John Pryor  ⎮  Summer 2010

While doing research for the article “The Recession as a Moral Crisis,” a remarkable idea leapt from the pages of my Bible: personal riches are obtained by giving our riches away. This is not some gimmicky religious trick, in which material riches are replaced by intangible “spiritual” riches. Though there are spiritual blessings that flow from a generous heart, the Bible really does promise tangible, material, and physical blessings as rewards for personal generosity. Starting from the Pentateuch and going all the way through to the Wisdom literature, Prophets, Gospels, and New Testament epistles, the biblical authors repeatedly state that wealth is fueled by generosity.

At first glance, these verses seem to provide a biblical basis for the Prosperity Gospel, the errant theological system that maintains “health and wealth” will result from faithful tithes and offerings--give a dollar, and receive ten in return.  Prosperity theology also maintains that personal holiness and righteousness will result in material riches—accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, do good works, and you shall be rewarded with physical blessings.

Prosperity theology is wrong because it assumes God is compelled to grant riches through simplistic formulas. In this way, Prosperity theology resembles Magick or Karma, in which individuals use incantations, totems, or other objects or rituals that have special power to compel a god into action.  This approach stands in contrast to the biblical picture of the sovereign God who created and sustains the universe simply by the power of his Word. This God cannot be compelled, and in fact demands our worship.

Prosperity theology has influenced the church negatively in a variety of ways.  At its most benign, Christians sometimes assume a Prosperity theology premised on the psychological benefits that must result from a faithful life: inner peace, joy, and harmony if we follow the commands of God and give to his people.  At its worst, Prosperity Gospel preachers have misled thousands of people with false promises of riches if they simply accept Jesus into their hearts. (An American Pentecostal evangelist has traveled throughout the poorest areas in Africa, gleaning “conversions” from Africans by promising material riches flowing from Heaven, all while gathering donations from the collection plate before he travels to the next village.)  The Prosperity Gospel has even been linked to the 2008 housing crash, since hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of churches encouraged their members to purchase unaffordable homes as a sign of God’s favor.

But even if Christians can agree that Prosperity theology is tragically wrongheaded, we are still left to deal with the biblical verses maintaining that wealth flows from generosity.  How then do we interpret the biblical principle concerning the generation of wealth through generosity?

It must be stated up front that my answer to this question is concerned only with the rational, logical, or observable ways in which generosity generates wealth. Unlike Karma, Magick, or Prosperity theology, I am not concerned with establishing any sort of formulas that promise to generate wealth in people’s lives. Additionally, I will not focus on the important ways in which God rewards those who give “in secret” without any hope or expectation of human or material rewards.  I am merely concerned with exploring why the many verses in the Bible relate wealth to generosity through a God-honoring explanation that prevents the church from backsliding into Prosperity theology while also providing a motivation to give.

The wealth generating aspects of generosity may be explained through three interdependent themes based upon the essential characteristics of generosity itself: 1) Generosity is logically and rationally dependent on wealth generators such as planning, diligence, management, and execution ; 2) Generosity bonds people to a community, which provides social insurance against impoverishment; and 3) Wealth, as defined by the Bible, relates more closely to the ways in which resources are used to strengthen social ties and relationships in the community than the individual hoarding of money and possessions.

1. Planned Generosity

In order to give to those in need without suddenly becoming a person in need, a person must diligently think through, plan for, and follow up on their intentions to be generous.  This requires budgeting, the proper evaluation of current and projected resources; identifying a person, organization, or cause worthy of generosity; and diligent attention to ensure that regular donations are made and properly allocated. These virtues do not come naturally and must be developed as disciplines in the life of the Christian giver. In the process of developing the virtues necessary to be generous, the Christian giver will also develop the necessary skills to generate and maintain wealth. Thus, generosity creates wealth because generosity requires the development of the same skills necessary to drive wealth.

2. "Social” Generosity

This insurance should never be considered a consumable good, as Jesus recognizes in Luke 14:12-14 when he commands us to give to those who cannot repay the kindness in turn. Here, Jesus is speaking against the tendency in human nature to “commodify” generosity, turning our works of charity into a form of currency that turns other people in the community into a tradable good. People are not objects to be used for personal gain, and we should never view generosity as a tool to improve our personal happiness. Nevertheless, a truly generous heart among other truly generous hearts provides real protection against total impoverishment.

3. Holy Spending

According to the biblical logic, because God created everything, he is the owner of everything.  As such, human beings are merely stewards or guardians of the things God has granted to humanity.  Therefore, humans are not entitled to use their wealth in any way they desire--rather, God expects humanity to use their resources in a way that conforms to ethical standards elucidated throughout the Bible.

