Our previous article offered an overview of giving in the Old Testament. We learned that there were five specific offerings which the people were to give to God, the Temple and the priests. These offerings (sacrifices) were intended to be means by which people gave thanks to God, sought God's forgiveness and supported the Temple and its priesthood. People were also supposed to give ten-percent of all that they had to God and to the work of the Temple. In addition, something that was not covered last week was that people were to be generous in terms of assisting the poor. We will now turn to the New Testament and examine its attitude toward giving.
Money and how people deal with it is one of the main topics with which Jesus dealt during his ministry. In fact not only did Jesus talk about money more than anything else other than the Kingdom of God, but eleven out of thirty-nine of his parables were focused on money as well. In the Gospel of Luke one out of every seven verses is related to money. Why the focus on money? I believe Jesus spent so much time talking about money because in some ways money had become an idol for God's people. What I mean by this is that people put their ultimate trust in money/goods rather than in God. And because of this people forgot that money (as with every other possession) was a gift from God which was intended to be used the way God designated. In addition, Jesus implied that many persons who did give were doing so for the prestige it offered them rather than as a means of praising God.
Let's look at some specific texts. One of the most famous of Jesus' teachings on giving occurs in Matthew 25:42-45 where he speaks of giving to the least of these. We were to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and look after the sick. While this text does not specifically mention money it is implied because Jesus was already living in a money-based economy (rather than a rural barter economy) and so all of the food, clothing and housing would have had to have been paid for with cash. Jesus tells his followers that they were to sell what they had, give it to the poor, and then come and follow him. (Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22) While I don't believe Jesus meant for his followers to actually sell all that they had, I believe it was a way of reminding them of what their priorities ought to be; Jesus and the Kingdom of God first, money second.
The Apostle Paul was not quite as critical of having money. He was a small businessman who made tents for a living and understood that money was not evil in and of itself, though the love of it was (1 Timothy 6:10), but instead money was a medium of exchange which could be used well or used poorly. Proper uses of money included caring for family and relatives (1 Timothy 5:8); supporting the work of the church and its leaders (1 Corinthians 9:13-14; Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:15-20); and the support of those in need (Romans 12:13, 20). Paul also offered a special reminder to the wealthy that they were to focus their lives on God while being generous in giving to others (1Timothy 17-19). Finally Paul believed that generosity in giving was a virtue to be cultivated. This comes to our attention in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 where he refers to the generosity of the Macedonian churches. Though the churches in Macedonia were small, poor and under great strain they gave far more than was expected to the relief fund for the church in Jerusalem. The Apostle even encourages people to set aside money every week in order that they have something to give to others and to the church. (1 Corinthians 16:2)
Some of the most concrete demonstrations of giving are found in the Book of Acts. In Acts 2:44-45 we read, "All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds
to all, as any had need." This sharing of all that the early church possessed is mentioned again in Acts 4:32. For the early church, the bottom line was that every person gave what they had to insure that no one did without what others needed. Giving in this way was one of the great draws of the early church; a community in which giving was at the heart of their life.
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