Overflowing Gratitude: The Heart of Christian Generosity
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
-Galatians 6:6-10, ESV
In the last post, I argued that Christians should still practice tithing. Scripture is clear that Christians are obligated to give to the local church for its upkeep and to adequately compensate pastors for their labor. But Scripture also exhorts us to give generously above and beyond the tithe, which is described as a freewill offering. This post will explore the concept of freewill offerings throughout Scripture and its underlying motivation, ending with a guide for how Christians should approach giving.
Giving in the Old Testament
Throughout the Old Testament, we see people giving to God above and beyond the tithe and giving to the poor. The tithe and other obligations (like restitution) were commanded, but throughout the Law there are provisions for people to offer freewill offerings to God above and beyond those obligations (e.g. Leviticus 22). Perhaps the best example of this was when the Israelites donated so much money and materials to build the Tabernacle that Moses had to command them to stop (Exodus 35:29-36:7). But much more is said about giving to the poor. The Law commanded people to leave some crops in the field for the poor to glean (Leviticus 19:10, 23:22), pay poor day laborers without delay (Deuteronomy 24:15), and lend without interest (Exodus 22:25). It also gave allowances for people to help their poor friends and relatives by redeeming them and their property and—as I have briefly discussed previously—through Israel’s highly regulated and temporary form of slavery (Leviticus 24). It was also understood that some of the tithe would be used to help the poor (Deuteronomy 26:13). All of these formed Israel’s welfare system, in which the family had first responsibility to care for the poor, then the local community, and finally the nation through the tithe.[1]
The rest of the Old Testament is filled with both blessings for being generous to the poor and curses for withholding that generosity. Here are just a few examples from the wisdom books:
The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.
-Psalm 37:21, ESV
One gives freely, yet grows richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
-Proverbs 11:24, ESV
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
-Proverbs 14:31, ESV
As with all of the Law, Israel often failed to follow God’s commands to take care of the poor through generosity (e.g. Nehemiah 5), so the prophets frequently declare woe against the people for oppressing rather than caring for the poor (e.g. Ezekiel 18). But by far the most frequent references to generosity in the Old Testament are about the generosity of God. From Creation, God is characterized as the God who gives. He gave Adam and Eve the Garden and everything in it. He gave the Patriarchs blessings, wealth, and promises. He gave the Israelites the Promised Land and everything in it. He gave, He gave, He gave: “He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor” (Psalms 112:9). Therefore, the righteous man (Proverbs 22:16) and righteous woman (Proverbs 31:20) are both characterized by their generosity that reflects their infinitely generous God.
Jesus and Generosity
Just as with the tithe, this Old Testament emphasis on generosity was a crucial part of the context into which Jesus came and taught, so unsurprisingly there are many similarities.[2] Jesus repeatedly taught generosity toward the poor (Matthew 5:42, Luke 6:30-38, 11:41, 12:33, 14:13) and praised the widow for giving all she had to live on (Luke 21:1-4). And despite not having a stable income Himself, Jesus clearly practiced generosity frequently enough that when Judas left the Upper Room, the disciples thought he might be going to give to the poor (John 13:27-29).
In His teaching, Jesus focused on the heart of giving. He exhorts giving in secret to be seen by God rather others (Matthew 6:1-4, Luke 18:12). Jesus also taught generosity as a crucial component of keeping wealth from becoming an idol (Matthew 6:24), which is why He told the rich young ruler to give all he had to the poor (Mark 10:21, Luke 18:22). And as I alluded to last time, Jesus taught generosity as an investment in the Kingdom of God: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). By giving money to the work of advancing the Kingdom, we are investing in eternity and thus depositing our treasures in heaven. Jesus echoes the Old Testament’s promises of heavenly rewards for generosity, so everything we invest for the Kingdom has guaranteed eternal returns. Everything else will eventually perish, so it is folly to put many of our eggs in that basket. With this perspective, the Christian is motivated to give as much as possible to the advancement of the Kingdom while keeping as little as possible invested in earthly things that will not give an eternal return.
That perspective is the exact opposite of the world’s approach to money, so it will look like folly from the outside. This is the point of the parables of the treasure and pearl, both of which involve people finding something of great value and selling everything they have to buy it (Matthew 13:44-46). To put this in modern terms, say someone told you in 1980 to sell your house and invest it all into Apple with the caveat that you couldn’t cash out until after 2020. That would be folly, unless you knew that your investment would grow by more than 160,000% in that time. With that end goal in mind, you would do what was necessary to put as much money as you could into this sure investment. To enable that, you would have to live on a shoestring budget. What we are talking about is something infinitely more valuable than Apple stock—and infinitely more secure: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed” (Proverbs 19:17). But since earthly treasures will all perish, it is as if in our Apple scenario we also knew that all other investments would give no returns. Remember that in the parable of the talents, when the wicked servant doesn’t invest in advancing the Kingdom, his talent is given to the one who invested and had the greater return (Matthew 25:18-29 cf. Proverbs 22:16, 28:8). Now, the choice to invest becomes obvious. Not only is generously investing in the Kingdom not foolish as it appears to outsiders, but it is actually the smartest investment strategy. As Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”.
