Kingdom Chat Week 33: Christian Giving – A Kingdom Culture
And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 NLT
Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse! —stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Matthew 6:19-21 MSG
I feel blessed to share with you this week on this all-important topic of Christian Giving. The subject of giving has unfortunately been one of the most misunderstood, and perhaps even controversial topic in recent discourse both among believers and non-believers alike, especially revolving around the so-called prosperity gospel; everyone seems to have an opinion. Some have used it as a tool to defraud or abuse believers while some others have been discouraged, therefore abandoned, or even become resistant against this crucial principle of God’s Kingdom due to misinformation or maybe unfortunate past experiences. Furthermore, some believers give with the wrong motivation, using it as a lottery with God or to get God to do something for them. However, there is no denying the central role giving plays in advancing the Kingdom of God. It will be impossible to exhaust the subject of Christian giving, but I will attempt to provide a framework for further discussions on the right perspective in giving.
What is Christian giving?
The bedrock of the Christian faith is extravagant and unconditional love demonstrated by God through sacrifice as noted in the popular verse in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave …”. Love is expressed through giving. I dare say that there is no Christianity without selfless, extravagant, and unconditional giving. What you give most of your time, money, resources, and energy to determines what you treasure the most. Our opening scripture says that your heart will be where your treasure is. We cannot prove the love of God in us without acting like Him to treasure what He treasures. In essence, Christian giving refers to that expression of God’s love by utilizing the resources that God has given us for the benefit and expansion of God’s Kingdom in the hearts of people around us. Giving circumcises our hearts from the inherent selfishness and greed of human nature and releases us into the freedom of divine riches and contentment, where we no longer measure our worth by the abundance of our physical possessions. It is a sign of our total surrender to the sufficiency of God. Little wonder Jesus recommended that the rich ruler should sell all he had to follow him if he desires the Kingdom of God.
Why do we give?
There are various reasons and motivations why people give. Some give to receive back, full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over as our Lord Jesus said. Some give because they want to “force God’s hand” in their favor. Some even give so that they can get awards, accolades from people, or that special place in the Pastor’s heart or church community. As believers, we should remember that God has given us everything that we require for life and godliness (2Peter 1:3) and there is nothing you could ever do for God to love you less or more. God has given us everything freely to enjoy. We are God’s offspring, and we ought to be like Him in all things. We give because He first gave to us. We give because we love. We give because it’s our nature to give. We give because our world needs to experience God’s love through us. We give to partner with the expansion of God’s Kingdom. This is our motivation. It could only be love that motivated the widow to give her mite even when it was all she had. Giving is the cure to selfishness.
What should we give?
Some people would rather always be on the receiving end, giving excuses that they do not have what to give. Don’t be like that. Everyone has something to give. We give our time in service with God to bless others. We give our energy to help others and participate in activities that promote the gospel. We give our money to the work of God; we give our resources and most importantly we give our life as a living sacrifice to God allowing God to bless the world through us. Romans 12:1; 2Corinthians 8:5
Whom should we give to?
In recent times some people have misunderstood giving to only be when you take some money to a certain spiritual leader or about the activities in the local assembly. This is also very important because Jesus said in Matthew 10:41-42 that he that gives to a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and he stressed that when we give to a believer, we will certainly not lose our reward. In a nutshell, these are a few ways we can express our giving:
- To support missionaries and various channels promoting the work of the Kingdom of God. Matt 6:33
- We give to other believers because they are of the household of faith. Ephesians 6:10
- We give to the poor, needy, orphans, and widows. This is true religion. James 1:27
- We give to our spiritual teachers who labor in the word and doctrine. 1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Corinthians 9:11
How should we give?
This is the crux of the matter because there have been many doctrines regarding how believers should give. I will focus on how the early believers gave. Acts 2:44 – 45 tells us that the believers had all things in common, and some sold their possessions just to meet the needs of others. I think Apostle Paul sums it up in an explicit way in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 RSV
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.
Christian giving must be based on these characteristics and anything outside this needs close evaluation if it is of God. Christian giving should be:
- Bountiful, extravagant, generous, abundant.
- Intentional, purposeful, thoughtful, and from the heart. It is a good habit to plan what and how much you give. This helps you measure your growth, plan to improve and be accountable in giving. We don’t give leftovers to God. Your heart should be in your gift.
- Not reluctantly, not with grudges, not under compulsion or force. You do not need anyone to cajole you about it, not even with false expectations or promises of a blessing. It needs to be voluntary.
- Cheerfully. God is not extortive. He wants you to serve Him in joy.
What about tithes and offerings?
