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Can Generosity Hurt?

person Luke Larner
3 min

We probably all have one of these stories. We showed generosity to someone who seemed genuinely in need. Maybe it was a homeless person on the street, or someone in a desperate situation in our faith community, a friend or family member who just needed to borrow a bit to get them by, or maybe it was a church or charity? And they let us down.

They wasted it, they lied, they never gave back what they borrowed.

I hate the churning feeling in my stomach when I realise my hard-earned cash has been wasted. Sadly it has happened more than once. Like the time we helped out a friend in a desperate housing situation; the money they borrowed mysteriously disappeared and their housing situation remained the same. We felt pretty stupid.

So what do we do? Do we give up and keep our money to ourselves? Do we start ‘policing’ those we give to? I believe there is another way.

You can’t get too far into the Bible without realising that giving is an important part of the Christian faith. However, there is a side to generosity which we don’t always hear talked about in Christian circles.

The Old Testament sets the picture that our giving should bring transformation. It focuses not only on giving but lending to the poor and goes so far as to give us the principle of gleaning (where the edges of the harvest are left for the poor). The panoramic view it offers is one of justice; the law of Jubilee offers a lifeline to people who are trapped in poverty. The incredible thing about Jubilee is that it gives a fresh start to everyone, whether they seem to ‘deserve’ it or not. (See Deuteronomy 15:11; Leviticus 23:22; Leviticus 25.)

The New Testament also teaches us about giving; it encourages a strong work ethic and responsible stewardship of people’s gifts. (See 2 Thessalonians 3:6-14; 1 Timothy 5.)

Somebody recently said to me, “I love your food bank, it means I have more money for booze”. Sometimes our generosity can hurt rather than help people stuck in bad situations. It made us think about offering debt-management/financial advice as part of the process for those who regularly rely on our food/practical gifts. We needed to figure out how to give the help in the right way and that meant getting more involved.

So should we only give in circumstances where we know the specific details of how money will be used?

As a Christian worker and theology student I’ve relied on the generosity of others to support my family for the past 2 years. Many workers like me feel under pressure from supporters about the way we use our time, but giving should always involve an element of letting go. Allegations of misuse of funds and/or time should of course be taken seriously, but giving financially does not give us open access to people’s private lives and finances. We should have a level of trust that there are safeguards in place covering the people we support. If we don’t have this trust, then maybe we should reconsider offering support in the first place? (see 1 Timothy 5:18, 1 Corinthians 9:7-14).

The balanced approach seems to be responsible giving, whoever we are giving to; trust balanced with good stewardship. And ultimately, we should recognise that the resources we give are not ours in the first place, we are merely responding to the generosity God has shown toward us and giving back to him. We should therefore trust that God will grow his Kingdom with what we give, provided that we have given responsibly.

Personally, I don’t want to give up and be cynical or bitter about giving. I want to believe that God can bless our generosity and use it to build his Kingdom. And I want to keep asking his help, to teach me how to give and to receive responsibly.

What might God be saying to you about giving and receiving at the moment?

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