The Heart of Generosity
These teachings and their effects are seen throughout the rest of the New Testament. From its earliest days, the Church was characterized by generosity. They freely shared what they had (Acts 2:45) such that there were no needy people among them (Acts 4:32) and obviously providing adequate support to the apostles so they were able to devote their time to preaching (Acts 5:12-13, 6:2). Therefore, the early church was both sharing every good thing with those who were teaching them and taking every opportunity to do good to everyone, especially those in the Church (Galatians 6:6-10). And when the apostles approved of Paul preaching to the Gentiles, they specifically ask that he take care of the poor (Galatians 2:10). So it should come as no surprise that Paul lists generosity among the spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6-8) and as a way to store up treasures in heaven:
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
-1 Timothy 6:17-19, ESV
The most detailed discussion of generosity comes in 2 Corinthians 8-9. Here, Paul is encouraging the Corinthians as they prepare to contribute to the needs of the saints, using the generosity of the Macedonians and the Corinthians’ prior eagerness to motivate them (2 Corinthians 8:1-6). From Romans 15:25-26, we know that this particular collection was to aid the saints in Jerusalem, so it falls under the category of charitable donation above and beyond the tithe. Nevertheless, Paul speaks of them owing these contributions to the saints in Jerusalem because they had reaped spiritual benefit by the Gospel reaching them from Jerusalem (Romans 15:26-27).
But this was not a mere duty. Paul speaks of them being pleases to contributed to this (Romans 15:26) and says that the Macedonians even begged for the privilege (2 Corinthians 8:4) despite their own poverty and affliction (2 Corinthians 8:2-3). What would motivate them to do this? First, Paul echoes Malachi by restating God’s promise to provide for the needs of His people (Malachi 3:10-12 cf. Proverbs 3:9-10):
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work…He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
-2 Corinthians 9:6-8, 10-11, ESV
Therefore Paul is motivating the Corinthians to give generously because God has promised to provide for their needs.[3] He said the same to the Philippians after they generously supplied his needs (Philippians 4:17-20). But Paul also gives a more important: “I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). The real reason that the Corinthians should be generous (and therefore why we should be generous as well) is because Jesus was infinitely generous to us. Following the concept of firstfruits, God gives us His first and best in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20,23) and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:23).[4] Not only has He given us salvation but He also graciously gives us all things, therefore as finite beings we could never pay Him back. Therefore, it is only natural that we should desire to pay it forward as much as possible. We have been forgiven much, which should lead to much love (Luke 7:47), which would in turn result in much generosity. Therefore, we should give out of thanksgiving to God for His gifts to us—most of all Jesus Christ: “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
A Christian’s Generosity
All of this means that Christians should desire to be generous to those around them out of overflow of the abundance of all good things that God has given us—especially Jesus Christ Himself. We are not generous to earn God’s favor but because we already have His favor. Gad has given us salvation in Jesus Christ and promised to give us everything we need. He has also given us a command to go to the ends of the earth making disciples and thereby advancing His Kingdom. Any contributions toward that end are viewed Scripturally as investments with guaranteed eternal returns, whereas spending resources on other things only has the potential of temporal returns. Finally, we are not only called to give money but “all good things” (Galatians 6:6) and to take every opportunity to do good to everyone, especially those in the local church (Galatians 6:10). This means we need be generous with our time, talents, and spiritual gifts. We all have the same amount of time in a day, and Scripture commands us to use it wisely (Ephesians 5:15-16, Colossians 4:5). First, as with the tithe, we should give our first and best time to God. So we need to set aside time for the Word and prayer when we will be alert and focused.
We should then give of our time and talents in service of others, again prioritizing the local church. Just as the ministry of the local church that advances the Kingdom cannot happen without financial resources, it also cannot happen without saints giving of their time and talents. Many pastors are severely overburdened because their congregations expect them not only to preach every week (which takes numerous hours of preparation), but also manage the church’s facilities and resources, all while leading every ministry, discipling every member, and doing all of the counseling. If we added up all of these hours and compared it with their often abysmally low salaries, we would find that in most cases our pastors are working at far below minimum wage. It is no wonder they are burning out, to the detriment of both their congregations and the advancement of the Kingdom. Just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house (Numbers 12:7, Hebrews 3:2-6) but could not manage all of it himself (Exodus 18:13-26), our pastors need all the saints to share the burden of service. We are all called to make disciples (Matthew 28:19)—which at times includes biblical counseling—and to serve in various capacities in the church as we have been enabled by the Spirit (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12). Certainly, this includes the elders and deacons who oversee the ministries of the church, but it is the job of all saints to do the ministries of the church (Ephesians 4:11-12). Certainly, saints can give of their time and talents to parachurch ministries and other organizations, but we must prioritize the local church with our time and talents as with our money. When the saints are serving the local church with their diverse talents and gifts, no organization can match the capability of the local church.[5]
All of this drives Christian generosity, which has in turn driven generosity throughout the world. Certainly, Christianity does not have a corner on the market when it comes to generosity, but the sheer scale of generosity that has come as a direct result of Christianity is unparalleled. Motivated by overwhelming gratitude for all that God has given them, Christians since the early days of the church have given generously to provide for the needs of their fellow believers as well as those in need in their societies. Hospitals, orphanages, homeless shelters, and many other such institutions are the direct result of that generosity. They were started by Christians living out the Gospel of our infinitely generous God, which is the same thing we are called to. How this works out into a strategy of generosity for each Christian will differ, but that strategy should be shaped by the following principles.
