Hi all,
Now that we have renewed our minds to New Testament realities concerning righteousness (tzedakah) being both vertical rightness with God AND horizontal rightness with man in equal parts, we can look at NT giving.
We are living temples of God. Christ in us, the hope of glory. Colossians 1: 27
The adjustment the disciples had to make on the day of Pentecost was to switch their thinking of God living in a building and being more manifest in the building, to Christ in them. That means giving switched from giving into a building’s (and personnel’s) needs to giving directly into people’s lives.
Acts 4: 31-35: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. (vertical) And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. (horizontal) For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”
They didn’t live in a commune
Tzedakah was so overflowing that if anyone had a need beyond their ability to pay it, someone gave to them to meet that need. There were no needy among them. If you are on the outside as an unbeliever looking in, why wouldn’t you want to believe in Jesus?
Freed from the temple system they had freedom to meet needs around them. They gave to those in need, including leaders. This means tithing and all the offerings have been swallowed up by righteousness, swallowed up by a lifestyle of giving.
On a practical side, many of us continue to use 10% as a starting place for giving.
And like the average Jewish person back then who gave about 22% in total in tithes and offerings as previously stated, so too do modern ‘givers’ who live and give by the Spirit and in principle. But NT giving is much more than mere money: Time, investment in the relationship, skills and resources too!
Paul wrote in I Corinthians 16:2: “Let everyone set aside something weekly as God has blessed them.” There are no longer outside rules telling us when to give and how much. Christ has moved inside us. His Word is vague so that we have to walk with Him to figure these things out. You and Christ in you decide that amount to set aside and to whom it is given.
Tzedakah – righteousness/charity, is expressed by giving to people not buildings.
Paul established priorities as shown last week in his keeping of tzedakah – if one doesn’t provide for his own he is worse than an unbeliever. Home and family come first as an expression of being right with God and man. (I Timothy 5: 8)
Outward from family is the people you fellowship with: “Let us do good to all people, but especially to those who are of the household of God.” This shows we are to be generous to all, but those we know in Christ have a higher priority than unbelievers around us. Galatians 6: 10
And: “Let him who stole, steal no more (vertical rightness with God), but let him get an honest job, so that he has something to give to those in need (horizontal rightness with man). Ephesians 4: 28
Tzedakah is woven throughout the gospels and letters if you look for it. To be right with God one must be right with our fellow man: “To the extent it is within you to be at peace with all.” (Some won’t let you be at peace with them, but that’s on them.) Romans 12: 18
Giving
The main instruction we have on NT giving is based on what I’ve been talking about these last weeks. It all leads up to II Corinthians 8 and 9, where Paul provides principles concerning giving.
In II Corinthians 8: 5 he speaks of the Macedonian’s who gave themselves first to the Lord, and then gave the money to Paul to give to the poor in Jerusalem. They gave themselves first to God, then to Paul. Because we give ourselves first to God, once it leaves our hands it is up to God.
He calls giving a grace: “For you abound in faith, in sharing your faith, in knowledge and growing in Christ, and your love for us, see that you abound in this grace too.” II Corinthians 8: 7
Then Paul gives principles which are in agreement with Jesus and tzedakah:
“If the willingness (to give) is there, do it, but it is accepted according to what you have, not giving what you don’t have to give. Our desire isn’t that you relieve the burden of others by placing yourselves under a burden.” II Corinthians 8: 11-14
If you follow the principle going back to the tithe, the person giving the tithe or offering sets aside that for the Lord, and then it goes back to themselves or others. No where does God want a person placed under a financial burden just to ease someone else’s need.
In 9: 6-12 Paul completes his thoughts on giving. In v10 he states:
“Now He who gives seed to the sower also gives bread for your food and multiplies your seed sown.” He had said in v7: “…every person as he purposes in his heart, so let him give. Not grudgingly, nor out of need, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
God will in fact provide seed to be sown and bread for our food. Look for it. Let Christ in you reveal what part is seed and what part is bread.
Back in 1980 we had someone give us the equivalent of our rent money. To us, that day, it was ‘extra’ so we sent it on to missionary friends. But just 2 days later I got laid off my job for lack of work (I was doing landscaping). We needed that money for our rent, but we had given it away. God intended it for our bread, but we thought it was for seed. Don’t give away your bread, but don’t eat your seed.
In Luke 6: 38 Jesus stated:
“Give and it shall be given to you; Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will they put into the lap of you. For with the value you place (on giving) is how it will be measured back to you.” (‘Put into the lap of you’ is the Greek)
Jesus stated in so many words, that giving enters into your future to provide for you in a time of need. Think of that. If you spend money on food, it is gone forever. But when we live to give, that giving enters into our future to provide for us in a time of need.
I hope this series has been a blessing to you. I do have a series that explores ‘Balanced Biblical Prosperity’ if interested. And as always, if I can clarify anything email me. But live to give. You have Christ in you, so you and He now must decide what you’re going to do.
God’s Word is purposely vague so that we have to walk with Him, Word & Spirit, to know how to apply His will. In NT giving, no one is there to pass a bucket beneath your nose to guilt you into giving. NO. We must take responsibility for our own lives, our own giving, our own budgets, our own debts, and we and Christ in us have to figure it out. It’s called discipleship and it is a supernatural process. I pray you will abound in this grace as Paul prayed.
Final thought – a giving lifestyle is so much more than money. It is time, talents, resources, living to be generous first to our family, then to the household of God, then outward to others.
New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn