How important is it that disciples exhibit charitableness? How are we supposed to accomplish that? This devotion looks at what Jesus said about doing how doing charity work.
Nuggets
- Jesus called charity work the way we practice our righteousness.
- Instead of going for man’s praise, Jesus wanted us to be cultivating the fruits of the Spirit.
- Jesus was all about two things: relationship and character.
- As disciples, if we are being charitable for the right reasons — which is to honor God and imitate Him so others will see — we will be rewarded.
Devotions in the What Is Charity? series
Disciples and Charitableness
We’ve been talking in the last several devotions that God calls disciples to be charitable to our fellow man. But what did Jesus actually say about this issue?
Let's Put It into Context
Yes, this is a devotion in the charity series. Charity means showing others love flavored with acts of benevolence.
It could have been in the righteousness series. We have said that righteousness is the result of the process of sanctification. As we perfect our relationships with God, we grow in grace and knowledge of Him, increasing our holiness so that we are more like Him.
To read a related devotion, click on the appropriate button below.
So, where does our charity work fit in? What did Jesus say?
Practice of Righteousness
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven” (Mt. 6: 1 CSB)
Jesus didn’t pull any punches, did he? He called charity work the way we practice our righteousness.
While we are in the process of being sanctified, we use charity to become more like God. We are to conduct our charitable activities for His honor and glory.
We are to do the charitable acts through mercy. Mercy is the unexpected way God responds in love to our needs. We are to do respond through love to them.
Because of that, Jesus warned us about motivation. Why are we being charitable? Let’s look at a list of ways we shouldn’t be doing charitable work:
- Looking for recognition from others.
- Becoming puffed up
Tuck noted that this would have been a radical viewpoint in that day and age. The norm those days was to show you were religious “… by giving alms, praying, and fasting.”
Jesus was always more interested in our relationships with God than religion.
But He taught character — imitation of God’s character to be exact. That takes into considering motivation and spirit.
Instead of going for man’s praise, Jesus wanted us to be cultivating the fruits of the Spirit. You know, “… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5: 22-23 HCSB). That is how we show we have a pure heart.
Charity work hits all of those, doesn’t it?
You may he saying, “Wait a minute. Doesn’t that contradict the whole lamp and the bushel thingy?”
What you are asking about is Matthew 5: 15-16. “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5: 15-16 NIV emphasis added).
Barker argues that this is limited to almsgiving. Let’s talk this through.
Alms are “gifts for the poor” (Holman Bible Dictionary). Basically, what Barker said was this giving should flow it of the heart without conscious thought. I read it to mean that it should just be a natural response. We shouldn’t wait for the press conference to announce the donation. We shouldn’t be looking for the slaps on the back.
I am not going to get into social inequality here. Macdonald did in one of his sermons. I agree with most of it. Some may be dated, but it is not enough to throw out the whole piece.
How Does Religion Fit In?
“So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward” (Mt. 6: 2 CSB)
I am not sure we can take this literally. Oh, I know literal. When Adam was young, we could not ask him to run and get something for us because we would then be telling him not to run in the house.
I wonder if this is where we got the expression about tooting our own horns.
What I think the “… don’t sound a trumpet before you, …” (Mt. 6: 2 CSB) means is religion isn’t to be show.
Oh, yes. We have a lot of rituals, traditions, and practices in our services depending on where we go. We all have something. (Just try moving when they pass the plate in the order of the service.)
A lot of the research I uncovered talked about ostentatious religion. It talking about not just a vulgar display but also a display just to attract attention.
Ostentatious talks theatrical. It is talking self-gratifying.
Let’s stop a second and put this into context again. This is Matthew 6. We are in the Sermon on the Mount. We already did the Beatitudes. We are fixing to go into the Lord’s Prayer and then fasting.
Prayer and fasting are personal. Jesus told us that almsgiving should be, too.
Jesus was all about two things: relationship and character. He wasn’t about the Pharisees and their brand of religion.
What Jesus was about was true religion — how it should be. We were created to worship the Father. We were made to be like Him.
Right Reasons
“But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Mt. 6: 3 CSB)
So, instead of tooting our own horns about all the charitable things we do, we should just do them. We should focus on God and imitating Him so that others can see His love for them.
Macdonald thought anything else would be hypocritical. And he is right.
We have a lot of scammers these days trying to take our money. No, Jesus wasn’t saying just give it to them. He was talking about those who were legitimately poor.
What did Thomas call it in the last devotion? The deserving poor. Tuck provided an explanation as to who those are. They are poor because of the following:
- “by bodily disability;
- “by unfortunate birth-associations;
- “by exigencies of trade;
- “by temporary distress;
- “by the wrong-doing of others.
Rewards
“so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6: 4 CSB)
As disciples, if we are being charitable for the right reasons — which is to honor God and imitate Him so others will see — we will be rewarded.
Yeah, if “… your giving may be in secret …” and God “… sees in secret …” (Mt. 6: 4 CSB), the reward may be in secret. It may be out in the open. It may just depend.
But rewarded we will be. Good thing, right? We work for rewards.
Well, our paycheck is a reward. We play sports for the reward of winning. Have you ever heard about disciples being asked what they get out of it?
We are so focused on having to get something at the end of a project or a season. What do we get out of this. Go back to verse 1.
Jesus called charity work the way we practice our righteousness.
- We get a right relationship with God, increased holiness, sanctified, and righteousness.
- We get fruits of the Spirit.
- We get fruits of righteousness.
- We get heavenly rewards.
Making the Connections
I think Jesus was doing more than just providing for those in need. He was also warning us about a threat we would face on the road to sanctification.
Maclaren put it this way. He wrote, “He first gives the warning in general terms in verse 1, and then flashes its light into three dark corners, and shows how hankering after men’s praise corrupts the beneficence which is our duty to our neighbour, the devotion which is our duty to God, and the abstinence which is our duty to ourselves.”
Jesus knew that we would be tempted. He knew we would have trouble dismissing the bright and shiny. So, He wanted to warn us.
God helps those who look to Him. When the Wilderness Wanderers were at the Red Sea and walking toward it, it did not open because they were only walking toward it. It opened because they had prayed to God to save them, and He said, “Quit praying, and get moving!” (Ex. 14: 15).
We’ve said that we can’t discipline ourselves without God. We can’t be charitable without doing it to honor God. If we do, we aren’t doing it for the right reasons.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Macdonald said that “God helps those who help themselves.” I don’t think that is always true.
God helps those who look to Him. When the Wilderness Wanderers were at the Red Sea and walking toward it, it did not open because they were only walking toward it. It opened because they had prayed to God to save them, and He said, “Quit praying, and get moving!” (Ex. 14: 15).
We’ve said that we can’t discipline ourselves without God. We can’t be charitable without doing it to honor God. If we do, we are doing it for the wrong reasons.
How Do We Apply This?
So, how are we to do charity work?
- Modestly
- Sincerely
- Honoring God
- Promoting brotherly fellowship
- Appropriately based on our means
A way to worship God is to imitate Him. One way to do that is to love those He has created. When we help those who need help, we are to accomplish that in a way that honors God.
Loving Father. You do love us. You sent Your Son to die so that the payment for our sins would be completed. When we become Your disciples, You ask us to imitate You and show Your love to those who are struggling in this world. Unfortunately, this world is not as You made it. Poverty is a result of the consequences of sin.
What do you think?
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