6. Junk for Jesus
The title of this chapter has nothing to do with the Christian usedcar donation charity light-heartedly called "Junk for Jesus" that accomplishes a good deal of valuable charitable work. Instead, it looks at an aspect of giving which can be problematic.
Sadly, for many people charitable giving involves giving only what is no longer needed: giving to get rid of things – the old, the worn-out, the expired, the "junk" in closets or garages. There is nothing wrong with giving items we no longer need, of course, but if it is our only giving, we have missed the point of what true giving is all about. The Christian must be watchful of this human tendency to give only the least desirable of what we have.
An Old Problem This problem is seen in one of the Bible's earliest recorded stories:
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. (Genesis 4:2–5) Some people believe that in this story God did not accept Cain's offering because it was not a true sacrifice involving the slaying of an animal as we find in the later Mosaic sacrifices. According to this view, God had instructed the first man and woman in how to sacrifice when he made clothing for them from the skins of animals (Genesis 3:21). However, this is entirely speculative in that the Bible does not say this or even mention sacrificial offerings at all before this point.
But although Genesis 4 does not indicate that the difference between the two offerings was one of blood sacrifice and non-blood sacrifice, it does give us important clues as to what the problem was with Cain's gift and the lesson we can learn from it.
First, we should notice that the text tells us that Cain brought only "some" of the fruits of the soil as his gift (vs. 3) and the word "some" could connote randomly selected items, or even items selected that were of no particular distinction. This is contrasted with what we are told of Abel's offering – which was an offering of "the best portions of the firstborn of his flock" (vs. 4 BSB, NLT, etc.).
Some older translations say he gave from the "fat" portions, but the Hebrew means "best" and the meaning is clear that Abel was highly selective – he offered the choicest parts of selected firstborn animals as his gift to God – a description which is very different from the fruits Cain offered which were merely "some" of those available to him. Clearly, Abel's gift was a generous and appreciatively chosen one, while Cain's gift was not at all special and apparently an inferior one.
But we must notice that God's reaction to Cain and Abel was not primarily toward the gifts– but toward the givers: "The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor" (Genesis 4:4–5). The Hebrew stresses it was primarily with Cain that God was displeased, and this is made clear in the following verses: "Then the Lord said to Cain … 'If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door'" (Genesis 4:6–7).
So Genesis 4 primarily paints a picture of the very different attitudes exhibited by Cain and Abel – between the desire of Abel to give quality gifts and the less generous and careless attitude of Cain – attitudes that were clearly reflected in the gifts they gave. In this story, as always, God looks more closely at the heart of the giver than at the gift itself (Hebrews 11:4), but the gifts we give invariably show much about us as givers.
A Matter of Quality The same principle of quality in what we give is seen in the words of the Old Testament prophet Malachi who spoke forcefully to the ancient Israelites regarding their sub-standard sacrificial giving:
When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty … "I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands." (Malachi 1:8, 10) Here, in the very opening of the book of Malachi, the prophet shows what was foremost in God's mind regarding the Israelites' giving. The offerings given by the Israelites were clearly not the best of their flocks but the worst. "Would your ruler accept such gifts from you?" God asks through the prophet, and the answer is obviously that he would not. The Mosaic sacrificial law stated specifically that offerings should be perfect and without blemish (Leviticus 22:19– 25). It is not surprising, then, that God says he would not accept such gifts – just as he did not accept the sub-standard giving of Cain.
But we should never think that such principles do not apply to us in New Testament times. Jesus made it plain that when we give to others, we are giving to him (Matthew 25:38–40), so should not what we give be what would be fitting to give to him? Although we may not be giving carefully selected animals from a flock or herd, we can apply this principle in many ways in our own lives. It is often said that "one dollar is as good as another," but we do not only give in monetary ways. As we will see later in this book, there are a great many ways we can give that do not involve money – and these should all involve quality giving.