The Big Pile

What I aim to do in this blog is to help you to see in Scripture that if you are a Christian, to be anything other than a generous giver is unacceptable.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7- Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

When we first come to faith in Christ, we come in a state of opposition to him; meaning that we are quite the opposite of him.

When I first came to Jesus, one of the most attractive things about him to me was that he was so unlike me; he was so radically different to me, in so many ways. Then I found out that He had given up His life for me so that I could follow him ‘through a small gate and down a narrow road that led to life’.

So I began following Him and I made it my aspiration in life to become like Him. That’s what being a Christian is all about. I looked at Him and I looked at me, and I realized that if I wanted to be like him, I needed to change. And so I invited the Holy Spirit to speak to me and to work on me to help me to change and to be more like Christ in various ways. This is an ongoing work that takes place in the life of the Christian- it’s called ‘sanctification’.

• When I first met Jesus, I was really unkind. Then I discovered that Jesus was kind. So I set my sights on becoming kind, like he was, and he is kind. And by God’s grace, I am now kinder than I was, and I pray that He would continue to work on me to make me kinder.
• When I first met Jesus, I was really impatient. Then I discovered that Jesus was patient. So I set my sights on becoming patient, like he was, and he is patient. And by God’s grace, I am now more patient than I was, and I pray that He would continue to work on me to make me more patient.
• When I first met Jesus, I was really uncompassionate. Then I discovered that Jesus was compassionate. So I set my sights on becoming compassionate, like he was, and he is compassionate. And by God’s grace, I am now more compassionate than I was, and I pray that He would continue to work on me to make me more compassionate.

This is sanctification.We need to allow this process of sanctification to work on us and in us to become more like Jesus.

There are two types of people in the world; givers and takers. When I became a Christian and came into the church I was a taker. I was very selfish in the way that I used my money.

Then I discovered that Jesus is not a taker, he is a giver.

I discovered that Jesus is not selfish, he is selfless.

And so if Jesus was, and is, generous; and I am following Jesus, I wanted to become generous like him. So I set my sights on being generous. I began tithing and giving and practicing being generous any opportunity I got. And by God’s grace, I am now more of a giver than I was; I am now more selfless than I was; I am now more generous that I was; and I pray that He would continue to work on me to make me more generous. By God’s grace, He has made less of a taker and more of a giver- that’s sanctification.

So there are givers and takers in the world, but Paul isn’t writing to the world; he’s writing to the church.He doesn’t write to takers; he writes to givers. In his mind he could not reconcile that somebody would claim to be a follower of Jesus and not be a giver. The biggest point of this passage; 2 Corinthians 9; is not that you should give. It is that God gave; and God gives; and that we should be like God. And if you struggle to want to give, it’s probably because your image of God is wrong; you view Him as a taker and not as a giver.

Why should we give? Because God gave and God gives and God is a giver.

The question for us as Christians, and the one that reading Paul’s 2^nd letter to the Corinthians should have us asking ourselves as Christians, is not ‘should I give’? It is ‘how am I giving?’ Am I giving like Jesus gave? Am I following his example in my generosity?

So Paul talks about two types of giving; how to give and how not to give.He instructs us not to give sparingly and reluctantly, but instead to give generously and freely.

The one who gives sparingly and reluctantly is one who gives some, but withholds. They approach God with their money like this;

‘’God, I will give to you what I will give to you and I will hold the rest back for myself. What’s the least that I need to give to follow Christ? 10%, I heard? Deal. Lock me in on those terms. I will give you 10%. I will keep 90%. This small pile is yours. This big pile is mine.’’

What if God wants some from that big pile?

What if God wants all of the big pile?

The question that we are asked by scripture is this; who is the master of our lives- God, or the big pile? Either the big pile belongs to God, or the big pile is our God.

To not be ‘sparing’ and ‘reluctant’ in our giving is to not ‘withhold any of our pile’ from God, in the same way that He did not hold withhold or spare His son, but rather He gave Him completely over for us as a sacrificial offering, so that by His offering we could receive forgiveness of sin and liberty from death, not by our merit, but by His grace.

His pile/your pile?

What an insult!

What a spit in the face in our crucified king.

Tithing is great, but it is the bottom rung of New Testament generosity. Following Jesus begins with the total and complete surrender of your whole pile.