SHIFTING CONTAINERS – Charitable Capacity

Giving, both how we give and how much we give, is the clearest outward expression of who our God really is. Our check stubs speak more honestly of our priorities than our church memberships.”  Scott Rodin

No matter how grateful we are, gold will not make the world think that our God is good; it will make people think that our god is gold.” John Piper

Once we’ve expanded our capacity for taking risks (see previous week) and we grow into new levels of trusting the Lord, it ultimately must reflect in our attitude towards our material possessions.  There must be an expansion of our CHARITABLE CAPACITY if we want to grow and mature as believers.

Over the past several years I have often listened to services where pastors mention the “fact” that the Bible talks more about “money” than hell (or any other topic for that matter). Usually, there is a number associated with this bit of trivia – Wealth with a Purpose states the following:  “There are more than 2300 verses on money, wealth and possessions in the Bible. Jesus spoke about money roughly 15% of his preaching and 11 out of 39 parables. It was his most talked about topic.“

The point the pastors usually try to make is that God thinks money is a very important issue and it is usually tied to a sermon about tithing.  The truth is that God does think that money is important but not for the reasons we would assume.

The first lie is that money is the most spoken about topic in the Bible.  The one topic Jesus speaks more about than any other topic in the Gospels is the Kingdom of God.  Jesus refers to the kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven or His Father’s kingdom over 100 times in the Gospels compared to roughly 30 times where He speaks about money.

The second “unspoken truth” is that even though Jesus did speak a lot about money, it was mostly in a negative context.  Some scriptural examples of Christ mentioning money can be found at:

• Matthew 6:19  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…“
• Matthew 6:24  “… You cannot serve both God and money.”
• Matthew 10:9  “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts.”
• Mark 10:23  … “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
• Luke 18:25  “Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

The one reason why the Lord spoke often about money is not because of the value of money but because it reveals who we are.  In Luke 18:18, 21a the Lord tells the rich man, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving (Luke 18:22-23a) and he went away “very sad, for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:23b).

Scott Rodin writes, in his book  Stewards in the Kingdom: A Theology of Life in All Its Fullness as follows:  “We must never for a single moment lose sight of the stark realization that whenever we deal with money, we are dealing with dynamite. It is that, which the one day we control, and the next day becomes the controller. Such dynamite must be defused, and the greatest defuser that we as Christians have at our disposal is the opportunity to take that which seeks to dominate us and simply give it away. Think about it. There is no greater expression of money’s total lack of dominance over us or of its low priority in our lives than when we can with joy and peace, give it away for the Lord’s work. You cannot worship the God of mammon and be a free and cheerful giver. Likewise, you cannot serve the living God and be a hoarder of his resources. Giving, both how we give and how much we give, is the clearest outward expression of who our God really is. Our check stubs speak more honestly of our priorities than our church memberships.” 

Another book well worth reading is Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn.   Alcorn writes as follows:  What we do with our finances and resources in this life is our autobiography.  Too often we assume that God has increased our income to increase our standard of living, when his stated purpose is to increase our standard of giving. (Look again at 2 Corinthians 8:14 and 9:11).

A disciple does not ask, “How much can I keep?” but, “How much more can I give?” Giving should be the default choice. Unless there is a compelling reason to spend it or keep it, we should give it.

The words of Alcorn that struck me most were the following:  “Giving should be the default choice. Unless there is a compelling reason to spend it or keep it, we should give it.”   We have made “keeping” the default of our Christian walk instead of “giving”.  I meet so many Christians who ask the question whether our tithing should be based on our gross income or our net income.  They just don’t get it.  It’s not about the numbers, it’s about the attitude.

So how do we expand our capacity to be more charitable?  There are three dangers when pursuing this virtue:

• The first danger is pursuing wealth as a means to charity.  This is like putting the cart in front of the horse.
• The second danger is expanding our capacity to give without pursuing justice.  This is like having a cart without a horse.
• The third danger is expanding our charity as a sense of duty and not from a position of love.  This is like having a horse without a cart.

PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

The relationship between charity and prosperity is abundantly clear in Scripture.  Prosperity is a consequence of a selfless charitable life and not the condition for being generous.  Seeking wealth in order to be charitable is therefore like putting the cart in front of the horse and becomes an upside-down pursuit of a Biblical virtue.

When meeting with a group of Syrian leaders during the devastating civil war that saw more than half the population uprooted and more than half a million killed, there was a spirit of charity among the believers that I have seldom experienced in such a tangible way.  It was as if the leaders were all anointed with a baptism of charity that was harmoniously reflected in every testimony shared.  All their provisions came in a time of no resources and little assistance.  It was a time of tremendous capacity growth, shared the one pastor, and then provided the key :   “We learned that the key to experiencing God’s provision is to give away what you want to keep.”

One of my personal favourite scriptures is Proverbs 19:17  Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.   Who in his right mind would not lend to the Lord as much as possible?  Who would not desire to invest in eternity beyond their current capacity?

So let’s not confuse the issue of wealth and charity, or even the fact that we need the one to fulfil the other.  Of course, we all know that money as a means is not evil, but money as a goal is.  Having money is not evil but we are taught that the love of money is the foundation of all that is evil (1Timothy 6:8-10)[1].  Money is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.

