InterVarsity - Alumni Blog
"Sell all you have and give the money to the poor," said the radical Christian, "that is the only way." "No," said the Christian businessman, "we mustn't forget that Abraham, the father of all the faithful, was a wealthy man." "You are both right," said the average Christian, eager that no one's feelings be hurt, "the important thing is that we have the right attitude toward our possessions." And so the conversation ended—but everybody still felt uneasy.
Most of us are defensive when someone challenges the way we earn or spend our money. Scripture, perhaps to our discomfort, has a lot to say about personal finances, and unsettling or not, it is in our best interest to check it out.
We are all familiar with Christ's teaching that we can't serve both God and mammon (property or wealth). But this is very abstract. Of course, my car or my wardrobe does not mean more to me than God. But if we look carefully, we notice that Christ does not say that we must serve God more than property. Therefore, the usual way of testing ourselves, by evaluating our life to see which has "first place," is not the proper test. The question is whether or not we are serving our property at all.
Hebrews says "Keep your life free from love of money" (v. 13:5). Love for money and love for God are mutually exclusive.
What then is the proper attitude toward property? In one word, our attitude should be caution. Jesus said, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). Paul warns that some, through this craving for money, have "spiked themselves on many thorny grief's" (1 Timothy 6:10). Property and riches should be viewed as dangerous (Ecclesiastes 5:13).
Riches don't only destroy. In the parable of the talents (Luke 19), the servants were rewarded according to how well they used their money. (The teaching of the parable includes more than the use of money.) Note Christ's words, "If then you have not proved trustworthy with the wealth of this world, who will trust you with the wealth that is real?" A careless use of money will exclude us from being entrusted with true riches.
The Christian's attitude cannot be a serious devotion to money or property, or a flippant disregard of it. Rather, it must be viewed as a powerful tool—one to be mastered so we can move on to higher things, lest it master us. To steer a course between an irresponsible attitude on the one hand, and an infatuation with property on the other, requires the strength of God's Spirit and the support of Christ's body—not a task for the individualistic crusader.
Scripture abounds with exhortations to generosity. Generosity, as set forth in Scripture, is not the same as "charity" as set forth by our culture. Charity connotes giving out of pity, and our culture gives us every opportunity to feel self-righteous—from little red "I gave" ribbons to "In memory of” buildings. Scriptural generosity, in contrast, stems from a humble and thankful spirit, and produces a deeper humility and a deeper thanks.
In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul encourages Christians to be prepared to give to the collection for the relief of the needy saints. Rather than giving a tearful description of the need, Paul reminds them that their "wealth" is theirs by God's generosity.
"For you know how generous our Lord Jesus Christ has been: he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich" (v. 9).
No longer can the giver feel superior to the recipient in scriptural generosity; rather, he gives out of humility before his generous Lord and in thanks to his Lord. Our motivation is our desire to be like our Lord (Proverbs 19:17).
To what extent are we to be generous with our money? Too often this important, but difficult, question is dismissed by pointing out that it is impossible to universally apply Christ's command to the rich young ruler to "sell everything." Scripture indicates that the answer to "how much" is "our surplus." Denying our children what they need or our creditors what they rightfully deserve, in order to be generous, is false piety.
When Paul enjoins the Corinthians to be generous, he spells this out, "...Give according to your means. Provided there is an eager desire to give, God accepts what a man has; he does not ask for what he has not. There is no question of relieving others at the cost of hardship to yourselves; it is a question of equality. At the moment your surplus meets their need, but one day your need may be met from their surplus" (2 Corinthians 8:11-14).
Further on Paul says that God supplies richly so that we will have enough—and enough to spare for generosity. We are not expected to be generous with what we have to meet our immediate needs—we are expected to be generous with whatever we have left over after meeting our immediate needs. In fact, the man who doesn't provide for his own family is said to be "worse than an infidel."(1 Tim 5:8)
The wisdom of this age teaches us that due to the uncertainty of the future, our surplus should be stored. The rich man in Luke 12 thought this way. Having built new barns to store his surplus, he concluded that he could now rest easy because his future was secured. But God said to him, "Fool!" The writer of Ecclesiastes sees through this so-called wisdom also. (v. 5:12)
True wisdom teaches us that due to the uncertainty of the future, our surplus should be given away. "Cast your bread upon the waters," advises Ecclesiastes 11:1-2, "for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight [an idiom meaning an indefinite number], for you know not what evil may happen on earth."
