Four Myths About Giving

This past weekend Vineyard Columbus took up an offering for victims of the seven-year long drought in Sub-Saharan Africa. The amount given by our church in this special offering was approximately $125,000. The offering will be distributed through Vineyard churches in four Sub-Saharan African countries and will provide food and other basic necessities for whole communities that are facing starvation. I'm extremely grateful to God for the generosity of our church on behalf of brothers and sisters who live half a world away from us.

As I considered our famine relief effort, I was reminded of an earlier famine relief effort collected from Gentile believers in Macedonia on behalf of Jewish believers in Jerusalem. In the course of taking up a collection from Gentile churches, the apostle Paul says a number of things that are instructive for our financial giving today. I've organized his statements under the heading of "Four Myths About Giving."

Myth #1 - People Give Only Because They Are Noble
Paul writes: "And now, brothers [and sisters], we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches (2 Corinthians 8:1)."

Note what Paul does not call attention to. He does not say, "Consider the Macedonian believers. They are so noble. These people are so wonderful." Rather, Paul calls attention to the grace that God has given. In other words, Paul directs our attention to God's grace that is at work in people, as opposed to the character of individuals in and of themselves.

This, by the way, points out a fundamental difference between a Christian perspective of people who do good, and a non-Christian perspective of people who do good. Non-Christians typically attribute goodness to an individual's nature. "That child is so nice!" "The people at Vineyard Columbus are so kind." "The church has attracted really loving, friendly, generous people!" A Christian perspective is that people are not naturally generous, nice, or kind. Rather, we are the way we are only because of the grace of God that is at work in our lives.

As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:10, "By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace to me was not without effect. No I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." Our church did not give $125,000 because we are so exceptional, but because the grace of God was with us in that offering. All generosity is a gift of God's grace.

Myth #2 - People Give Generously Only When They Have the Resources to Give
Paul writes, "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity (2 Corinthians 8:2)."

We might say that the Macedonian givers were scraping the bottom of the barrel to give. They had no excess or fat. But out of this scraping of the barrel poverty the Macedonians gave extravagantly. Don't ever allow yourself to believe, "Because I don't have a great deal of money, or because of my financial situation, I cannot be generous." God does not give the grace of generosity only to the wealthy. God wants every person to experience the privilege of giving generously.

Think of it this way: If generosity is a good thing, if it really is "more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35), why would God withhold the blessing of experiencing God's grace overflowing through one's life simply because a person is poor? Paul is saying, in essence, "God is not so unkind as to hold back the precious gift of generosity from the poor."

Myth #3 - People Give Only What They Can Afford to Give
Again, Paul contradicts our "common sense" view of giving when he writes, "For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability (2 Corinthians 8:3)."

When grace is operating in a Christian's life, Christians do not give what they can afford to give. The world gives out of excess, out of the fat. The world gives only to the extent that no lifestyle change is required. Christian giving (that shows the grace of God) cuts into the muscle and the bone.

The truth is, we do not give what we can afford to give. We give what we choose to give. Giving is not based upon one's income. Giving is based on one's choices. Some wealthy people choose to live at a level below their income so they can give more to the Kingdom of God. They do not drive cars, live in houses, or purchase clothes or furnishings that they can afford. Rather, they voluntarily take a step down so that more is freed up for God's Kingdom.

Others choose lifestyles that are exactly commensurate with their income, or are a step above their income. They never have enough to give. Giving is not based on one's income; giving is based upon one's lifestyle choices.

Myth #4 - People Give Generously Only When They are Manipulated or Pushed to Give
The apostle Paul states, "Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints (2 Corinthians 8:4)."

When God's grace is at work in a person's life, he or she begs to give or to serve God in an extravagant way. In contrast, when we do not experience the grace of God, we have to be pushed, prodded, or manipulated to do what God's Word tells us to do. For example, when the demoniac is finally set free from his bondage to the demonic, he begs Jesus for the privilege of following him (Mark 5:18). Jesus doesn't beg the demoniac to follow him. Jesus doesn't try to convince this freed man that it would be a good idea to follow the Son of God. Instead, when grace entered the demoniac's life, he considered it the greatest privilege in the world to be able to give his life to Jesus. God's grace changes everything about our motivation to give.

What did the African relief offering say about our church? It did not say that we are a great church. Rather, it spoke volumes about the experience of grace that is at work in many members' lives at Vineyard Columbus. Do you want to become a more generous person? Pray for a deeper experience of the grace of God in your life! Do you want our church to become a model of generosity? Pray for a deeper experience of God's grace throughout our entire church family!