Give Generously

Sep 6

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What do you do when threatened? Fight or flight, right? You either retreat or you fight back.

What do you think is the greatest threat to Christianity? There are many of them—none of them are truly threats, because the end of the story has already been written, and Jesus wins! But the threats are against you and me and our walk with Christ here and now.

In the book, Hidden Worldviews, the authors say, “It is probably not an overstatement to say that consumerism is the most potent competitor to a Chrisitan worldview in our culture.”[1] That probably wasn’t at the top of your list, was it? It was probably something more visible, like Islam or some technology like artificial intelligence. They say, “Consumerism absolutizes consumption by believing that we can find fulfillment by accumulating wealth and everything that comes with it. It tells us that all our needs can be satisfied by what we consume.”[2]

You know what? We are overconsumers, and our false religion is materialism. And we must not run from it; we must fight against it.

Giving is the only antidote to materialism.

We can see this clearly in a parable Jesus told in Luke 12:16-21:

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

This person was living the American Dream just like you and I desire to. And this is what Jesus essentially told him not to do: don’t build bigger barns. What should you do instead? Give it away. That is completely countercultural to our materialistic mindset, let alone the mindset Jesus is telling this parable to. This is how countercultural it is to our overly consuming lives:

“The documentary Affluenza reveals that Americans have consumed more resources over the last fifty years than the total used by the entire population of earth prior to 1950. An average American consumes thirty times more than the average person from India. In 1999, teenagers spent a hundred billion dollars, and their parents spend an additional fifty billion dollars on them, according to the documentary film Merchants of Cool. We could cite a long list of similar statistics, but they would only confirm what is already obvious—we use much more than we actually need, and we know it. What we are often unclear about, however, is why we do this.”[3]

Also,

“The documentary Affluenza states that Americans throw away enough each year to fill a convoy of garbage trucks half way to the moon, including seven million cars and enough aluminum cans to make six thousand DC-10 airplanes. Every year!”[4]

Everything we have ends up being given away one way or another. Why don’t we live “rich toward God” as Jesus said it, instead of rich toward a landfill? One of the reasons we hang on to money and things instead of giving it away is because we are far too easily pleased.

We are far too easily pleased.

C.S. Lewis famously painted this picture: he said,

“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”[5]

We are far too easily pleased. We settle for the things of this world when God is on the other side. Eternal and earthly joy is on the other side. Intimacy with God is on the other side. Living for God’s kingdom is on the other side. Seeing His will done and seeing people come from death to life because of your investment into the kingdom is on the other side. But we are far too easily pleased. We would rather hoard God’s blessings, build bigger barns, and think, “If I only had a little more.”

In the Hidden Worldviews book, they pointedly say, “We must remember that our decisions about consumption are made in the presence of God, which makes financial choices a matter of spirituality.”[6] Every decision we make about money is a spiritual decision. I’m talking about what we decide to spend or not to spend. Randy Alcorn says about this, in regards to God,

“He does not exist for me. I exist for Him. God’s money has a higher purpose than my affluence. Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater Person and a greater agenda. Giving dethrones me and exalts Christ.”[7]

So, we see the need. But, where do we begin? We have been very theoretical all the way up to this point. At some point, though, the rubber must hit the road.

The tithe is the starting place.

The New Testament shows us giving exorbitantly and being overtly generous with what God has given us.[8] A good place for us to start, as people who have been redeemed and given everything by God, knowing He owns everything and that we are His money managers, is where He started with His people in the Old Testament.[9]

Leviticus 27:30 – Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord.

How much should Christians tithe? Well, the amount is in the word. Tithe literally means “tenth.”[10] The basic principle of the tithe is that every person is to give back at least a tenth of their increase to the Lord. That means everyone gives the same percentage, but not the same amount.

God gives you 100%. Remember, everything we have is from God. In faith, in gratitude, to fulfill His mission in the world, out of obedience, as an act of worship, for so many reasons, you give back just 10% of the 100% He has graciously provided for you.

Think about it like this: A dad buys his little boy a plate of fries. Then he reaches over and takes a few. The boy slaps his hand away and yells, “Those are mine!” Anyone watching would gasp, right? The Dad paid for the whole plate. He gave it as a gift to his son. A few fries off the top is more than fair. But that is how we treat God with our money. He has given us everything we have. Yet when He asks for some back, we act like all of it is ours. Y’all, it’s not. God owns it all. He even owns us. And He asks us to manage what He has entrusted to us and to give a portion back for His purposes and glory.

