So Many Causes, Only So Much Money to Give

Have you ever gone to your mailbox with anticipation, perhaps expecting a letter or card from a family member or friend (increasingly rare these days), a check you’ve been waiting on (also not as common as it used to be), a package, or your favorite magazine? You open the mailbox and…no letter, no check, no package, no magazine. Instead, all you find – besides the usual junk mail – are several envelopes from a variety of charitable organizations. 

 

There’s a letter from a veterans’ organization, asking for a donation. A couple from Christian ministries you support occasionally, asking for another gift. Some organization that’s dedicated to fighting a dreaded disease is asking for your help. An international organization that assists impoverished families has a heartfelt plea. And there are a couple of other “asks” from charitable causes you’ve never heard of; they probably got your name from another organization you support that sold their mailing list.

 

How do you handle all that mail, besides throwing them into the pile you’re saving for recycling? It’s not all “junk mail,” because many of the causes are worthwhile, but you can’t support everyone, right? 

 

Some folks don’t do much charitable giving at all, so this isn’t a great problem for them. If they don’t give anything, ministries and non-profits won’t be asking them for more. But for those of us who believe that as followers of Christ one of our responsibilities is give to charity a portion of what the Lord has given to us, it can pose some difficult decisions.

 

The Scriptures state that some people have the spiritual gift of giving – “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously…” (Romans 12:8). I believe that refers to individuals God lavishly entrusts with money and material resources they eagerly pass on to others. As one philanthropist told me, “The Lord shovels it in and I shovel it out – and He has a bigger shovel.”

 

However, even if our spiritual gift isn’t giving, we’re still commanded to give as God enables and directs. Proverbs 3:9-10 exhorts us to “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

 

Jesus explained it this way: “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). 

 

So, for the obedient believer giving isn’t an option. The question is where or to whom to give, and how much. The Bible teaches a primary recipient should be the local church. If we are benefiting from being part of a local congregation and believe God is accomplishing His work through it, we should certainly support its staff, activities and programs. However, there are other causes that deserve to be considered. How do we determine who receives our contributions – and who doesn’t?

 

There’s no single answer to that question. Each of us has certain causes and ministries that capture our interest. We should trust God to guide our decisions, particularly since He’s the one who provided us with the resources. He might lay a special need on your heart that doesn’t resonate with someone else. We do have an obligation to give wisely, knowing our contributions are, to borrow a phrase from the Salvation Army – one of myriad worthy causes – “doing the most good.”

 

Whenever I’m faced with charitable giving decisions, I’ve found great encouragement from the apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

This tells me, first of all, that when we give to meet a specific need as the Lord impresses us to give, we can trust He’ll be faithful to meet needs that we have. That our giving, done wisely, won’t result in not having enough for our own needs.

 

Second, if we’re giving “grudgingly,” as another translation expresses it, we’re not doing so with the right spirit and motives. We might be feeling pressured, giving out of a sense of obligation, or because other people we know are doing it. As the passage closes, “God loves a cheerful giver” – literally, a hilarious giver. That’s not someone who’s very reluctant to let loose of their money.

 

This doesn’t fully answer the question of where we should direct our charitable gifts, but it does address the “how” – cheerfully and not under compulsion, and “why” – because God commands us to do so through His Word. Unsolicited requests for donations will continue coming through the mail, just we can’t always block spam arriving in our email inbox, but at least we don’t have to feel guilty about not responding to each one we receive. 

Most of all, we must never forget “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), because as we give cheerfully and willingly, we’ll receive the joy and satisfaction of knowing God is using us to be of help to others in need. 

It’s Been About Giving Since the Beginning

Do you ever get annoyed when, after making a charitable contribution, you get a receipt for your gift accompanied by another envelope? That used to bother me. It seemed as if they were saying, “Thanks for your gift. Now please send some more.”

 

There's no shortage of legitimate
charitable causes and needs
worthy of our consideration.

