This text seems to countermand the notion that Christians are to tithe to the local church. To answer the question, we must first discuss the time in which both these issues were presented to God’s people. Tithing was part of the Old Testament law. Also, they gave one tenth of food, not money. When Jesus filed a complaint against the Pharisees, he said they forgot the important part of judgment, mercy and faith. In this reply, Jesus did not say to not tithe. He said they should have a better attitude toward giving.
There is a distinct difference between the Old Testament and what the New Testament says. Our text of today explains that it is not a matter of being forced to give or a keeping of the law, it is in fact a matter of the heart. We are to give cheerfully. We do have an obligation for the pastor and other church staff to have a salary. That must come from our giving. We must not be giving because we have to. It is better to give cheerfully because we want to.
We give as a reflection of our appreciation for God’s giving to us all the blessings that we have. It is better to have grace toward the receiver than to give because we are told. Jesus took note of a poor widow who gave beyond what she could afford contrasting with those who gave easily from their bounty. (Luke 21:3) This woman had the better attitude about being a cheerful giver. She wanted to give. When we place money in an offering plate, we are to mimic her that in giving we do it because we want to give.
As we give cheerfully, we are doing so out of our mature spiritual nature. It is the Christian giver who is happier and more truly Christ like because he has done it in the Spirit. Then we are reflecting the character of our Lord. We are witnesses to his generous and unselfish Spirit as part of redemption. His Spirit is a nurturing operation of his own gracious, free, and beneficent Spirit. Imagine the believer who gives out of the joy of his life that brings him keen and pure pleasure. The man who gives begrudgingly is the man who would rather keep his money than behave in a noble fashion toward God.
Our giving Is because we recognize God’s great gift to us for salvation. It kindles in our hearts a joy that can only be realized from giving. Giving this way is from pleasure when our hearts are right with him. We have the opportunity to gain cheerfulness in giving because we know we are doing it to meet needs and supplies that are soothing burdens and sorrows. We find ourselves during a glad work that awakens a joy in others for needs met. We are not doing so to meet the stipulations of a law, but we are doing it because we love the Lord and enjoy his approval.
The cheerful giver does so willingly. He does not require a compulsion or law to obey. He seeks out a path of cheerfulness by giving, not the sting of a guilty conscience. It is not a pain to give under these circumstances. It is a pleasure. It is an act of worship. This is the reason that I believe offerings should be taken in the old fashioned way by passing a plate in which each person can donate what they desire as a gift to God. To place it in a box as one enters the church is akin to signing in for exercise at the YMCA. There is a heavenly recognition for how we align with God’s grace to all the world. Yet most churches have dispensed with this part of worship.
We miss the most heavenly blessing if we avoid cheerful giving. What God thinks of us has something to do with how that we recognize him in our lives as the one who blessed us bountifully. Giving in a grudgeful manner is an offense to God. What if he gave blessings in the same way that we give back to him? As we give, we are placing a blessing on our offering that will carry through to higher and better accomplishments. We are resembling God as a giver. He has willingly offered us so much. Is this not an incentive to give back to him? Our giving is not a loss. It is a seed planted where funds can best be used by the Divine Master.
We are not to give as the prosperity gospel claims. God owes us nothing in return for our giving. Instead, we are placing ourselves under his roof we’re blessings operate. We are challenging ourselves to trust him more than we trust ourselves. We are developing an influence that has no limits on others. When we give cheerfully, we are conforming to the evidences of Christianity operating in our lives. It is another means by which we praise God for all his kindness that we do not deserve. We are magnifying his grace to other people’s lives. By being a cheerful giver, we have a wider and more powerful influence than we could ever know.
