Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. – Luke 6:39 The Message
So often I hear people say, “When I die I’ve left instructions for _____ [amount of money] to be given to charity.”
It’s hard not to interpret this as, “I want to make sure I have enough for me, right now, and if there’s anything left over, it will be given to ______.” So much for “first fruits.”
But the needs presented to us are here and now and
I’m always reminded of the little rhyme:
Do your giving
While you’re living
So you’re knowing
Where it’s going.
Many years ago, when our children were young, my wife and I decided to visit a lawyer and create a will. But a few months ago we realized that the organizations which were important to us — and the very fabric and character of some of those organizations themselves — had changed in the intervening years, as did our relationship to them, and we had it updated.
Even now, we recognize there may a need to revise the document again, as organizations — perhaps even churches — may not exist in ten years.
In the meantime, despite having a lower income ourselves, we give generously in the here and now. Many of our gifts go to what I call “bargain basement charities” where I know for sure that a high percentage of what we give goes directly to the place of need, and isn’t watered down by fundraising and administrative costs.
Also we try not be manipulated by circumstances which are at the top of the news cycle for a short time. In 2011, we went to the website of Compassion Canada to make a donation to the famine crisis. Instead we were met with a message that said that while Compassion is active in the countries affected, they were not working in the areas hardest hit by the famine. Instead, they gave the names of three other charities.
That took courage. I was so impressed I made a small donation to Compassion anyway, simply because I was awed by their honesty and integrity.
Deuteronomy 10:14 reads, “Look, the highest heavens and earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord our God.” (NLT) It’s all His anyway, we are simply stewards of what appears to be given to us, but is actually on loan to us.
At the blog of Newspring Church we read,
What Belongs to Whom?
Everything belongs to God because God made everything (John 1:1-3).
Our names may be on a title or deed, but our ownership is only a temporary arrangement. In the grand scheme of things, we’re only responsible for our belongings while we’re living on earth.
One day, when our time is done, our property, possessions, and money won’t go with us (Ecclesiastes 5:15).
It would be easy to argue this point and say, ‘Well, yes; but for now that quantity of wealth and possessions was given to me and so God obviously wants me to have it all and enjoy it all.’ But there’s another perspective, too.
In an archived post from 2012 which is still online, David P. Kreklau wrote,
Remember that since God decides in His sovereignty who gets what, then those who have been given much must remember that they have been given much for a reason. You have been made a steward by God, and it is up to you to redistribute to those in need. This is easier to do when you remember that it is not your money. It is God’s… given to you to use for the kingdom in bringing about His good purposes. This knowledge should also directly impact how you spend your money.
In another post, the month before, he concluded,
Thus, if all our wealth is but a gift of God and we don’t have any right to claim personal satisfaction for its accumulation, this should have profound implications for how we live in the kingdom of God.
We also need to remember that personal wealth is just a small piece of the puzzle in terms of who we are and what we are. In a post at Christian Blessings, which is no longer online, we quoted this in 2015,
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
Wealth is not the most important possession. Many things are more valuable, including the esteem of a good name. Such esteem is the result of a life lived wisely and righteously. God isn’t condemning riches, however. He’s just pointing out that they aren’t the ultimate goal in life and you shouldn’t let a desire for wealth interfere with a godly life.
It also needs to be said that the givers experience a great deal of joy in the process that the non-givers miss out on. In 2016 we quoted Rowan Wyatt, who said,
Giving is a gift that God has given us. Some may scratch their heads at that, how can us giving our money away be a gift from God. But it is and it’s not just a simple act of contrition to make you feel better about yourself, it is a real way of blessing people and being blessed in the process… It is a way of touching someone’s soul, connecting with love, not because you have to, or it’s the right thing to do but because LOVE has moved you to do it.
He recalled the words of Paul in Acts 20:35,
In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (CSB)
In 2019 we quoted Ronald Rolheiser who, just when we thought we’d understood everything about charity and generosity, reminded us that like so many other things in the Christian life, philanthropy can be nuanced. (We sometimes don’t do well with nuance!) He wrote:
…Imagine I’m a good-hearted man who feels a genuine sympathy for the homeless in my city. As the Christmas season approaches I make a large donation of food and money to the local food bank. Further still, on Christmas day itself, before I sit down to eat my own Christmas dinner, I spend several hours helping serve a Christmas meal to the homeless. My charity here is admirable, and I cannot help but feel good about what I just did. And what I did was a good thing! But then, when I support a politician or a policy that privileges the rich and is unfair to the poor, I can more easily rationalize that I’m doing my just part and that I have a heart for the poor, even as my vote itself helps ensure that there will always be homeless people to feed on Christmas day.
There are still going to be people who feel this irrelevant because at present, they would say, ‘We have no money.’ In 2021 Daniel Serrano and Phillip Mast reminded us in a 5-part outline that there are also ‘gifts in kind’ we can give.
Charity doesn’t consist of only money, but can be your time as well. Having worked in a food bank for many years, it was amazing to see the love shared without the need for a monetary exchange. Once a month, groceries would be provided without cost thanks to donations from grocery stores and private purchases. As a teenager going from being a recipient of the groceries to also being able to give them out to others in similar situations, I was able to understand and live Romans 12:13 where it says, “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” To see Acts 2:44-45 embodied, Christians sacrificing with happy hearts to help the community while others were the manpower behind it, is to see the heart of God. This cannot be done behind a government bureaucracy.
I’ve written before that I wish humility had been listed among the Fruit of the Spirit, and I feel the same way about generosity, and although it is embodied in the ideas of goodness and kindness, I wish it had been stated explicitly.
Christianity 201 
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