November 2, 2009

Motivation for Giving
by Pastor George Van Alstine

Oswald Smith wrote a brief biography of George Whitefield, the great “field preacher” (i.e. no PA system before crowds of 5,000 to 10,000) of the mid 18th century. A native of England who delivered about 18,000 sermons on both sides of the Atlantic, Whitefield was certainly one of the greatest preachers of all time.

Smith tells about Whitfield’s orphanage in Georgia, which he founded and supported through collections received at his open-air meetings. The persuasive orator really knew how to raise an offering, as testified by a famous American of his time:

Benjamin Franklin, his great friend, did not approve of the orphanage being in Georgia and therefore he refused to contribute toward its upkeep. However, when Whitefield was preaching one day Franklin was in the audience. He saw that a collection was going to be taken and he made up his mind that he would not give anything. Said Franklin, “I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften and concluded to give the copper. Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that and determined to give the silver. He finished so admirably that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector’s dish, gold and all.”

There are many gifted fund-raisers in pulpits today, some in our own community. They’ve been able to build large churches and support a multitude of programs through their ability to move people’s hands to their wallets and purses. Unless they use this gift for their own profit and aggrandizement, they should be applauded for their contribution to building God’s Kingdom.

But quietly, almost invisibly, there has been another kind of fund-raising going on in the church for 2,000 years. It is the Spirit-inspired, spontaneous desire of believers to respond to God’s love by giving money and resources to support the advance of the gospel. It takes no George Whitefield or TV evangelist to motivate them; they are simply loving God back.

This kind of giving was first seen after the Day of Pentecost, when the followers of Jesus came together:
“They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:45)

Then, as the gospel spread over the Mediterranean world through early missionaries, the group of believers in the church at Philippi, in Macedonia, seemed to capture this vision for spontaneous giving, and their example stimulated other churches. Paul refers to their impressive pattern of donations in his letters to the Philippians and to the Corinthians. You will be personally inspired if you read all these passages—Philippians 4:10-19, 2 Corinthians 8:1-7, 9:1-8.

The key to the Philippians’ generosity is that they recognized God’s generosity:
“You know the generous act [Greek – “grace”] of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty, you might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Believers who recognize God’s love in Christ are much more moved by this than by the words of the greatest orator telling the most dramatic, tear-wrenching story. They empty their pockets for Jesus, not for George Whitefield.