Christ admonishes against storing our surplus because moths, rust or thieves can destroy it. Rather he teaches us "Sell your possessions and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys" (Luke 12:33).
The popular conception of the Protestant work ethic believes that riches are a sign of the blessing of God. Nowhere in Scripture, however, are we taught that God gives more than enough in order that man may hoard his wealth. God guarantees not wealth, but enough.
More than that, God guarantees that we will have enough left over to give some away. Indeed, part of God's blessing is that he allows us to participate in the giving process as well as receiving. God could have made all wealth like the manna—no matter how much a family gathered, they had just enough—and if they tried to save some for the next day, it rotted. "Now he who provides seed for sowing and bread for food will provide the seed for you to sow; he will multiply it and swell the harvest of your benevolence, and you will always be rich enough to be generous" (2 Corinthians 9:10).
Whether we consider giving in order to be rewarded as ethically commendable or not, it is nevertheless true that we will be rewarded if we give. "Give, and you will be given to," said Christ (Luke 6:38).
Giving should never be done under compulsion. We give freely, or not at all. When God told Moses to start gathering for the building of the tabernacle he told him to "accept whatever contribution each man shall freely offer" (Exodus 25:2). In collecting money from the Corinthians, Paul stressed that God will take care of them if they give, and said very clearly "each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).
A true budget
Giving out of surplus or excess is a relatively vague guideline. The question of whether to give or how much to give is in every respect an individual decision. We have no grounds for judging anyone except ourselves in this matter. God allows us to plan our own budget—but we do so with the awesome knowledge that if we handle our possessions in an untrustworthy manner, we thereby prove that we will not be able to handle true riches.
Another guideline for giving in Scripture is that, while it is good to be generous to all, it is especially important to be generous to others in the body of Christ. "So then, as we have opportunity," said Paul to the Galatians, "let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10).
Throughout the Old Testament the Israelites are instructed that the poor, the needy, and the stranger are to be treated hospitably. There is, however, a special hospitality for one's fellow countrymen. This is illustrated in the year of release. Every seventh year debts were to be canceled (Deuteronomy 15:2). The Mosaic law was particularly concerned that there be no poor among God's people.
Paul points out to the Corinthians that giving to needy Christians not only helps them in their need, but "overflows in a flood of thanksgiving to God. For through the proof which this affords, many will give honor to God when they see how humbly you obey him and how faithfully you confess the gospel of Christ; and will thank him for your liberal contribution to their need and to the general good" (2 Corinthians 9:12). Giving to needy Christians has a double benefit. It helps the need, and it gives another opportunity for others to thank God.
There is a danger that must be avoided in our generosity. For if we give generously, trusting God to reward us, and yet give "before men in order to be seen by them" we will lose our God-sent reward. There's great reward in terms of ego satisfaction in being known as a generous person. It's nearly worth the money we give for the "strokes" we get in return.
Christ said, "When you do some act of charity, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing; your good deed must be secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (Matthew 6:3-4).
If, however, all giving were done in absolute secrecy, where would be the opportunity that Paul speaks of for one Christian to thank God for another Christian's generosity? Christ's statements about secretive giving were made in response to the extreme showiness of the giving of the religious people of his day. The key phrase in his statement is that to "give before man in order to be seen by them" nullifies our reward from God. The ideal, obviously, is to be so thankful to God and concerned for our brothers' need, that we would be oblivious of others watching.
There is another so-called trap that is really no danger at all. That is, "Beware, lest the con man get your goods." This is perhaps one of Satan's chief tools in keeping us from the joys of giving. God is aware of the existence of con men. "All day long the wicked covets" says Proverbs 12:26. But does it conclude that we should therefore guard our goods? On the contrary. Although Christ's words in Luke 6 seem contrary to our self-preservation instinct, they are backed up with his guarantee of protection: "When a man hits you on the cheek, offer him the other cheek too; when a man takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. Give to everyone who asks you; when a man takes what is yours, do not demand it back" (Luke 6:29-30).
Being generous, even to the wicked, is God's example. "You will be sons of the Most High," Christ said, "because he himself is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate" (Luke 6:35).
