— by Joel Morris

I was moved to write this white paper to help Christians develop a healthy theology of generosity. I wanted to address the ‘why?’ of giving. The motivation to give will determine if we will be happy or reluctant givers. Without addressing this issue, I would argue that we are robbing givers of the joy of giving and robbing the church of gospel resources. 

Why should all Christians show profoundly more generosity more than those who haven’t tasted of salvation by grace through Jesus? The ‘why’ is usually always more important than the what. The drive behind the act. Why do people do incredibly generous and selfless acts? Why do people run into burning buildings to save others? If we examine our hearts on various areas of life with our Bibles open, I guarantee we will find it helpful and transformative. 

The Biblical Case for Generosity

We can be generous in many ways. I’m only highlighting a few ways here in order to make application to everyday life, but I think that serving, giving money, giving time and talent, hospitality, food, stuff, and good works can all be bunched together under the theme of generosity – generosity overflowing from our life in Christ. It’s a heart response because we are recipients of such amazing grace. We didn’t save ourselves; we simply said yes to the greatest gift. Logic would then dictate that Christian generosity stand out from that of the ‘normal’ worldly generosity. In this sense we Christians should possess an unnatural and godly generosity. A cheerful, outrageous and extravagant generosity. This kind of happy generosity must be driven by love and not pity or even compassion. It isn’t a reluctant generosity. Christians aren’t to give grudgingly. If our motivation is to make ourselves feel better, then the motivation is self-centred even though it’s meant for someone else. Therefore, the generosity itself cannot be cheerful because we’re in essence trying to buy cheerfulness!

Christian generosity is to be a godly generosity, to be like that of our God. Yes, the unregenerate know how to give good gifts to their children, but how much more our heavenly Father who gives good gifts to his children! So, we who are his children share this overflowing generosity with our Father. We do to others what we would have them do to us. In fact, the Apostle Paul urges us to outdo each other in doing good to each other. How can any one of us actually live this out on a daily basis? How can we sustain this through our lives? It seems unobtainable to us.

We know from Mark’s Gospel, chapter 12, when Jesus answered the scribe’s greatest commandment question, He said:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 

These are the greatest commandments in the Bible according to Jesus. Why are they the greatest? I think it’s because our good works flow out of firstly loving God, and because we love God, we can love others as ourselves and do good works for them. This is the overflow of gospel generosity. I know that this is the ministry philosophy used by many successful churches around the world. It is the roadmap for how we can possibly achieve the kind of profound generosity and our good works described here. Firstly, we must love the Lord our God with all that we are, then and only then can we love others as ourselves – not through a transaction, what we can get in return, but because we love God unreservedly. The Psalmist in Psalm 119 verse 32 declares: 

“I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!”

We can keep the Lord’s commandments because we have a big heart for him; because we no longer have a selfish, self-centred stony heart. God figuratively gives us a heart of flesh that keeps growing in capacity for loving him and others.

The sad conversation Jesus had with the rich young man in Mark chapter 10 verse 17 shows that he loved his money and possessions more than the God he said he served. If he had loved God as he should, he would love others and the overflow would mean that he would be free to bless others and to give all that he had and follow Jesus. Instead, he went away from Jesus sorrowful. This is why truly generous giving is a healthy practice for Christians. It helps us to keep loving God first before our possessions. It helps keep our love pointing in the right direction to Jesus.

False Motives

God wants us to be happy people because He loves us. The Bible says that the only way we will be happy is through knowing and loving the God who lovingly made us to love him. The problem is that people search for happiness in countless places other than in enjoying their creator God. 

God also wants us to be happy in our giving. He wants us to be cheerful givers – people who are happy to give and happy in their giving. I realise that we don’t naturally put the two things together! What many will associate with happiness is gaining more stuff for me and enjoying myself with the stuff. Pretending to be my own god. Getting and keeping the things desired and longed after, like that thing at the top of your Christmas list. We think, “if I could just get that house or car, it’ll make me so happy”. But, as I’m sure we all know deep down inside, it doesn’t ever last!

