Godly Giving vs Junk Mail
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 19:17
Our mailbox (real mail) and my own inbox (e-mail) are full of requests for money. The money is solicited to help orphans, subsidize the translation of the scriptures, feed the poverty stricken, support missionaries, and cancer or heart research. It is so overwhelming sometimes that I don’t even open them.
A couple of years ago I got into a conversation with someone about this and he quoted Matthew 5:42 to me. In the sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” Really, every single one? Can that possibly be what Jesus meant?
As we prepare to leave for Belize for a vacation one of the things we have been warned about is that people will beg from us, especially children. The Belizeans we know advised us not to give them anything or they will want everything. I am a pushover but my husband is much more discerning. I learned this on the streets of Philadelphia when I “will give to anyone who asks” and he is careful to remind me that some of that money will go to drugs and alcohol. I don’t think that would glorify God! The last time we were there he suggested we buy the man a sandwich – we did and he was grateful.
I checked what Matthew Henry had to say about this verse and he says that we must be ready and willing to give to the one in need. He said, “When a real object of charity presents itself, we should give at the first word.” To me he has captured the crux of the matter. A Christian and their money can be easily separated if we fail to be discerning about a “real object of charity.”
Letters that come in the mail make me question the real need. I know that research is necessary but I hate it when the appeal is to my emotions rather than my reason. They imply I should give to them because of someone I know who has died because of this particular illness. They insinuate that I did not care about them if I do not give.
The “Christian” causes seem to be taking on secular marketing techniques. I get that. People like the glitz and if the marketer wants our attention he must be appealing. Usually it looks like they think that people supply their needs and not the Lord. My own conviction is that the Lord will provide, not that this negates our responsibility to let the need be known, but the Lord will underwrite the work He ordains. I have a real pet peeve about “Christian” organizations that won’t speak of Jesus in their appeals for money because they think it might turn off a big donor. Who is a bigger donor than the One they are denying?
So, we are to give and be generous about it, but we are also to be discerning so that we do not give to someone who will not, rather than cannot, support himself. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 clearly says that a man who will not work should not eat. Notice that this is a man not willing to work, not one who is trying but cannot find work or who is incapable for some reason. Our job seems to be that we have to be willing to ask God to show us who He would have us be generous to.
Psalm 112:5 says, “It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.” Over and over we are reminded in the scriptures that giving to those in need is good and will be honored and blessed by God. How on earth do we discern which ones are good and have a real need? Matthew Henry says we have to use discretion, and this discretion is something that God teaches us. He will instruct us and lead us to act justly. “For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him.” Isaiah 28:26
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 As my mailbox gets stuffed and my inbox gets full, I will trash the obviously ungodly and ask God who He wants us to give to The rest I will consider junk mail.