May 5 - What’s Wrong with False Giving? - Evangelical Caucus/Devotional

Gracetoyou.org ^ | 2008 | John McArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

“‘When you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full’” (Matthew 6:2).

Giving to the poor literally means any act of mercy, but it came to mean more specifically the giving of money or goods to the needy. Jesus did not say “if” but “when” concerning our giving—in other words, He expects us to do so. But just as sympathy for the needy does not help them unless something is actually done toward their need, so giving money provides us no spiritual blessing unless done from the heart.

Those who, like the Pharisees, give to impress others with their piety and generosity will receive no further reward. When we give with this false motive, we receive back only what people can give; we thereby forfeit God’s blessings.

Many times, of course, the pretense people use to draw attention to or make an impression with their giving is not so obvious. They know, especially if they profess to follow Christ, that other Christians will resent ostentatiousness. So they seek to make their giving “accidentally” noticed. But any strategy designed to draw attention is still a basic form of trumpet-blowing hypocrisy, which can appear in vari-ous forms. Whenever we make a point of doing our giving publicly to be noticed, rather than doing it privately simply for God’s reward, we behave more like the hypo-crites of Jesus’ day, not like His children.

Ask Yourself

What are some of the ways that giving can be done for personal recognition, even within the decorum of outward humility? How does one guard against this need for acknowledgment? What are we forgetting when we’re tempted to crave the credit for every dollar we share with others?

From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.

---

TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: gty

[metmom]

Studying God’s Word ping

[goodnesswins]

Lookin’ at you, 501C3s

[Mean Daddy]

There are a lot of websites that report charity operational costs vs. salary. Samaritan Purse is one, Code of Vets or your local church.

[goodnesswins]

Samaritans and Mike Rowes group ARE exceptions, for sure. Rowe does not take a salary...Samaritan’s purse head, Franklin Graham takes $800K year IIRC

[Mean Daddy]

I’ll have to check that on Samaritan’s Purse. I know there are charities that 99% goes to salary, operational costs etc. It really pays to research. My wife used to donate to a national firemen organization & I showed where only 10% was being sent to firemen. We had a local, voluntary fire service and started sending donations to them.

[goodnesswins]

My hub has been deep divingvinto many form 990s...for these type organizations...it’s mostly a scam