Collecting wealth, however, must be done with care.  While the book of Ecclesiastes spells out the utter vanity of accumulating wealth for personal pleasure, the Bible elsewhere commends individuals for their riches, such as the reward of increased livestock, land, crops, and family Job received after his ordeal of suffering. The distinction between vain wealth and holy wealth is the way in which the riches are used by the steward to communicate God’s love. If one hoards their treasures for personal pleasure, it is vain; if one shares their treasures, it is holy.  For example, a Christmas celebration dinner in which the hosts serve 20 people roast beef tenderloin, apple-sausage stuffing, mashed red potatoes, sweet port sauce, brussels sprouts, green beans, sweet rolls, bread stuffing with ice cream, and 10 bottles of wine can cost upwards of $500--not exactly a cheap dinner. But the Christmas celebration dinner is a holy event since the hosts decided to share their wealth (in the form of food and drink bought with cash) with others, rather than saving the money to use for Christmas presents for themselves.  Wealth becomes holy when the steward enjoys their riches with others.

Taking these three principles together, we can understand how wealth is generated through generosity without devolving into a perverted economic worldview such as Prosperity theology.  Generosity requires the logical wealth generators of planning, diligence, management of resources, and follow-through. It provides social insurance against devastation since generosity binds people together in social intimacy. Finally, generosity assumes that wealth flows from the communal enjoyment of shared resources.  These principles are, in sum, rational explanations for the ways in which generosity fuels wealth.

Let’s see how these principles work in modern day practice.  Bob and Sue, a suburban married couple with one child, start coming regularly to church, and feel compelled to start giving to the church and to charity. Between the two of them, they make $100,000 per year, and, after deductions, their total tax obligation (including federal and/or state taxes on income, purchases, two automobiles, and property for a $350,000 home) is around 30% of their income, leaving them with a net monthly income of around $5,500. Up to this point in their lives, Bob and Sue were living paycheck to paycheck, spending all of their income from month-to-month on mortgage payments, consumption, daycare for their child, food, two vacations a year, school debt repayments, and entertainment. They might make a few contributions to a retirement account, but otherwise their understanding of financial responsibility means making the minimum payment on their credit card each month.

Once Bob and Sue are convicted to start giving, they learn that the historic standard for tithing to a church is 10%.  For Bob and Sue, that’s too much, so they tithe just 3.5%, following the average yearly tithing of most American Christians. Also, because Bob and Sue are globally minded, they decide to support a missionary from their church currently serving in India as well as two children in Africa through Worldvision. With all of these commitments, Bob and Sue soon realize they’re on the hook for 10% of their income. That’s $550 per month. Knowing the fact that their bank account is drained from month to month, Bob and Sue decide to diligently pursue a budget plan by reading money management books. These books help them understand how to cut back on their spending in order to cover the cost of their charitable donations, while also helping them to understand the value of paying off debt. So, they cut back on vacations and eating out, and begin making extra payments on their credit card and school debt. Soon, they’re debt free (with the exception of their mortgage), and they suddenly have $1,000 more to play with each month. They use the extra cash to begin making regular payments to a retirement account and a savings account for a rainy day.

As they get their financial responsibilities in order, their church initiates a capital campaign to build an addition to the church building. Bob and Sue give cheerfully, but also feel responsible for the proper administration of the project. So they decide to give their time and expertise to the administration of the construction project. Bob meets regularly with the building committee, which oversees the design, the cost, and construction of the project, while Sue meets regularly with the mission and vision team, which determines the ways in which the ministries of the church can use the new addition. In the process of working with others in their church, they become greater friends with their fellow believers in a way that surpasses their Bible study group (because cooperative projects often bond people to each other better than discussion groups).

Once they become intimately familiar with the people in their church, they begin learning ways in which they can save money by depending on the church for the things they traditionally relied on from the market.  They learn that a fellow committee member offers daycare for far less than the corporate daycare they’re currently using. They start eating dinner twice a week at fellow church people’s homes (while hosting a dinner themselves once a week).  They buy a church member’s unwanted car without haggling over the dealer’s markup. By coming closer to the church through their generosity, they end up saving money through other people’s generosity in the church.

As they give more and more of their time, talents, and treasure, Bob and Sue develop the virtues and skills of planning, diligence, management, and follow through. If they fail to develop these skills, then they fail the people in their church and the people they’re supporting. Their efforts to be generous people resulted in generating the kind of wealth defined by the Bible, since they got out of debt, began to provide for themselves and others, and engrafted themselves in the life of the church. They no longer define their wealth by their possessions, social status, or personal comfort.  Instead, they have the financial freedom to give liberally of their time and money. All of this was initiated by and through their efforts to be generous.

In this discussion, the bottom line for Christian believers is that generosity improves the life of the church, and we have every motivation to give our time, talents, and treasure to each other because an improved church ultimately benefits the giver as well as the receiver.  Generosity is a virtue that improves the lives of others while also improving the life of the giver. We do not give to compel God into pleasing our material needs, but because it improves the life of the community by increasing the love of God all around. So, let us give as God gives to us!