose for their feasts (Passover, Feast of Weeks, and Tabernacles). This is found in Deuteronomy 14:22-26 .
Another tithe was set aside for the poor, found in Deuteronomy 26:12 . It is possible that this tithe was divided among the Levites, the strangers and the widows and orphans. This would then make only two tithes rather than three. There were also other provisions made for helping the poor that reduced the income of each Israelite. The story of Ruth furnishes an example of how those rules were carried out.
There were other ways in which the Israelites gave as well. Freewill offerings are mentioned in connection with the building of the tabernacle in Exodus 35:4-9 and 20-21 and again in 36:3-7 . On the seventh year all debts were cancelled and all slaves were set free. (Deut 15:1-2 ). In the year of Jubilee (the fiftieth year) all property was returned to its original owners. These were people who might have been forced to sell their inheritance because they were poor.
There were people in the Old Testament who
had problems with their giving. Achan
stole property from the city of
We want to begin our study of New Testament giving with two examples from the life of Jesus. Both of these are in the gospels so they are gifts made under the Law of Moses. One concerns Zacchaeus (in Luke 19:1-10 ) and the other concerns a poor widow at the temple (Luke 21:1-4 ).
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and he was rich. He was also short and, desiring to see Jesus, climbed a tree to get a better view. Jesus came to the tree and called him down from his perch. Jesus also informed Zacchaeus that he would dine at his house. As they walked, Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
Jesus approved of Zacchaeus’s plan. Giving half was acceptable and making right the fraud was also acceptable and according to the law given by Moses. Under a law that required ten percent giving, fifty percent was certainly generous.
The poor widow was among the many that came to the temple to give their gifts. Jesus observed the rich people giving large sums into the treasury. He also observed the poor widow drop in her only money, two small copper coins. Turning to his disciples, Jesus remarked, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.”
Jesus approved of 100 per cent giving. His comments also show us that it is not necessarily how much you give that matters, but what you have left. The rich still had plenty left even after large contributions. The widow had nothing left. Her giving was remarkable. The giving of the rich was not.
Both before and after the law was given, the standard was a tithe, ten percent. There were offerings in excess of this amount, but there is no record of giving less than the tithe. As a law, the tithe is not enforced on Christians. With the rest of the Mosaic legislation, it ended at the cross. The new covenant has its own teaching on giving and it is to that teaching we now turn. It might be interesting to see how one might justify giving less than the Jew because one is a Christian.
Giving is a response to God. It is an acknowledgement that God is the source of all good things in our lives. We love because he first loved us. In giving we are expressing our love for God. That others are the immediate recipients of our gifts is incidental. Our gifts are first and foremost a reflection of our honor and respect for God who has made our giving possible.
Paul alludes to this in 2 Corinthians 8:5 . He used the example of the Macedonian’s liberality to spur the Corinthians in their giving. He said of the Macedonians that they “first gave themselves to the Lord.” They understood what the Lord had done for them and their response was a deep sense of responsibility to help others. Paul remarks on their deep poverty overflowing into a wealth of liberality. (Verses 1-5)
In 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
, Paul gives instructions to the Corinthians, as he had previously instructed
the Galatians, concerning a collection for the poor saints in
There are several things to be learned about giving from 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 . First of all is the lesson of the sower. Reaping is in proportion to sowing. The person who is stingy with his seed in sowing will not have much of a crop. Bountiful crops cannot occur without bountiful sowing. Neither can bountiful spiritual blessings be reaped where there is stinginess in giving.
A second lesson is that giving must be planned. Paul says, “Just as he has purposed in his heart.” Giving should not be based upon what is available at the moment the plate is passed. It should be planned before and decided based upon one’s income, not based on the spur of the moment.
A third lesson is that giving must be cheerful. God does not want gifts that are wrestled out of the hand of the giver. If giving is a result of coercion or undue influence exerted, it is not pleasing to God. It must come out of the heart. Giving must be the result of how one feels toward God, not of how one feels he must act in order to please others.