My thinking changed after I had to start raising my own financial support while working for a Christian ministry. That’s hard work – and humbling. Initially I felt like a kind of beggar, telling potential donors that I needed to raise my own funds and asking if they would consider becoming financial partners with me.

It was extremely gratifying when many that I approached not only agreed to contribute to my support but also said they considered it a privilege to do so. They believed in me and the work I was doing, and enjoyed knowing they were a part of making it possible.

 

The issue of the reply envelope accompanying the giving receipt was resolved one day after I had noticed one of my faithful donors hadn’t sent in a contribution for a couple of months. I gave him a call to see if he was having any difficulties, or if I had offended him in some way. Not at all, he said. In fact, he apologized for failing to send a gift as usual. 

 

He explained the response envelope served as his reminder to send another gift; apparently he’d misplaced the last one he received. He thanked me for reminding him and promptly sent not only his regular contribution but also made up for the ones he had missed.

 

Years later, I’m no longer on the staff of a charitable organization needing to raise funds. But I’ve come to see the value of receiving a reply envelope for giving to causes we want to support. The envelope is convenient – looking up addresses is bothersome. I’ve actually contacted one ministry we support on a couple of occasions, asking for an extra envelope or two, just in case.

 

The greater issue, I’ve realized, is not the envelope that accompanies the giving receipt but our attitude toward the act of giving. Whether it’s our local congregation and the pastor’s annual stewardship sermon or sifting through mail we receive from non-profit organizations requesting funds, we can perceive this as an intrusion. “They’re always asking for money!”

 

However, giving has been central to God’s plan from the beginning. It’s actually introduced in the first chapter of Genesis, the Bible’s first book. “God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has seed in it. They will be yours for food.’” (Genesis 1:29). The Lord was pleased to share what He had created with the first humans.

 

Next, he provided a very special gift for Adam: “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22). Determining the first man needed “a suitable helper,” God gifted him with a wife. To which Adam responded with the biblical equivalent of “shazam!”

 

Most of us know the most important verse about giving in the Scriptures: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” (John 3:16). Through Jesus Christ we can receive forgiveness for our sins, redemption, salvation, sanctification, and the assurance of eternal life – the gift that keeps on giving.

 

But the Lord didn’t intend for the act of giving to be one-sided. Jesus made this clear, addressing the subject on many occasions. Luke 6:38 recounts His promise, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

When considering a charitable gift of some kind, we tend to focus on what we’re giving up. Jesus said in essence that God’s people will never become poor by being generous. This is one reason in Acts 20:35 the apostle Paul was, “…remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

 

The Old Testament book of Proverbs contains dozens of verses offering guidance in how we should give. Among my favorites is Proverbs 11:24-25, “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

 

Our motivation in giving, however, shouldn’t be what we anticipate receiving in return. Our love and devotion to God, who has done so much for us, should be our underlying motive. In exhorting believers in Corinth to cultivate lives of generosity, Paul writes, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

 

Shortly afterward the apostle admonishes, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7). Several times I’ve heard Bible teachers explain the term “cheerful giver” in the Greek literally means to be a “hilarious giver.”

When you have opportunities to give in support of ministries and causes you believe in, is this your attitude? Can you give “hilariously” and eagerly? Or do you give “grudgingly or under compulsion,” clinging tightly to the money or check you’ve written from your hand – or resenting the reply envelope? 

Let’s Make a Deal: Manage Someone’s Money, and Keep 90 Percent

How good is your imagination? How about this: Imagine being a financial planner (unless you already are one) and acquiring a wealthy new client who proposes an unusual investment arrangement. In return for your diligent management of his finances, all you would need to do is return 10 percent. The remaining 90 percent? You get to keep it.

 

Even if you’re not a financial planner, that sounds like a pretty good deal. Having responsibility for someone else’s resources and being permitted to keep all but 10 percent. If you could find an individual willing to do that, you might be tempted to change professions, right? 

 

Of course, that’s only in a fantasy world. Or is it? Because in a very real sense, that’s the arrangement God has set up for His children. He asks us to give a portion of whatever we earn for His work, and we can keep the remainder.

