In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Matt shared the example of Rick
Warren’s decision not to increase his standard of living as he
started receiving significant income from his book sales. We were
challenged to increase our standard of giving rather than our
standard of living. This reminded me of a quote I read several years
ago that has influenced the way I budget for each year. In Revolution in Generosity,
Daryl Heald (President of Generous Giving) writes:
“Early in our
journey of generosity, a friend challenged Cathy and me to give more.
We had just finished a Crown Financial Ministries course and decided
to increase our giving goal to 20 percent. Each year we would
increase that amount by 1 percent. I felt pretty good about that and
mentioned it to a friend, hoping he would be impressed with our
commitment. After ‘boldly’ sharing, I asked him at what level he
and his wife were giving. He told me that they were giving 40 percent
of their income and suggested that Cathy and I could do the same.
Talk about feeling humbled! At that point in our journey, I didn’t
know people gave that much. His openness and lack of arrogance or
condemnation appropriately challenged me. He was a motivator. His
model eventually allowed us to do the same. Cathy and I talked and
prayed about this decision. Our conclusion was to set our new goal at
40 percent and by God’s grace to increase it every year.”
(392-393)
I wouldn’t say this is necessarily
the goal of every Christian, because every family is different.
Adding kids or losing jobs can quickly change the needs of a family.
But I do think every Christian needs to give careful consideration to
their plan for giving (and yes, it does need to be a plan). Many
Christians ask “How much should I give?” The better question is
how much should I keep? What do I really need to meet the basic needs
of my family now and for the foreseeable future?
Jesus spoke of giving as something
that was expected—when, not if:
“Beware of
practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen
by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in
heaven... But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in
secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”
(Matthew 6:1, 3-4 ESV).
When we discussed these verses in
Sunday school recently, I thought about the ongoing debate in
Congress about doing away with the charitable giving tax deduction.
It is unfortunate that tax laws play such a big role in how people
use their money. For Christians that should never even be a
consideration. Christians living in nations where their faith is
illegal have far more difficult choices to make about how to care for
the needs of orphans, widows, and fellow believers.
In the end, it comes down to a
matter of the heart. A gift grudgingly given does not honor either
God or the giver. “You shall give to [the poor] freely, and your
heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this
the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you
undertake” (Deuteronomy 15:10). “Each one must give as he has
decided in his heart, bot reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful give” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
May our giving this Christmas and
all year round be inspired by the grace that God has lavished upon
us, and not hindered by fear, selfishness, or pride.
©
2015 Dawn Rutan.
