Giving-Part 1

As I've been reevaluating so many things, I can't help but consider the topic of giving. I’ve decided to break the problems I see down into two sections. Now, this sounds like it is going to be a negative post because I used the word, “problem”, but I hope this will be an encouragement to give more and to give in a more godly way.

The first problem I see is writing checks. Sounds silly right? Not a big deal? Or maybe you don’t know where I’m going with this. But, consider how unbiblical writing a check at church is. Jesus said,

"“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. " (Matthew 6:1, NASB95)

"“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. " (Matthew 6:3-4, NASB95)

I believe writing a check at church is practicing our righteousness before men. By doing this, we are not giving in secret. I’ve been the one to count the offering at two different churches in the past. By doing that for a couple of weeks, I was easily able to know who gave and who didn’t. This caused me on different occasions to think and act differently towards certain people (Nothing too serious).

Maybe you don’t think this way, but when I give in the form of a check, there’s something inside of me that is happy that there will be at least one person who knows that I give. I especially like this feeling when I’ve given larger sums of money. This is terribly ungodly!

Our justification for writing checks is the tax-write off. I’ve heard it argued that it would be unwise not to take advantage of this tax break. The problem with this thinking is that it’s worldly logic. If you’ve bought into this argument, think about the contrast, tax break vs. treasure in heaven. Besides, if you’re getting a tax break through the church, it means someone is keeping track (How else do we get the end of the year statement?). If someone’s keeping track, it means there’s a list of who gives and how much? Here’s the creepy question, who’s seen this list and how has it affected how you and others are treated? And what’s the benefit again, a tax break? Well rest assured, if you’re really into this tax deduction, you’re allowed up to $5000 in donations without receipts every year on your taxes, then only the IRS will know what you give and they don’t care anyway.

So, my point is, give cash as opposed to writing checks. This way only your Father will see and your reward will be great.

(New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. The Lockman Foundation: LaHabra, CA)