So now that you’ve seen what real, heartfelt giving in the Old Testament looks like, let’s examine what the New Testament offers – and this will take several posts as it offers A LOT!
In simple terms, the guidance in the New Testament guidance is … exactly the same guidance as given in the Old Testament. Give:
1. Freely or willingly, and
2. In proportion to how the Lord has blessed you.
Moreover, the NT actually goes into more detail. As we look at more Scripture, you’ll see that God’s Word also talks about WHO we should give to and WHY we should give, including many promised blessings. But before we look at those passages, let me deal with the “uncomfortable” aspect of true Biblical giving I mentioned in the last post.
As frustrating as it may seem, there is no set percentage or amount with free-will giving. If that sounds uncomfortable, it is. There is no bright line. You see, the biggest problem with a bright line is that you can be tempted to think, well … 10% belongs to Him, so … 90% belongs to me! Nothing could be further from the truth – we’ve already learned that it ALL belongs to Him in the first place. But more importantly, our giving – and in fact our entire life of faith - is not to be a legalistic application of rules and procedures, of “checking boxes” as a way of determining that we are “doing good” in His eyes. No, our lives are to be ones of following His leading … wherever and however He leads. Taking it one step further, should the Lord request, we should be willing, like the apostles, to give it all up to follow Him. And … should He so lead, He absolutely promises to provide our every need.
Now … don’t start getting all fidgety. In most cases, He doesn’t ask us to give it all up. But … because we are only stewards of all we have and that we will be evaluated on that stewardship, if His Word tells us we should be giving some of it away, we should be doing that, right? Moreover, if God’s Word contains guidance on how and why and how much to give, it makes pretty good sense to have a good understanding what that guidance is, don’t you think? If this topic makes you feel uncomfortable, join the crowd. In our humanness, it can be difficult to give away that which we worked so hard to obtain – and which we could easily spend providing for ourselves and our families. Can you nod your head in agreement with that?
But not only that, I think there is something even more fundamental impacting our giving habits – and you may have to ponder this a bit. Deep down, I think most of us don’t really believe that anything will happen to us when we give. What else could explain why most of us give so little – or nothing at all. If we really believed that God will bless us when we give, we would give so much that, like the Israelites in Ex 36 that we just looked at in the last post:
Ex 36:3,6: And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning ... and the people were restrained from bringing more ...
who were bringing more than enough offerings for building the sanctuary, we, like them, would have to be “restrained from bringing more,” [Ex 36:6]. But instead, as demonstrated by the giving habits across denominations, we give as little as possible, likely because we believe that not only is there no real tangible blessing but once given, the money is gone forever.
To see if that really is the case, let me do two things with this post and the next. First, we’ll look at some verses to convince you that the Old Testament giving model IS the same in the New. And second, let’s look at what God says will happen when we give.
Let me say this as an introduction. Giving is such an important topic to God – especially that it be done the right way – that there are a ton of verses on it, so I am really just going to hit the highlights. If you want to go deeper, get the book.
God’s view on Biblical giving groups neatly into three major categories:
1. How to give, which includes how much we should give
2. Who to give to … GOD!
and
3. Why we should give – including many promised blessings.
I will touch a bit on each of these points but amazingly, the critical key points can actually be supported Biblically with just one passage, but I’ll give you a second for support because it is so graphic. Both come from the most concentrated teaching on giving in the New Testament – 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. The primary verse is chapter 8, verse 12, where the apostle Paul writes:
For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
So … point #1: How we are to give? Our two, free-will giving principles from the Old Testament are right there:
For if the WILLINGNESS is there, the gift is acceptable according to WHAT ONE HAS, not according to what he does not have.
This crystalizes point #1 and how we are to give. This guidance comes in the midst of Paul’s plea for the offering being collected for the poor believers in Jerusalem. The previous two verses provide a little context [2 Cor 8:10-11]:
… Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according … to … your … means.
Paul is simply asking the Corinthians to complete the offering they had apparently promised. Note that it says “eager willingness” – isn’t that amazing? Have you ever experienced giving that way? But note, there’s no specific amount specified, just give “according to your means.”
This same “eager willingness” is also mentioned in verses 1-4 of chapter 8, where Paul is recounting the giving by the Macedonians:
And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
This is an amazing passage – don’t miss what it says:
Overflowing joy
Rich generosity
They gave as much as they were able … and … even beyond
Even though they were in … extreme poverty and experiencing a very severe trial.
Verse 4 even says that they urgently “pleaded” with the apostles to be able to participate!
If ever there was an ideal place to mention the tithe, this would be it. But instead, what does it say in verse 1?
“… we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.”
Grace. That single act of Christ dying on the Cross so that we could once more experience the incredible life He desired for us all along. The more we comprehend and appreciate all that His grace has accomplished, the more we will just want to honor Him. Or as Paul exhorts the Corinthians in verse 7:
… see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
But wait … there’s more! Look at the second supporting verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 7 – the graphic one - and let me add some literal meaning to some of the words:
Each of you should give 10% of your income … Is that what is says??? No!
It says:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give [made up their mind to give; as their heart tells them], not reluctantly or under compulsion [not with pain or constraint; should be no reluctance, no sense of compulsion; not out of a troubled or annoyed heart; not out of necessity], for God loves a cheerful [hilarious, merry, joyful, glad to give; ready] giver.
And that is how true Biblical giving is to be done. Although this would be another perfect place to say it, nothing is said about the tithe – or any specific amount for that matter - simply give what you have decided in your heart. Not under guilt … or requirement … or obligation, but cheerful, hilarious giving, no matter what financial position you are in. How often does it happen? How often does the Church even present giving this way? I must confess how easy it is for me for giving to become rote, emotionless, even drudgery or obligatory – and even tax-motivated, especially at the end of the year. Have any of you ever felt that way?
If you really believe verse 7, that’s obviously NOT what God wants. Taking all these passages together, He wants:
· the “desire” to give,
· “eager willingness,”
· “overflowing joy,”
· not “reluctantly” but “cheerfully.”
Oh, and the amount?
· “According to your means”
· or out of “what you have,”
· “rich generosity and even beyond”
because it is what you have:
· “decided in your heart to give.”
So … do you want your giving experience to match that? Come back in a couple of days and I’ll start by sharing a couple of thoughts that have really helped me in this area. Then we’ll talk about the “who” of giving and the “why” of giving.