Many are wrestling with the question, “How can I afford to give in this recession?” But for Bible-believing individuals, this is not the question. Rather the question is: Can I afford not to give? Before you make up your mind, please consider the 7 Amazing Motivations to give and the benefits thereof in the New Testament:
The renowned Christian Philanthropist, Robert G. Letourneau, who gave 90% of all He made to the Lord, used to say that if you give for pay, it won’t pay, but if you give unto the Lord and for His glory it will pay off immeasurable blessings in this life and the life to come. This truth is clearly set forth in God’s Word. So let us now let the Bible speak on the subject:
- Generous Giving promises unending resources to keep giving. “Now He (God) who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing (giving) and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 9:10) An agricultural metaphor: the farmer sows one seed and it produces much more seed to sow. So it is with the generous giver.
- Generous Giving insures future treasures in heaven. “Do not lay up treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust does destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal….” (Matthew 6:19-20) Money can send missionaries, buy Bibles, tracts, and thus indirectly the soul of men who go to heaven. So what was temporal and material becomes non-material, spiritual, and eternal.
- Generous Giving gives you a heart centered on heaven, not on things on earth. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” ( Matthew 6:21) If your money is in the bank, there your heart will be; but if your treasures are in heaven, so your heart will be also.
- Generous Earthly Giving will make for us eternal friends in heaven. Jesus makes this amazing promise in His following words to us, “Make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon (money) of unrighteous that when it (our money) fails, they will receive you into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9) I think these special friends in heaven will be those people who are in heaven because you gave yourself and money that they would hear the gospel on earth and be saved. If so, how many friends do you think you will have in heaven?
- Generous Giving Proclaims for all to see that we serve God, not money. “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money) (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13). I once challenged a good friend of mine by asking him to fill in the missing word in one verse in the Bible, “For to me to live is ________” (Phil. 1:21). He acknowledged that though he thought he was a Christian he could not put the word “God” in the verse. Then he added, “I would have to put the word, “Money,” making the verse to read, “For me to live is money…” What word would you put if honest?
- Generous Giving will prove to you that you can’t out-give God. Why? Jesus tells us why in Luke 6:38, “Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, shaken together, pressed down, running over shall men pour into your bosom.” As someone observed, while you are “shoveling” your money to God with a “little shovel,” God is standing behind you “shoveling blessings into your life with a much bigger shovel.”
- Generous Giving will assure you that God will meet every need (not your greed) according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). This verse is a promise to the missionary supporting church, Para-church ministries, and individuals. Paul includes a missionary “thank you” letter at the end of his letter to the Philippians, the wonderful promise that “My God shall supply ALL your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” This promise is for a missionary-supporting church and Para-church groups like MMM. It is also a promise to generous individuals. As pastor of local churches for some fifty years, the first thing I did after becoming pastor was to increase the mission giving of the church. I did this in my first pastorate (1000 members) when the church could not pay its outstanding bills. I did it in another church consisting of 8000 members. The first church became alive, paid off all their indebtedness, and experienced unprecedented revival and growth. The other church increased its giving to the Foreign Missions Offering from $3300 to $100,000 annually. Today that church is giving $500,000 plus to that same cause.
Please note the extent of God’s promise in Phil. 4:19, namely, “God will give according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” As a young pastor I asked a very rich banker to donate a gift of $5000 to a small, new church I was pastoring to help pay for a much needed heating system. This gentleman said to me, “I am not going to give to your church, but I will give to you. I explained to him that I did not want a personal gift but only for the church. Still he insisted in giving to me, and since he was a multi-millionaire I assumed he would give me a very large gift, certainly one thousand dollars. Believe it or not he gave me a huge check. Guess how much? $100. He gave “out of his vast riches” but not “according to his riches.” But not our God – He gives “according to His riches in glory.”
Some reading this article would say, “Well the 7 motivations above may be true in normal times, but not in a financial recession nor depression.” Wrong! God’s promises are not nullified nor diminished by the economy. In fact, the motivations are more needed in times of financial stress than when times are prospering. Moreover, God’s provision in times of economic distress demonstrates His great power and brings the greatest glory to His name.
The greatest movement of the Holy Spirit since Pentecost has been in the churches of South Korea. I visited Korea to see for myself the phenomena. I became a close friend with pastor Yongi Cho, who pastors the largest church in history with 850,000 members. At that time a financial depression was taking place in Korea, and I asked Dr. Cho this question, “How do your people give in times of depression?” He replied, “They increase their giving because they believe the more they give the more God will give back to them.” Does God tell the truth about generous giving? Does His truth ever change? Does He ever suspend His promises? Can we trust and obey His promises in these perilous times, and will He keep His promises to us? Absolutely. Will you?
Before I close this message which extols the incredible benefits of generous giving, I am compelled to make one fact utterly clear: I am not endorsing the so-called “Prosperity Gospel.” In fact generous giving of sincere Christians and the giving for “Prosperity” are entirely opposite. How? The generous giver is not motivated to give in order to receive back so much that he “prosperous “ and even become rich materially, but the generous giver is motivated to give as unto the Lord and for His glory alone, making no demands upon God whatsoever, leaving that entirely with the Lord. On the other hand the givers for prosperity practice a kind of a “slot machine” religion, you put in so much in order to get out more, even to the point of becoming wealthy in material things. God in His word clearly condemns such because of its wrong motivation. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasure.’ (James 4:3)
God forbid that I misjudge another ministry or brother, but it appears to me that the Prosperity Gospel and Biblical giving are totally different. Robert LeTourneau gave 90% of all he made, and became a wealthy, giving Christian philanthropist, but he made it clear that he did not “pay to get pay,” saying “If you give for pay, it won’t pay, but if you give unto God and for His glory, you will be blessed abundantly and above measure.”
- Prosperity Gospel – encourages the love of man – Bible Giving – encourages the love of Jesus Christ.
- Prosperity Gospel – encourages people to be discontent – Bible Giving – teaches contentment in all things.
- Prosperity Gospel – teaches giving to get – Bible Giving teaches giving out of obedience in Love.
- Prosperity Gospel – God wants us to be rich materially – Bible Giving teaches we are already rich in all things in Him.
- Prosperity Gospel – facilitates pride – Bible Giving produces humility.
- Prosperity Gospel – promotes self first – Bible Giving promote others and the kingdom of God
- Prosperity Gospel – glorifies man – Bible Giving glorifies Jesus Christ.
Final Word: I want all who read this message to understand that I realize that millions of Americans are now struggling to “make ends meet.” I feel deeply for each of you and I am doing all I can to help such individuals. However, I also know that the most important things I can do for these persons is to share the promise of God to such individuals, which I have endeavored to do above. Having done so, I simply say, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God, and I can do none other than express what it says on giving, even in difficult financial times,” “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”