This is a topic for another day. But God wants us to serve Him voluntarily with joy and gladness. There is no law or compulsion against the believer. When we apply the above principles, we will not have difficulties with these subjects.
What are the rewards of giving?
I will be unable to discuss this here for want of space. The scripture is filled with examples of people who were blessed by God for their giving. From Abel, Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, the Shunammite woman, Cornelius, Tabitha, the Philippian church, etc. But the greatest blessing is that we lay up treasures in heaven with eternal reward, where moth and rust cannot destroy. Also looking at the lives we have blessed here on earth brings us fulfillment and glory to God.
Where do I start?
Start today. Make a commitment to contribute to the work of God around you today. We already have the grace but if we do not intentionally put it to work, we may not know how much impact we could have made. If you are not sure of where you can start, take advantage of the giving button on the KLCC App or website to make a financial contribution for Kingdom expansion or you can get in contact with the pastoral care team by sending a message to the team and someone will get in touch with you to discuss ways you can participate.
Discussion: What is your perspective about Christian giving? what practical ways are you currently involved or do you intend to be involved in Christian giving. Feel free to ask any questions that come to mind.
I look forward to hearing from everyone. Cheers!
- 6 Replies
I will share my little experience about my evolution of some sort with giving a Christian teenager growing up.
I grew up in the a Roman Catholic background and I learnt early to do certain rites like what was called the Novena or some penance where I would fast in other ways like volunteering to fetch water for the needy students or just sacrifice a part of my meal in the boarding house(which by the way was a difficult thing to do if you’ve been to a boarding school). But these helped me see the world differently. Then after high school, the the Holy spirit would impress upon my heart to give beyond my usual offerings and sometimes I would trek back home because I had given my transport. I would take some food from home to another neighbour who didn’t have. All these I did because I believed that this was my way of showing obedience to God and I actually saw God blessing me in various ways and increasing me in wisdom.
Then I started listening to some prosperity messages and some of them made giving become a bit complex and mechanical to me especially when I was told of different kinds of offerings – from first fruit to seed, to breakthrough offerings and the likes. We were even encouraged to borrow to give beyond our abilities. I started struggling because I wasn’t sure if I was even giving enough. In fact, there was a time I almost believed that the only way to get God to answer your prayers speedily is to give or sacrifice something or that if you are going through a difficult time or delays, it must be that you are not giving enough😁😁.For me giving became transactional and I lost my fulfilment.
Then the Holy Spirit began to teach me again about the basic ways of giving. God is not hungry and is not looking for your money before He can bless you. He cannot ask you for what He has not given you. His commandments are not grievious.He loved us even when we did not love Him back. So you cannot make Him love you more. When He inspires us to give, it is always for our good and to train us to be like Him. Jesus said that if you’re unfaithful with unrighteous mammon, how then can you control divine riches.
Giving cures our selfishness and greed and frees us to see God as our source. We become more like God because then we are not attached to earthly things but use them as tools for God’s glory. Then God can trust us not to become carried away with the fashion and lusts of this world. Only then can the true power of God become more evident in our lives because we have crucified the flesh and have divine contentment. We can say like Paul in Philippians 4 that we know how to have contentment in whatever situation we find ourselves. I believe this is why God tested Abraham by asking him to give his most valuable item- his son. God didn’t need that sacrifice, which is why He stopped Abraham in his tracks. However, He made Abraham an everlasting blessing.For me, I plan my giving every month because God also expects us to organise our lives, but I am also aware that a need may arise to be met in the Kingdom and I will do so as I am led by the Spirit. I now strive to give from a planned, intentional, voluntary, willing and a happy position, in appreciation of God’s blessings and not necessarily so He can bless me (which He does) or to get Him to do something for me(which He does always anyway).@michael, this is a comprehensive teaching on the subject of giving. Giving is a Kingdom principle that everyone of God’s children should practice. And as you pointed out, we give to the poor, other believers in need, our spiritual teachers and support missions across the word. One should be intentional about pouring into these areas in life.
Thanks @michael. I love that you addressed this topic so comprehensively. Many people simply haven’t been taught about the significance of giving. I especially like the way you highlighted the motivation of giving. Giving is an issue of the heart. That’s why Scripture instructs us to give cheerfully, not begrudgingly. If you’re going to be a grumpy giver, don’t even bother. We ought to give freely in the way that God has given and continues to give to us. So whether you give of your financial resources, your time, whatever it is – it’s important to check that your motives are pure and you are operating in love. I believe that’s what transforms giving from an ordinary transaction into a supernatural experience that we enter into with God.
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