Prioritize the local church: As I stated in the last post, Christians are obligated by Scripture to financially support the local church enough that the pastors are adequately compensated for their labor and the church’s resources can be adequately stewarded. While the New Testament does not restate the 10% requirement of the Old Testament tithe, it also does not abolish it. Therefore, Christians should strive as they are able to give 10% of their gross income to the local church. This will not be possible in all situations, so it is important to note that even if the tithe is still an obligation for the church, it is for the whole church. That means that since there will be people in any church who will not be able to give 10% to the local church and still care for their families as Scripture commands, others in the church with greater means should give a greater percentage so that the church as a whole is meeting the tithe obligation. The Christian life is to be lived in the context of the local church, so Christian giving should prioritize the local church. This also means that we should prioritize giving of our time and talents to the local church.
Prioritize caring for the poor through the local church: In addition to paying pastors and caring for facilities, tithe money has always been used to help the poor, especially in the local congregation. One of the most striking commands regarding this is from Paul: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). This includes members of both our physical families and our spiritual family in the local church. We should feel a deep, familial connection to our fellow Christians, which will naturally result in helping to meet their needs as we are able just as the early church did.
Manage Your Portfolio: The money, time, and energy we give to Kingdom work is an investment, so when we support the local church and parachurch ministries, we should expect a return on that investment—but not a financial return. Therefore, we should use similar scrutiny when considering supporting missionaries and parachurch organizations as we would use when considering financial investments. We need to ensure they are actually advancing the Kingdom by spreading the Gospel and are under the authority of a local church. This should lead us to prioritize giving to individual missionaries and organizations that plant churches, train pastors, and translate the Bible. Other organizations may not focus on the Gospel in this way but do advance the Kingdom by spreading the effects of the Gospel and displaying its beauty. Christian shelters for the homeless and abused, crisis pregnancy centers, bible-based counseling services, anti-human trafficking organizations, medical services, Christian schools at all levels, and other such organizations do this and are therefore worthy of strong consideration when we decide where and how to give of our money, time, and talents.
Use Discernment: This doesn’t mean that all of our donations need to be to churches, missionaries, and parachurch organizations, but it does mean that we should prioritize them over any secular organization since only the former will give us eternal returns. When considering any secular organization, we need to ensure that they do not advance causes contrary to Scripture and therefore work against the Kingdom. Wherever you decide to give and serve in addition to the local church, do your research to make sure they are worthy of your investment. Pay close attention to the organization’s overhead to make sure as much of your investment as possible goes to actually serving others. As much as possible, ensure the organization is properly accountable for how they use the resources entrusted to them. And these investments are not a marriage, so whenever an organization fails to properly utilize the resources entrusted to them, take your investment somewhere else.
Give Proactively: Finally, in addition to being regular and sacrificial, our giving needs to be proactive. This starts by planning for it. Last time, I mentioned the importance of a budget to help plan giving and identify opportunities to increase giving. We should also budget our time so that we are using it effectively and donating it as we can. We need to proactively look for opportunities to give of our money, time, and talents both inside and outside the church. Talk to your elders and deacons about possibilities to give and serve in the local church. If things look like they are running smoothly, it is probably because a few people are working very hard and need help. Also look for organizations that meet the criteria listed above. Last, make sure to pray both for opportunities to arise and the wisdom to know when and how to give when they do arise.
Clearly, this is not an exhaustive or infallible list, but I hope it will help guide believers in how to approach generosity practically. Our individual portfolios and investment strategies for giving of our money, time, and talents to the advancement of the Kingdom will be different, but Scripture is clear that they should heavily favor the local church and be comprised of investments that either directly or indirectly advance the Kingdom. Let us not bury our money, time, and talents in earthly treasures that are of no eternal value, but instead let us invest in Kingdom work so that we may have treasures in heaven. Let us be generous to God and others not out of duty but out of overwhelming gratitude for everything that God has given us, first and foremost Jesus Christ and all of the blessings of being in Him.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory….And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
-Colossians 3:1-4, 15-17, ESV
NOTES
[1] Cornelis Van Dam, The Deacon: Biblical Foundations for Today’s Ministry of Mercy. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformed Heritage Books: 2016: 15-31.
[2] Cornelis Van Dam, The Deacon: Biblical Foundations for Today’s Ministry of Mercy. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformed Heritage Books: 2016: 36-46.
[3] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan: 1994: 957-958.
[4] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan: 1994: 615-616.
[5] Heath Lambert, A Theology of Biblical Counseling: The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan: 2016: 311.