HAVING A CART WITHOUT THE HORSE

The second danger in expanding our capacity to be charitable is that we focus only on half of the virtue.  The important component of charity that is often missed, or neglected, when taught from pulpits and in seminars, is the virtue of justice.  Pursuing charity without justice is like sitting in a cart without having a horse to pull it.

Expanding our capacity in the joint virtues of charity and justice combined should be one of the first priorities in the life of every follower of Christ.  This is not de-prioritising prayer and worship or even demoting our times of silence before the Lord and of going to Church.  These two virtues are actually the expressions of our spiritual acts of prayer and worship.  We need to re-evaluate the core of the Christian life and seek to expand those capacities before pursuing anything else.  And when we are tempted to think charity and justice are secondary to a life of prayer, worship, Bible readings and quiet times, and that our focus should be more on the Kingdom of Heaven not on the things of this world, perhaps we should listen to God Himself in Isaiah 58 where we find the connection between worship, fasting, prayer, and the expression of charity and justice:

Isaiah 58:5-7  “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?  Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

This Scripture gives us a stark warning that when we fail to develop acts of charity and justice we are in danger of staying spiritual infants even though we might have the outward appearance of being super-spiritual, praying powerful prayers, and having wonderful worship.  We might have a beautifully decorated cart that we sit in, but without a horse, we will still be going nowhere.

Isaiah speaks here the “personal” words of God Himself, not as a theology to discuss but as a mandate for action.  He addresses the two linked virtues of justice and charity. When he speaks of setting people free from the “chains of injustice” he is speaking of justice and then when he speaks of sharing bread with the hungry, sheltering the homeless, etc., he is speaking of charity.

What Isaiah is saying is that our religious rituals – going to church, reading our Bible, prayers and worship – are not ends in themselves. Our religious activities are designed to put us in the presence of God to be transformed, so that we might have that “mind in us” that is in Jesus, as Paul tells us. It is in our attempts to love ourselves and others that we truly meet the Lord.

We even find the ultimate example of justice and charity from God Himself in John 3:16 where God so loved the world (charity) that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (justice).

What is the difference between Charity and Justice?  Charles Dickens perhaps summed it up best with his quote that charity begins at home but justice begins next door.  Ralph Nader explained that a society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.  Both these quotes provide a good understanding of how these two virtues are linked together.

HAVING A HORSE WITHOUT A CART

The third danger in expanding our capacity to be charitable is that we give either from a sense of guilt or a sense of duty.  When we give because we feel it is our Christian duty it is like having a horse without a cart.  We give because of who we are, not because of what we believe.  We might think we have the right motives and our intentions might be pure in helping those in need but the vehicle needed to “transport” our actions is missing.  Good intentions are just not good enough anymore.  We need to move into a new dimension when we contemplate charity; away from a deep sense of guilt as to why I have so much and others so little; away from a sense of duty that this is what the Bible demands of those who follow Christ.

Jesus is known as the Father of all compassion.  He does charity because of who He is, not because He needs to.  He doesn’t love out of duty but because He cannot NOT do it.  His divine character is to save, to help, to love.  It is not only reflected in His nature but also in His name:  JESHUA – HE SAVES.

And because we have Christ in us, this becomes our DNA as well and as Christians, we expand this capacity not because we believe in Jesus but because He is IN us.  We cannot NOT be charitable.  The only thing that counts in the life of a believer is faith expressing itself through love.   At least that’s what Galatians 5:6 says[2]

When we as followers of Christ pursue the virtue of charity, we’re invited to exchange material excesses and earthly possessions for a Kingdom reward.

There is a wonderful piece of history recorded of King Frederick William III of Prussia.  King Frederick was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He ruled Prussia during the difficult times of the Napoleonic Wars and the end of the Holy Roman Empire.  King Frederick found himself in crippling debt during his reign because of the war efforts. As he sought to build his nation, finances had simply run out. His loyal long-suffering subjects trusted him to provide for them, but he felt cornered. Capitulation to the enemy was unthinkable, but what else could he do? In the end, he devised a creative plan. He asked all the women of Prussia to bring their gold and silver jewelry to be melted down for King and country. As a replacement for each ornament, they would receive a bronze or iron decoration as a symbol of gratitude. Each insignia had inscribed: “I gave gold for iron. 1813.” He could not have anticipated the overwhelming response that followed. Most women prized their gifts from the king much more highly than their former jewelry. The reason why became quickly apparent. The insignias were proof that they had sacrificed for their king. In due course, it actually became fashionable to wear them as jewelry. Thus was established the Order of the Iron Cross. Members wore no ornaments except a cross of iron for all to see.

When we as followers of Christ come to our King, we’re invited likewise to exchange material excesses and adornments for a cross. Of course, jewelry is not wrong in itself, but as the women of Prussia discovered with joy when offered the chance to sacrifice for the King, laying down our valued possessions for a greater cause is so much more worthwhile. As John Piper wrote: “God is calling us to be conduits of His grace, not cul-de-sacs. Our great danger today is thinking that the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do. No matter how grateful we are, gold will not make the world think that our God is good; it will make people think that our god is gold.”

Amazingly, once we start building our charitable capacity we will soon discover the need to build our STAMINA capacity.  This will be the last chapter in the series

[1] 1Timothy 6:8-10 – But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.   People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.   For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

[2] Galatians 5:6  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You are most welcome to order the book CAPACITY from Mike at thirdwayinfo@gmail.com