Giving freely

‘All that we have comes from you Lord, and of your own do we give you…’

God’s people are constantly encouraged to give ‘generously’ or ‘freely’ (e.g. Deut 15:10-14, Ps 37:21, Ps 112:9, Romans 12:8, Matt 10:8).  In saying this, I don’t believe that God is just concerned about quantity but more with the attitude in which we give. There is a freeness in giving which has nothing to do with quantity.

As a general principle, I believe that when we give money to the Lord’s work we should give without strings attached – with no stipulations as to how the money should be used and not expecting anything in return. I’ve heard people in churches say things like ‘We must be careful not to upset person X because he’s one of the church’s main financial supporters’ and I’ve known people give money with stipulations with the intention of influencing the direction the church is moving in. These are practices we have learnt from the world, where money speaks and where he who has money has influence, but they haves no place in God’s church.

I’ve also seen Christian organisations hamstrung by gifts ringfenced (no doubt with good intentions) for specific ministries. I know of charities that have become unable to meet the needs of those they served despite having large amounts of money in some accounts because the money could not be touched because it had been ringfenced for areas where there was now little need and could not be transferred to areas where there needs were pressing. This is another reason why I believe we should generally make gifts without making strict stipulations as to their use.

Some feel justified in using their money to gain influence, when the objective is to direct the church towards a particular theological position or what they believe to be God’s will, for example giving the church money earmarked for Bibles of their preferred translation or using a gift to ensure the continuance of an activity where we disagree with the church over its continuance. To me this still seems very dangerous because we are essentially using our money to impose our will on the church, thereby placing ourselves outside the authority of the church.  If in our churches the wealthier members of the church sometimes have influence over its life not possessed by those with limited means, there is something wrong – but many churches fall into this trap at times.

The words at the top of this post are a paraphrase of 1 Chron 29:14 spoken at the offertory in the Anglican church. This reminder that we are just stewards will help us to keep the right attitude to giving: We should not expect our gifts to carry any personal influence simply because the money is not ultimately ours to give. An honest steward would not derive any personal benefit from money he administered but was expected to make the best possible use of it solely for the profit of his master. The profit our Master seeks is his glory and the advancement of his gospel. Therefore, we give our offerings in faith, trusting to God how it will ultimately be used. We need not be disturbed if the church collection is stolen, our church does not seem to use our money as we would have wished or church finances are taken (such as, in some recently examples, when congregations have to leave a denomination that no longer upholds the Word of God or perhaps in the future by the state) because it was not our money but Gods. He is sovereign and will ensure his resources achieve the ends that he desires., in spite of human frailty, theft and the enemies of the Gospel.