 In the Bible’s Old Testament, we’re taught the concept of the tithe, which was defined as giving 10 percent of one’s earnings right off the top. In Proverbs 3:9, for example, it says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” And the oft-quoted Malachi 3:10 instructs, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” When pastors preach about giving – or financial stewardship – they often refer to these passages. And as they do so, we typically reach protectively toward our wallets.

 

The New Testament doesn’t teach tithing as a hard and fast rule, but it is mentioned. The only time Jesus was recorded to have mentioned the tithe, he was addressing legalistic religious leaders: “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone” (Luke 11:42). He doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility to give; He simply reminds us to do so with the right attitude.

 

This whole subject of giving makes many of us uncomfortable. “Nobody’s going to tell me what to do with my money!” we tell ourselves. I’ve even heard people say, “God doesn’t need our money!” He does, after all, “[own] the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). Except, as the Scriptures assert, it’s not really “our money.” 

 

Who gave us the health we have to go to work each day? Who gave us the capacities, even the opportunities, for earning a living wage? If you’ve developed certain skills over time, where did your natural ability come from, your passion for what you do? I’m a professional writer, and I’ve worked hard through the years to refine my ability to communicate through the written word. But where did my innate interest in writing come from? 

 

Whenever we feel defensive about giving, emulating the miser who insists, “It’s mine, all mine!”, we need to remind ourselves of the basics, which are expressed clearly in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13: 

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”

 

I encountered this passage for the first time years ago, and since then I’ve been using it as a reminder whenever I start feeling too possessive about my “stuff.” Even the verse from Malachi, the Old Testament’s last book, offers motivation for our giving. After reading the directive to give, we’re informed God has made an unusual promise. “’Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘ and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.’”

 

Perhaps, in the midst of this “season of giving,” it’s a good time for a refresher. We fret over getting the “right” gifts for friends and family. Sometimes this leads to great stress, shifting our focus off the real spirit of Christmas. And when charitable causes bombard us with appeals for year-end giving, we can feel frustrated, even overwhelmed. If our hearts are right, however, that doesn’t need to be the case.

 

Two New Testament passages have helped me a lot in this regard. In Luke 6:38, Jesus spoke of the generosity of God: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

 

For me that means, if we’re stingy in our own giving, we shouldn’t expect God to be lavish in His giving to us. But on the other hand, our generosity will never approach the Lord’s generosity. I’ve heard many people say, not only from conviction but also from experience, “You can’t out-give God.”

 

The other passage is 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, which declares, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver.” Some translate that last phrase as “a hilarious giver.” Have you ever given hilariously?

 

During the Christmas season, we think of the Christ Child, God incarnate. Deity invading the physical world, to serve as an example, teacher, miracle worker, atoning sacrifice, and redeemer. He offers the gift of a new, eternal life to any and all who will receive it. Without question He’s a cheerful, even hilarious giver. If we’re to “follow in His steps,” as 1 Peter 2:21 says, can we be any less?

Receiving Through Giving

It's almost universal - everyone enjoys
receiving things. But are we as eager to give?

There’s not one of us that doesn’t like getting things. Christmas morning, waking up and going to see what’s in that brightly colored box with our name on it under the tree. On our birthday, getting gifts from friends and loved ones – just because we’ve aged a year. A surprise gift when there’s no special reason. Even people that don’t need anything like to receive things – Oprah; rich entertainers at annual awards shows, the President.

And our society teaches one of the secrets to happiness and security is accumulating stuff. We even spend money on insurance to make sure we don’t lose it – or at least are able to replace it. Years ago someone summed it up with this slogan: “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

So if the presumed key is to get things and hang onto them with all of our might, what’s with the biblical adage even people who’ve never read the Bible can repeat: “It is more blessed to give than receive”?

Yes, unlike “God helps those that help themselves” – which is found nowhere in the Scriptures – this admonition about giving actually is there. As the apostle Paul declared, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive' " (Acts 20:35).

