Giving standards
Matthew 5:23,24
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Our traditions have affected the way in which we think about many of the activities that form part of the church liturgy and ritual. One example is the issue of offering and tithes. We talk about “throwing your collection” and “paying tithes” and about “sowing a seed,” all in reference to the way gifts, mostly money, are received by the church.
We have made giving imperative, that is, giving is expected without condition, and we have made giving paramount, more important than anything else. The primary sacrifice for giving, when necessary, seems to be the willingness to go without.
God, however, seems to have a very different standard. To God, the gifts that we give ought to be a reflection of our relationship with him and the condition of our hearts. This is especially important when we recognise that God is not in need of the actual money. In the Old Testament, they brought primarily animal sacrifices and God’s attitude was the same, we see this in Psalm 40:6 “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.”
This principle was captured and communicated again by King David in Psalm 51 when he recognised that he had sinned against God. The Prophet of God went to him to point out his sin and his response is very instructive. “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:16,17
The responsibility of the minister, like the prophet Nathan who went to David, is to confront the child of God who is in error and to bring them back to Him. “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1,2
Churches, however, absolutely need money to function and so exercise a very different standard for qualifying a person to give. Churches accept all money given, especially during services, without question. There are even persons who do not attend church, and some of them even live wanton and reckless lives, nevertheless they send their tithes and offering faithfully to the church and they are accepted.
Jesus Himself set new and higher standards for givers and drilled down to the condition of the heart, especially as it relates to others. Contrary to the contemporary attitude of dissing out haters and serving our God, Jesus said that we need to fix things with our haters before coming to God.
His clear instruction on this matter is that reconciliation with our brothers, and sisters, is the real imperative before giving. Our desire to serve God must be reflected in our relationship with men if not we do not qualify to bring out offerings and tithes and seeds before Him.
The Apostle John reiterates the teaching of Jesus this way when he wrote to the church, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” 1 John 4:20
Jesus, speaking again in another context said, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38. An examination of the context shows that Jesus had our relationships with each other in mind at the time and not the offering basket at church.
If we have to fix our relationships with each other before we are truly qualified to give a gift in church, that God would find acceptable, one of two things would happen. Giving might decrease and put some churches and ministries in trouble, or there would be a big improvement in relationship restoration and reconciliation resulting in an increase in giving.
Some may not want to take the risk but I rather suspect that if we do it right by the giving standards set by Jesus, if as we seek Him for daily bread we ask Him to “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” we would see a real abundance of His blessings on our lives and our ministries.
These days, too many church leaders are so desperate for your money that the quality of your life and the status of your relationships are of no concern to them.
Think on these things:
- Do you have a habit of giving an offering or tithe to your church?
- What conditions, if any, are set for you to consider before giving?
- Which relationships, if any, would you need to have reconciled in order to meet the giving standard set by Jesus?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would identify those relationships, where they exist, that need reconciliation, and then seek to reconcile as a condition for our giving.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