Practically, we need to ask, how much of that 100%? Just this week someone was talking to me about this, and this person was talking to me about the importance of tithing—now this wasn’t a pastor, just someone who trusts God, believes the Bible, and seeks to live by faith—but this person said, “You should tithe off what you brag about.” I think you’ll remember that one. The number you use in your tax return. That big number. That’s the number you actually make. That’s what God has provided for you. And He asks for you to give a tenth of that to Him out of obedience and gratitude, for His work to continue to go forth.

The tithe was mandatory in the Old Testament. It’s not in the New Testament. But think about both cases. In both cases, when you don’t give, you are robbing God. That sounds harsh, but it’s biblical. God says, in Malachi 3:8-10a,

8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse…

If it’s God’s, and you’re keeping it, what is it called?—robbery. What are you robbing God of? One of the things is much glory and kingdom effectiveness. Do you know what one of the greatest barriers to ministry is? Lack of funds. Do you know what the average churchgoer (the ones who give) give? 2-3% of their income. But still, 1 out of 4 (25%) don’t give at all.[11] That’s how much robbery is happening in the church. And we wonder why there is so much ineffectiveness. We aren’t even willing to put our money where our mouth is. We say we trust God. We say we live by faith. But do we actually when it comes to real life? When it comes to thinks as tangible as money?

All that we have belongs to God. And He can be trusted with all that we have. That includes the remaining 90% of our income.

God is faithful when tested.

There is only one time in the Bible where God says that it’s ok to test Him.[12] And it’s in reference to trusting Him in your giving.[13] After God told the people in Malachi that they were robbing Him by withholding their tithes, here’s what He said to them in Malachi 3:10b:

“Put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

I’ve heard of pastors offering a money back guarantee on their tithes based on this passage. I don’t know if I would go that far, but I believe God’s Word. And I can tell you from countless testimonies that those who sacrifice by giving their tithe to the Lord are provided for by the Lord. And they testify to it. Because the Lord is providing for them. When you aren’t living by faith, this is the outcome: Haggai 1:6,

You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

As Randy Alcorn says, “It’s much easier to live on 90 percent or 50 percent of your income inside God’s will than it is to live on 100 percent outside it.”[14]

Give generously now to take hold of that which is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 – 17 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. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 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.

I don’t know about you, but I want to take hold of that which is truly life! And the Apostle Paul tells us how, very similarly to how Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19-21. But he adds, “by rich in good works…be generous and ready to share.” That is how the Apostle Paul says we store up treasures in heaven and thus take hold of that which is truly life.

When do you think we should you start doing that? Should you wait till you have more money to start giving? Randy Alcorn asks, in response to questions like these:

“How soon do you want to experience God’s blessing? and Do you want to be sure the money goes to God’s kingdom, or are you willing to risk that it won’t? When we stand before God, I don’t believe He’ll say, “You blew it when you gave Me all that money before the stock market peaked.”[15]

Do you want to know what the return on investment is to our giving according to God? 10,000 percent interest. I haven’t talked to Farmer’s Bank, but I think that’s better than pretty good. Here’s where I get that. Jesus says in Matthew 19:29, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” Those who live sacrificially for the sake of Christ receive far more than they give up to follow Christ.

One hundred times as much means 10,000% interest. That means it’s never the wrong decision to invest in God’s kingdom now rather than later. Because there’s always work to be done now.

We give generously out of an overflow of recognizing what has been given to us.

What compels us to give isn’t obligation—it’s overflow. When you recognize all that has been given to you, you can’t help but live with completely open hands.

2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “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.”

Think about that word “grace.”[16] It can literally mean, “God’s benevolence on the undeserving.”[17] Everything we have is by the grace of God. Our family, our residence, our job, our body, our money. But most importantly, our salvation is by the grace of God.[18]

Ephesians 2:8-9 – 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

[1] Steve Wilkens and Mark L. Sanford, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009), 60.

[2] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 45.

[3] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 45.

[4] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 50.

[5] C. S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (New York: HarperOne, 2001), 26.

[6] Wilkens and Sanford, Hidden Worldviews, 59.

[7] Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving, rev. and updated ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2017), 60.

[8]https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/may-i-split-my-giving-between-my-church-and-another-ministry; https://cfc.sebts.edu/faith-and-economics/tithe-not-tithe-new-testament-guide-generous-giving; https://www.crossway.org/articles/how-much-should-christians-tithe

[9]https://www.gotquestions.org/tithing-Christian.html; https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/stewardship-tithing-and-giving

[10]https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4643.htm

[11] Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, 65.

[12]https://www.gotquestions.org/test-God.html