In the stampede for riches accrued through the “gospel of prosperity” the true biblical message on giving and receiving seems to have either been muffled or re-packaged for ulterior, unholy motives, which have left the givers holding on to the often unfulfilled and elusive promise of “instant wealth”.
divineinsight BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
It is true that the Bible teaches extensively on issues to do with material riches in the world. Money — and having lots of it — is not a problem. Money is useful. You need it. If you do not have money, you become irrelevant in your family, community and church. This is biblical and scriptural. It confirms that “money answereth all things.” (Ecclesiastes 10:19).
Money is for usage. Wikipedia defines it as “a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value.” The problem, however, is that a lot of time people are controlled by money, when they are supposed to exercise dominion over it. It is the unbridled love for money which, according to 1 Timothy 6:10, is “the root of all evil”, not the money itself.
In fact, there is a demonic spirit that controls money. It’s called mammon. The word “mammon” is used four times in the Bible, and in three of those instances, it was used by Jesus. His usage was meant to demonstrate the dangers associated with having unbridled love for money.
What I want to particularly address is the disturbing trend where people have been misled to believe that they can buy blessings, which are freely given through the grace of God. So many times we hear that the money you give to your “man of God” determines how much he will pray for. Others say big givers in the church are given top positions in return while in some cases, they are told big money equals bigger blessings. This is wrong because it is not scriptural. What God is interested in is the condition of your heart. What is your motive when you give?
This has often been referred to as the personal identification number (PIN) in receiving from God. The only way you can access money in a bank account using a bank card is when you feed the PIN into the automated teller machine. So, the argument is, you need that PIN to access the untold bountiful treasures promised to believers. Luke 6:38 has been extensively used as the PIN: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.”
A careful reading of scripture reveals the importance of motive. The unfortunate thing is that this scripture is often misread to say give so that it shall be given to you. But that’s not what it says. It doesn’t say “so” to read: Give “so”’ that you receive. “So” implies that you are setting a condition for God to bless you because you have given. The actual rendering is “give and it shall be given to you”. The use of ‘and’ implies that your receiving is a result — not a condition — of your giving.
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The story of Solomon helps to amplify this concept. During the dedication of the temple he had built for the Lord earlier, the Bible says he sacrificed twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. Later on, we are told he “went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that (was) the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.” (1 Kings 3:4-5).
It was during this appearance that Solomon asked for wisdom. What I find quite striking here is that the Bible does not say Solomon gave that offering as a pre-condition to get wisdom. It says he made such a monumental sacrifice because “Solomon loved the Lord.” (I Kings 3:3).
The important lesson here is that you must give out of love. It must be a determination of the heart. “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
But how many times are congregants arm-twisted and threatened to give certain amounts out of necessity? How many times have people parted with their hard-earned money grudgingly because they felt pressurised? I understand at one church, congregants are actually graded into gold, silver and bronze classes depending on their level of giving. I wonder if there is also an “ungraded” class for the poor.
We need to revisit the concept of giving and do we it as instructed in the scriptures. God bless you!
Phillip Chidavaenzi as the author of The Gospel of Grace: From the Old to the New Testament (2016) and Walking in the Spirit (2017).