A fourth lesson is the assurance that God will provide for those who give. Giving does not make one poorer, but rather richer. In giving one learns to control spending and thus there is sufficiency for all needs, but not necessarily for all wants. How often we buy things that we think we need only later to learn that we did not really want the things at all. Attics, basements and assorted other “storage” sites are littered with the accumulation of spending splurges for things that were never really wanted. They were the result of impulse buying and soon discarded on the junk heaps of society. It would have been far better to have given the money to God.
The problem with giving usually begins with an attitude. Jesus addresses this issue in the sermon on the mount. In one of the longer sections, from Matthew 6:19-34 , Jesus speaks about money and our attitude toward material things. He begins by stressing the importance of laying up treasure in heaven rather than on earth. When we accumulate things we are laying up treasure on earth. When we are giving things away, whether time or money or possessions, we are laying up treasure in heaven. Jesus assures his listeners that God knows what their needs are. He wants them to know that the interests of God, His kingdom and His righteousness are of primary importance for those who seek to do His will. Jesus concludes by telling his listeners not to be anxious or to worry. One can never give too much. It is easy to fall into the habit of giving too little.
There is a story told in Luke 12:13-21 about a man who wanted Jesus to make his brother share the family inheritance. Apparently the man seeking help believed that he had been cheated out of his rightful inheritance. In part of Jesus’ reply he said, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
Abundance of possessions does not guarantee life. Greed comes in many forms. Sometimes greed takes possession of a man without his knowledge. Possessions seem often to hold the key to happiness. Sometimes one thinks, “If only I had . . . I would be happy.” That is an illusion. Possessions do not have the power to make one happy or sad.
Jesus went on to tell a story about a prosperous farmer. It is not a story about someone who lied and cheated his way to riches. It is about a man who successfully farmed his land and reaped an abundant harvest. There is no question of ill-gotten gains. There is no question concerning the man’s honesty nor that he had gotten his gain by anything but hard work and effort.
In the midst of the farmer’s plans to tear down his barns, build bigger barns and retire, God said, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” Perhaps there is an allusion to the man who had demanded the inheritance. Perhaps the man’s father had purposely chosen to exclude him and now he hoped to overturn the will of his father by asking Jesus to intercede.
Jesus conclusion: “So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” He kept his money and he died. All was lost. Someone else would get what he had prepared for himself. Only that which you give away is kept when you die. Everything that you have accumulated and kept for yourself will be lost.
There is an interesting parable of Jesus found in Luke 16:1-13 . The story is told of a steward that has just been informed that he must give an account of his stewardship, “for you can no longer be steward.” What is the man to do? He decides that he is not strong enough to dig and he is ashamed to beg. He then takes his account book and reduces the charges for those who owe his master.
Key to understanding the parable is the idea that Christians are just stewards. That which we appear to possess we only hold in trust for God. The unrighteous steward is commended for shrewdness in using what he held in trust to secure friends for the time when he was turned out by his master. The point is that disciples of Jesus should use what God has entrusted to them to secure their future, eternal life with God.
Your future will not be secured by holding on to what you possess and using it for personal gratification. What God has given to you is to be used in His service. Giving, whether to the church, to the poor or to other good causes is a way in which one may use his possessions to store up treasure in heaven. The point is to use what God has entrusted to your care to ensure your future. Insurance, IRA’s and pension plans cannot assure you of a prosperous future. Only God can do that. The possessions that you own here will be of no use to you when you die.
On another occasion, Jesus spoke to a person who had invited him to a luncheon. He insisted that one ought to invite the “poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” The blessing would be in providing for those who could not repay the kindness that had been offered. The point is to give, expecting nothing in return. The blessing is in the giving not in what will be given to the giver. There are those who teach that giving will ensure that God pours out blessings in kind. This story indicates that the giving should be without expectation of a return. If God chooses to give in return, He may do that but there must be no expectation of repayment.
Jesus noticed how particular some were with their tithing. (Luke 11:42 ) “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”
Justice and the love of God are things of great importance. Yet Jesus does not say the pursuit of these makes paying tithes irrelevant. To the contrary, Jesus insists that paying tithes is no more optional than are justice and the love of God.
Giving is not optional for the one who seeks to do the will of God. It must be done deliberately according to one’s income. It must be done cheerfully because it is a blessing to have things that may be given. It must be done sacrificially because it is in acknowledgement of the greatest sacrifice of all, the sacrifice made by Jesus.
