Spirituality of Money by Victor M. Parachin In a rural county, a handful of residents offered $45,000 in donations to build fire stations for small towns in their area so that homes and businesses would have access to firefighting services. At a major polytechnical university, officials were pleasantly surprised when they received $5 million from an anonymous donor. The gift will be used to establish a health information management program for undergraduate students. Upon learning that a civic organization working with paralyzed military veterans was low on funding, an avid motorcyclist sold off his prized motorcycle and donated the entire purchase price of $15,000 to that organization. These true examples show that donations come in various sizes and various forms and are given to a wide variety of organizations. Yet anxiety and fear about the economy prompt some people to be hesitant, even neglectful, about giving. Nevertheless, every person has the ability to give something and help in some way. Here are some guidelines for developing a stronger spirituality of money. Giving is a spiritual obligation. The Bible is clear: People of faith are obligated to give, and those who do so are especially noted and blessed by God. Consider these biblical texts: •Deuteronomy 15:7—“Don’t be mean and selfish with your money.” •2 Corinthians 9:7—“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” •Isaiah 58:10—“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” •Psalm 112:9—“They will always be remembered and greatly praised, because they were kind and freely gave to the poor.” •Deuteronomy 15:14—“The more the Lord has given you, the more you should give them.” •Proverbs 29:7—“The wicked don’t care about the rights of the poor, but good people do.” •Proverbs 14:21—“God blesses everyone who is kind to the poor.” Furthermore, the Bible does not provide exemptions to anyone from the responsibility of giving. Even those with modest means are commended for assisting with their meager resources. Jesus was impressed by a small donation from a very poor woman, using her
EvangelicalsforSocialAction.org/ePistle
example to teach the disciples an important lesson about giving. The account is found in Luke 21:1-4: “As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put into very small copper coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ he said, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had....’” Giving is the antidote to greed and consumerism. Those who share with others demonstrate they are successfully resisting greed and a consumer mentality. They are more interested in raising their standard of giving rather than raising their standard of living. In his book Jesus and Money, Ben Witherington talks about his grandparents, who were “profoundly committed Christians, dedicated to serving others even when they had little.” During the height of the depression years, his grandfather gave $6 a week to the poor and indigent at a time when his firefighter salary was only $20 per week. Of his grandfather, Witherington proudly says: “He did not allow his culture to determine his approach to money, wealth, work, remuneration, and the like. He sat lightly with possessions, and never felt compelled to shop until he dropped. He gave sacrificially, not only to his church but to many others as well.” Giving is a way of growing spiritually. Conduct an examination of conscience concerning your attitude toward giving by asking these kinds of questions: Am I a cheerful giver or a grudging one? Do I give liberally or minimally? Do I give freely or am I hesitant in responding? Am I generous and magnanimous or am I tightfisted and miserly? Do I truly feel blessed whenever I give or is there resentment? The answer to such questions determines whether or not we put our whole heart into our giving. That examination of conscience helps ascertain whether our giving is truly sincere and from the heart or merely superficial, customary, and expected. Your giving can empower you to grow spiritually. Giving expands faith and trust. By sharing we show that we live with a spirit of abundance and not a fearful spirit of hoarding. In his book Living Faith, former US President Jimmy Carter addresses this very matter in a personal way, saying: “Many people my age have cautionary phrases deeply ingrained in us: A penny saved is a penny earned. Waste not, want not. Haste makes waste.” Consequently, many people live cautiously, hesitantly, and timidly. “Most of us still want to be sure we don’t give away too much, so we always parcel out a little at a time, making sure we hold back more that we might need,” he writes. There is a down side to this mentality, Carter notes, in that we underestimate the gifts God has given us—“life, talent, ability, knowledge, freedom, influence, and plenty of opportunities to do something extraordinary.” He urges people to give generously so that faith and trust are expanded. “We have to remember that our lives will become shrunken if we only act from a cautious sense of duty. It is the reaching, the inspiration, the extra commitment that provide the foundation for a full and gratifying life.”
EvangelicalsforSocialAction.org/ePistle
Giving is a spiritual response to material needs. Rabbi Israel Salanter (1810-1883) wisely taught: “A person should be more concerned with spiritual than with material matters, but another person’s material welfare is his own spiritual concern.” Similarly, the Russian Orthodox theologian Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948) wrote: “The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.” Giving returns blessings to the giver. This is something clearly taught by Jesus. “Give and it shall be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). Similarly, Paul writes: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor. 9:6). The same teaching is found in the Old Testament—“Be generous, and someday you will be rewarded” (Eccl. 11:1). While the specific “reward” or blessing is not stated, what is identified is a spiritual law of reciprocity, that generosity and kindness given always return to us in some way. As St. Francis of Assisi reminds us, “It is in giving that we receive.” Victor Parachin is a minister, journalist, and the author of a dozen books.
EvangelicalsforSocialAction.org/ePistle