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February 05, 2005

On Giving

The Christian life, in all its complexity, can be divided up into two succinct groups: faith and religion. Faith being the indefinable spiritual aspect that both gave birth to our belief in God and sustains us with the inexplicable certainty it creates. Religion’s definition finds its roots in James 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”(NKJV) Our modern day view and practice of religion is a poor emulation of James’ explication from the New Testament. Instead of it being the care of those most in need it takes the form of pot-luck dinners, ceremonial celebrations of the Christian holidays and the tired, oft uninspired, ritual of Sunday morning worship. We spend our times in committees debating over whether worship should be traditional or contemporary; content to fill our minds with mindless details and distracted from our most essential and important calling from James.

With regard to those in need, the modern church has become the forum for an academic acknowledgement of the existence for those less fortunate with our mission conferences and visiting speakers who give an account of their recent exploits, an obvious precursor to the passing of the collection plate that will certainly follow. After a moment of internal debate we open our wallets, satisfied to sacrifice a twenty-dollar bill to appease the rumblings of guilt we feel steadily growing within us. I do not mean to downplay those moments of charity for they are essential to the work of Christ; missionaries need our monetary support to continue the calling they have from the Lord. But perhaps there is more to the act of giving than the mere reallocation of funds.

The first verse of Psalm 24 tells us that, “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” (NKJV) Through David’s eloquence we learn that our so-called act of giving is now revealed to be just the opposite, for the resources we surrendered were never ours in the first place. The prudent believer would undoubtedly then come to the conclusion that there is something deeper in the act of ‘giving’ that our Father in heaven wants us to learn; a more important lesson than the mere acquiescence of our material goods.

James needed to define religion for us because we are quick to forget that the blessings we graciously experience are not something that we are owed nor that their occurrence follows in the obligatory wake of some sort of good work. We make the assumption that if we believe in God that we will somehow experience the fruits not only of the spiritual life but of the physical world as well.

Bruce Wilkinson’s drivel laced, barely inspired exegetical travesty The Prayer of Jabez makes the brazen insinuation that if we pray earnestly enough for it that God will inevitably ‘expand our territory.’ Though the book centered on the spiritual aspect of the affair millions of copies were moved because the subtle extension of the message was that our bank accounts would move in suit; transcribing our monetary quarter-acre into a vast countryside of wealth. Another contributing factor to its success was the instinctual selfish palpability of its message: ‘Lord, expand MY territory, make MY influence bigger. Oh, and by ME I mean you.’ Even the pure-hearted believer seeking to use the book as a tool to reach their fellow co-workers and friends were given a watered down view of God, seeing Him as a mechanical blessings machine who will open the floodgates of spiritual influence when the correct password is uttered.

We must abandon the idea that we are doing anything of value when we take part in the act of giving, if it is to accomplish what God intends because He doesn’t need our money. We are doing our Lord no favors when we surrender our tithes and offerings instead, we become entwined in the sacred act of surrender. In doing this we acknowledge that it was God that brought these blessings to us, not our hard work; an act of faith which recognizes that just as God was gracious in providing in our past that He will continue to do so into the future. The blessing comes when we stop and acknowledge his provision not our own generosity. The Lord was not hungry for beef when He commanded the Israelites to sacrifice their finest bull to Him. It was through this act that God’s chosen people would recognize that without Him they would not have even the smallest dove on which to feed.

But what of our acts of giving that extend beyond our weekly tithes and offerings? How are we to care for the orphans and widows of the world? It is foolish to think that simply writing a check will fulfill this obligation. Think back to the numerous stories in the gospels about Jesus’ healing exploits, but instead of an instance of miraculous healing imagine the act as a monetary gift. A crippled hand becoming well again will positively affect the quality of life to the beggar just as a check for $100 will provide food for the poor widow. But what if the provision stopped there? Certainly if Jesus were alive today he wouldn’t take up post on a street corner, writing out checks to all of us who were in need of paying the rent. It was the coupling of His miraculous acts with a demonstration of love and a subtle lesson of the beyond that made Jesus’ ministry so potently flawless in it’s representation of the divine.