This, as I noted several posts back, is another of the seeming paradoxes of biblical faith. In our materialistic culture, it might even be the greatest paradox of all. How can we gain if we choose to give away? How can you increase when you’re busy decreasing what you possess? But this principle is there, just the same. And it’s frequently reaffirmed.

Speaking to a large crowd of people gathered around Him, Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38).

He was saying then – and still says today – if we give, freely and generously from the heart, we’ll not lack for anything. God will more than supply what we need. There’s one caveat: Our giving should be without reservation.

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8).

But it’s more than being assured if we give to help others in whatever way we’re impressed to do so, we’ll not be left destitute ourselves. There’s the intangible joy and fulfillment we receive in being used as an instrument for assisting others in need.

I’ve experienced this not only in giving money and goods, but in investing time and energy in mentoring others, helping them to grow professionally, personally and spiritually, and being a resource for them as they work through various problems and issues in their lives. Volunteering in other ways can provide the same sense of gratification.

In fact, this giving of ourselves is probably the greatest of all forms of giving. We might not all have the same incomes, bank accounts or portfolios, but we all have the same 24 hours each day, seven days a week. How we use that time is a strong indicator of whether we’re self-focused or others-oriented.

The same holds true for God, the greatest giver of all. John 3:16, which most of us are at least somewhat familiar with, states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” That is the consummate definition of giving.

Giving Shouldn’t Be Just a Holiday Thing

Christmas is over, so the season for gifts and giving is over, right?

In the blink of an eye Christmas has come and gone. Final choruses of carols on the radio and in shopping malls have been sung. Gifts have been exchanged, cleverly designed wrapping paper now lies in shreds, and shouts of delight (and groans of disappointment) are fading echoes. In some homes Christmas trees have been taken down, with brightly colored ornaments packed and stashed away for another 11 months.

Salvation Army bells have been silenced, collection buckets hauled back to storage until next Thanksgiving. Annual fund drives for the poor and hungry have ceased. Many of us have contributed what we could to our favorite causes. Now we resume life as usual, post-holidays.

It’s great we can use the Christmas season to call special attention to people in need. That’s why some people call it the season of giving. But people aren’t hungry only in December. They need food and clothes and have bills they can’t pay in February, too. As well as June, September, and every other month. Financial struggles have no season.

Some of our holiday giving might have been prompted by school or church-sponsored “adopt a family” initiatives. Some of us chose the last month of the year to give because of tax benefits derived from charitable giving. Some of us gave because we felt sorry for folks standing at store and mall entrances, braving the elements so “the least of these” could receive tangible help. Even if our motives weren’t the purest, what we gave will certainly help someone.

Now as we prepare to bid adieu to another year and launch a new one to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne” (or a more contemporary tune, if you prefer), it might be good to remind ourselves that generosity shouldn’t be just something we remember over the holidays. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than receive” (Acts 20:35), and He certainly wasn’t talking to His followers about the Christmas season.

One of the benefits of giving is receiving the satisfaction of knowing we’ve assisted or pleased someone else. That’s certainly a good reason to give at any time of the year. But giving is also a part of our calling and responsibility as followers of Christ.

In fact, the concept of giving to people we don’t even like provided the context when Jesus discussed the so-called “Golden Rule.” “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:27-31).

Talk about hard sayings of Jesus! Being good to people who aren’t good to us? Then He explained, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that…. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great…” (Luke 6:32-35).

When I read this, I’m tempted to shout, “Jesus, You’ve got to be kidding!” But that’s what He said. Definitely counter-cultural, right? But He did mention a “reward.” What’s that about?

He concluded His brief discourse about giving with this promise: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:37-38).

We all enjoy receiving good things. So Jesus said we should be just as eager to give, whenever the opportunity arises, trusting we won’t go wanting as a result. In fact, we’ll be blessed more than we could imagine. So even though the “season of giving” is over, don’t forget to keep giving.