Is There Such a Thing as a Christian Scrooge?
“He may have been a wee little man, but he was the kingpin of the Jericho tax cartel. He was a filthy rich little guy, this Zacchaeus. But when he met Jesus, everything changed — not only his heart, but his hands. The same fingers that once reached to extort filthy lucre, now extended with generosity to the poor, and to pay back fourfold anyone he’d defrauded (Luke 19:8) It’s only a few verses earlier in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus encountered another wealthy man, who we call “the rich young ruler.” His great possessions were the barrier to him following Jesus. Veteran pastor Kent Hughes, who served nearly thirty years at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, says the contrast is unmistakable: How we handle our money has everything to do with how we orient on Jesus. The rich young ruler chose his wealth over Jesus, but for Zacchaeus, meeting the Messiah loosed his hold on his material possessions. There’s a very intentional theology of generosity in the Gospel of Luke in particular, and the point, as Hughes captures it, is generosity is a sign of a regenerate soul. “There is no such thing as a Christian scrooge,” he says. “We may know some scrooges who claim to be Christians, but I don’t think you can claim to really know Christ and be a stingy person.” The gospel opens our soul — and with it, our hands. Generosity is more than tithing, and more than just money. A stingy person can give ten percent, says Hughes. “Ten percent is good, but that’s not the point. The point is to be generous.” He points out that the total prescribed giving in the old covenant amounted to about 23%, not ten. Tithing isn’t necessarily a sign of grace. It can be very legalistic. The issue is giving sacrificially. “Christians ought to give in such a way that there are things we forego in order to be generous — that vacation, that new car. Christianity encompasses all of our life.” (End of Kent Hughes comments)
It has become obvious to me that the Holy Spirit also desires to be President of this area of our lives. God has uniquely made each one of us. I used to feel guilty for thinking about money so much. God gave me freedom in this when He made me realize that He had uniquely made me that way. He wanted me to think about money and how to make more money, but with one major focus- I was to do it for His glory and His pleasure.
Matthew 6:19-21 states, “Stop storing up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust don’t destroy, and thieves don’t break in and steal. Your heart will be where your treasure is.” To get a better understanding of this scripture, you must accept certain FACTS:
God owns everything (1 Chronicles 29:11-13, Psalms 24:1). I am just His money and asset manager. We always need to check with the Owner how He wants His money used.
Your heart follows your stored treasures (Colossians 3:1-2). Temporal stored treasures will disappear; eternal stored treasures will last forever. J. Vernon McGee stated the obvious truth, “I have never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse; you are not taking anything with you.” You must send it ahead of time to Heaven. I interpret “store up treasures for yourselves in heaven” to mean- use God’s money for eternal things (the souls of people) (Luke 16:9).
Heaven is our eternal home. Hebrews 11:16 states that we are citizens of a better country—a heavenly one. All earthly decisions that do not pertain to our eternal home will only be temporal. We are only ambassadors on this earth for a very brief time; our life is just a quick breath. Our choices and decisions must be made with an eternal perspective.
God is interested in your heart, not your treasure (1 Samuel 16:7, Mark 12:41-44) God created everything and has need of nothing. His pleasure comes from His children who have made an eternal heart decision to accept Christ as their Redeemer and then follow their hearts to bring Him glory by using their treasures to spread God’s love to others.
The question to each becomes, “How much is enough?” I attended a Generous Giving Conference in Atlanta and one of the business couples who owned several banks and businesses gave their testimony. They told how they thought for years and years that tithing was God’s standard for giving until they heard God owns it all for the first time. This caused them to reevaluate their giving; they tripled their 10% giving to 30%. However, within a year God had put it on their hearts to increase to 50% and the following year, God asked them this question, “How much is enough?” The next year they lived on $200,000 and gave $3.2 million to the Kingdom.
How much is enough for you and for me?