The major intentional thrust of Jesus’ ministry on earth was to inform us of first, His claim to the throne; second, our sin-riddled lives and lastly, our dire need for a savior. It was certainly not limited to merely making the lame walk and the blind see. Those miraculous acts of physical impossibility that accompanied the message were simply vehicles to take the scales off of our spiritual eyes and instill in us a faith that could offer eternal salvation. Jesus, after being mercilessly beaten at the hands of the Sanhedrin, told Pilate plainly that He was ‘not the king of this world,’ making it clear to us all that we must forsake our concern with this world and shift our eyes to the next.

Though we may purpose to focus ourselves on the glorious horizon of Christ’s Second Coming we are, in the meantime, on this earth and must make the best use of our present circumstances. Though our primary concern in giving is surrender, its consequential effects of reallocating wealth are often immediately beneficial to the work of God. The electrical company expects that all its customers pay their bills on time and we can not foolishly count on coins from the mouths of fishes or dollar bills falling like mana from heaven to supplement the checks our churches write to keep the lights on. Tithing is an essential act of the church member but what is often missing is our offering; the amount we are called to give beyond our weekly ten percent.

The concept of giving an offering beyond the required tithe was first introduced in Deuteronomy 12:6-7 when God commands the Israelites that, “All of your sacrifices and offerings must be taken there, including sacrifices to please the Lord and any gift you promise or voluntarily give him. That’s where you must also take one tenth of your grain, wine and olive oil, as well as the first born of your cattle, sheep, and goats. You and your family and servants will eat your gifts and sacrifices and celebrate there at the place of worship because the LORD your God has made you successful in everything you have done.”(CEV) Even though the Lord requires that they bring Him tribute He gives it directly back to them in the form of a feast showing His magnificent benevolence in appreciation for their obedience and belief. During this time the Israelites were crossing the Jordan and being constantly engaged in battle, hardly a time to have a lavish feast, which would seriously diminish their rationed food stores. This type of celebration was an exercise in faith for God’s chosen people and an example from scripture that exhibits God’s call on us to be lavish givers when it is time to produce our offerings.

Many believers today often wonder how much they should give; paralyzed about whether or not it is enough, insufficient or if the money they give will be used wisely by the party who received it. Stewardship should always be at the forefront of our minds when we give to a ministry just as it is at any other time we have to spend money but it should never be used as a scapegoat to explain our stinginess. Many Christians I know become uncomfortable when they pass a homeless man, avoiding eye contact and nervously asserting that they didn’t want to give him their spare change because he would inevitably, ‘just spend it on drugs or alcohol.’ Though this may be true in many cases what is always true is that this beggar does have a need and as Christians we are called to satisfy it. My grandfather, Roy Sturtevant, died when I was only two years old but a story my mother has told me about him has resonated deeply about the proper conduct of the Christian giver.

Whenever my grandfather would encounter a homeless person or someone in need he would forgo throwing a few coins into a coffee cup preferring instead to extend a hand and bring them to a restaurant for a sit down meal. While his guest would dive into their hot meal he would use this time to share Christ with them; transforming their brief mealtime encounter into an opportunity to offer spiritual food as well. The offering in this scenario is expressed not just in the money it took to buy the man food, for my grandfather’s meager salary from the church was barely enough to feed his own family, but also in the sacrifice of his time. In addition to his pastoral duties he ran a small farm and the fact that he was in town delineates that he was there for a purpose. Just as the Good Samaritan diverted his travel plans to help a man in need so did my grandfather; postponing his errands to act as Christ would by feeding the hungry and giving them a glimpse of the eternal.

It is our duty as followers of Christ to always be at the ready for whatever sacrifice is demanded in any given situation. Our offerings can be expressed in any number of ways: whether it is writing a check to a ministry we believe in, providing a hot meal for the hungry or taking the time to share Christ with those we encounter even if it serves to disrupt our carefully crafted schedules. All of Jesus’ encounters with those in need where unplanned occurrences as he walked through the countryside of Galilee, through the temple courts or even by midnight appointment when he chose instead to talk to Nicodemus rather than sleep. Our Lord provides us opportunities to both give to those in need and to serve in the furthering of His ministry on a daily basis, not just on our mission trips and scattered excursions to the soup kitchen. It then becomes our duty to open our eyes and seek them out.

Posted by Jon at February 5, 2005 06:45 PM