Giving in and of itself doesn’t make us happier people. If this were the case, generosity would be a transaction motivation – that we give to make ourselves happy. The more we give, the happier we will be? It might sound nonsensical. “I give to feel good. When I give, it’s a good thing to do. Aren’t I a good person?” This is obviously counter to the gospel and salvation of grace. Giving is not what satisfies ultimately. Christians are already satisfied before the act of giving. If giving generously was the thing that satisfied and made us happy, it would be a works-based gospel. We can’t work our way to heaven, so why do we think we can work our way to happiness? This is the kind of trap that people fall into, isn’t it? “Giving to the poor and needy makes me feel good. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what Jesus did and we have to as well.” 

Another trap people fall into is giving to get. If we give generously over here, the Universe will somehow reward us. If this is our motivation or comfort to be generous, then our generosity is flawed. We can also be cajoled into giving through guilt. “If you don’t give to this most worthy of causes, then you are a truly terrible and selfish person.” Fundraising campaigns will show us pictures of needy people and pull on our heart strings to try and make us give. Please hear me right: I’m not saying not to give to needy people. The Bible tells us to give to the poor and needy generously and to look after the widows and orphans.

My point is this: Why should Christians be generous? We know that being generous with our possessions or time is a good thing, but why? Our motivations for giving can be guilt-driven or perhaps even us wanting to impress others. “Look how generous and a good person I am!” The feeling can give self-worth. You might write a cheque for a gospel cause to buy the freedom to do whatever you want with what’s left. Have we thought about charity like this? When I give, do I give reluctantly? Can I truly call myself a cheerful giver? This is such a massive battle for us sinners. What our hearts love is what we treasure and want to hold onto. What can change my heart so I give cheerfully and not reluctantly? 

Hilarious Giving

We want to be cheerful in life don’t we? The world tells us to be happy we need to prioritise security for family and retirement, then perhaps think about maybe giving a little, somewhat reluctantly. There is a corrosiveness that erodes our hearts in riches held onto and loved. Of course there is, and it takes the place of our saviour Jesus. There is a happiness in giving money away. How do you get cheerful? God is a cheerful giver and never reluctant. This is a wonderful unchanging truth about God. 

God loves a cheerful giver because He Himself is a cheerful giver. God loves Himself. God is a Father eternally loving His Son through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The Son loving the Father back. It isn’t a self-obsessed love but a giving, outflowing and generous love. Flowing from the Father who sent out His only beloved Son to pour out His all on the cross for us. Generosity is at the core of the Christian life and our experience of God. God doesn’t give sparingly; He gives us abundantly more than we can ask or think. We become cheerful in our giving by giving like God, where His grace has been working in our hearts to abound in generosity to others. This verse below is some challenging teaching from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church on how people should give to support gospel work.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 

- 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

The origin of cheerful comes from the Greek word ‘hilaros’ which is where we get the English word hilarious. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance defines the usage as joyous, cheerful, not grudging. It describes someone who has already been won over, convinced and ready to act cheerfully.  We decide in our hearts what we give, why, and to whom we give. It is God who gives us the grace to be able to have increasingly large good works like giving generously. We need supernatural grace from God, it is not in our natural capacity. Verse 11 says that we will be enriched to be generous in every way, not to hold onto it for our own safety and comfort.

It is God who supplies seed to the sower and provides harvest in the fields for us all to live. Paul says that God will multiply what we happily give and it will be like sowing for the gospel. Verse 10 centres around support for gospel ministry and the reaping will be for his kingdom. Our reward then will be tangible, but not here and now, in heaven stored up for us. The best kind of return we could ever want! We are enriched in grace to be generous in every way. Paul says it isn’t only supplying the needs of the saints, but overflowing in our thanksgiving to God - as He has been overflowing to us. In giving to support gospel work we are joining with the sower to cheerfully sow bountifully so that the harvest will be cheerful and bountiful. So, we see that generosity is a gospel issue. This is important for us to understand in the connection between giving and supporting God’s mission.

As you read this paper, use the opportunity for self-examination and reflection. Writing this short piece has challenged me in questioning “is my heart right? Am I generous enough? Are my motivations to give godly?” Lay your heart open before God. Let Him work in you as He desires you to be conformed to Jesus. Allow the Holy Spirit to change you to become more and more like our generous, life-giving God. 

This is one of the 2020 CEF Whitepapers. For more information on the Christian Economic Forum, please visit their website here.

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