I’ve read a lot of teaching on giving the past 10 years. I have found a wide range of ideas about giving, particularly within the Christian community. Some will say ardently that you should give 10%…its 10% or burn! Others assume that God will understand your circumstances and you can just give whenever you can…funny how the infamous “whenever” never seems to come! Others say just give some portion even if its just a dollar or two.
I find it interesting that if you talk to any wealthy person, regardless of spiritual convictions regarding giving, how quick they are to tell you that giving is an important part of their success. I’ve never met a wealthy person that was not involved in giving to charity work…not one. Some will say to me, “Yeah, but they are loaded. They have it to give!” But is there another reason why the wealthy give? Perhaps it’s the other way around? Maybe they are wealthy because they give! When we stop to consider this principle we find 2 dynamics in place: a spiritual and a psychological.
The Spiritual Dynamic. Christians generally won’t argue the point of giving even though statistics tells us that only about 2 out of 10 do so on a regular basis. What Christians will argue about is how much should be given and when. Paul tells us in Pillar 10 (II Corinthians 9:6) of a connection between giving and the quantity of what we receive from life. It’s a fairly simple principle taken from agriculture that says if you plant seeds you will receive a harvest. Conversely, if you don’t plant, don’t expect anything to grow!
A second aspect of “how much do I give?” is a different issue. Certainly the Old Testament standard was set at 10% and given that the early church was made up of hand-picked Jews it is logical to conclude that the early church recognized the gold standard of 10%. However, Paul seems to make a little wiggle room when he says “but let each man give as he has determined in his heart to do”. Some use this to say that the 10% Gold Standard is obsolete and so just give what you want. But to get caught on the numbers is to miss his point which is found in the words determined in his heart. Paul is trying to help us understand that giving involves the heart and is not just a matter of numbers. Paul was challenging men and women to evaluate their hearts. Why? Well, its because “issues of life flow from the heart” (Proverbs 4:23).
The Psychological Dynamic. One of those “issues of life” has to do with how one’s mind works. Many behavioral studies have documented how people tend to operate out of a self-perceived schema or notion of who they are. A man who was raised as a poor farmer and died a multimillionaire once said that when he first understood principles of wealth that he began to “tip like a rich man”. Why? Because he understood that his mind continued to operate on a lacking man’s program and that if he gave his tip sparingly his actions would surely reinforce his mind’s notion that he was poor. He needed to do something to persuade his mind that he was no longer poor and lacking. As it turns out an overwhelming number of rich people give, not because they somehow feel guilty for their success (as the poor assume). Rather they give to create in their mind a program that says they are wealthy. Giving persuades the mind that you are (1) connected to others and their needs and (2) in a perpetual state of receiving.
So giving is not so much an issue of numbers although I do not believe that Paul was intending to abolish Old Testament teachings and that 10% remains the gold standard. Rather I believe that Biblical teaching dares us to look at our heart and if we regularly practice giving we will begin to make us a better, richer person by changing our self-perception.
If you want to read more on this subject and begin to reprogram your thinking about money, I recommend getting a copy of my book, 12 Pillars and a Prayer. In the meantime, I hope that you prosper and are in good health even as your soul prospers!
