8. Giving Too Much
It may seem strange, after talking about not giving generously, to talk about giving too much! However, human nature often tends to one extreme or the other and when it comes to how much we give, the biblical principle of giving is often misunderstood. Sometimes, well-intentioned people feel they should perhaps give everything they have if they are to truly follow Christ's commands. This feeling is usually based on a mistaken understanding of one or more of a few biblical passages – such as the story of the poor widow who gave all she had (Mark 12:41–44; Luke 21:1–4); that of the rich young ruler who Jesus told to sell all he owned and give it to the poor (Matthew 19:16–30; etc.); and the accounts in the book of Acts of how the early Christians in Jerusalem sold possessions and "had all things in common" (Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–35).
In reality, these stories all reflect special circumstances. The first two can be quickly explained. The story of the poor but generous widow simply tells us about the wonderful attitude of giving that the woman had. In her case she appears to have given the last few "pennies" she had at the time, but that does not mean that she had no hope for further income, or that Jesus used the story to show we should give all we have. This is a good example of the theological principle that a biblical story without a command should not be used to decide doctrine or behavior – especially when there are other scriptures that would indicate something different.
This principle applies in exactly the same way to the story of the rich young ruler. The New Testament makes it clear that the young man was being tested, but failed the test due to his love of his wealth (Matthew 19:22). And we should notice that in this story Jesus did not command the man to sell everything he had and give to the poor – he simply invited him to do so and to follow him. This was a particular circumstance that applied to a particular individual and should not be seen as some kind of general principle that we should all follow. If we already follow Jesus and if we do not put material things before him – as the young ruler evidently did – the situation clearly does not apply to us.
The final story that is often misunderstood about giving – that of the way in which the early Christians sold and shared their possessions (Acts 4:32, 34–35) – needs to be looked at a little more closely to fully understand it. Some have used these verses in Acts to try to prove that the early Christians followed a form of communism, but a careful reading of what the Bible says here shows that nothing could be further from the truth. We should note that this seems to have been a temporary situation while the fledgling Church was becoming established and before any formal mechanisms for helping the poor within the Church were in place. Many of those who had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost and had been converted at that time were now staying in the city and had as yet no means of support. As a result, many local Christians shared what they had to help them. There was no requirement to share (Acts 5:3–4), and once this temporary situation had passed, there is no evidence in Acts or elsewhere in the New Testament that the early Church continued in exactly the way described in Acts 4.
Balanced Giving That God does not expect or desire us to give all of what we have under most circumstances is clear in the system of tithes that he instituted for Old Testament Israel. Under this divinely given system, the Israelites gave a tenth of all their increase to God (Numbers 18:21–26), they saved a tenth to enable them and their families to enjoy the annual religious Holy Day festivals (Deuteronomy 14:22–26), and gave a further tenth every third year to support the poor and needy (Deuteronomy 14:27–29). This meant that not counting the tenth they saved for themselves, the
Israelites were instructed to give approximately 13 percent of their income, but this is a long way from giving everything.
We see this kind of balanced giving in the way Jesus himself utilized what funds he and his disciples had – we are told that those funds were used as needed, and on occasion some of the funds were given to the poor (John 13:29) rather than anything that was received being automatically given away. Jesus' attitude toward those in need was always a compassionate one, but it was also realistic. His famous saying that "The poor you will always have with you" (Matthew 26:11; etc.) was not callous but simply honest. These scriptures and others show that Jesus lived the way of giving in a sane and balanced way that strived to help others but not in an unrealistic manner.
We should always remember the simple fact that God's balanced way of giving presumes that we will keep what income we need to continue to run our businesses or to work our jobs, as well as to purchase needed items for our families, and to occasionally enjoy good things in proper moderation. In fact, the amount we can give charitably over a lifetime of ongoing business or work far exceeds what we could give if we gave all we had then had no way to procure further income.
So it is possible to "give too much" when it comes to generosity. If we give to such a degree that we hurt ourselves and our families, or we prevent ourselves from being able to continue to be a productive part of society, we have missed the balance that God shows us is a part of giving in a way that is pleasing to him.
PART THREE:
GENEROUS GIVING