Giving Alms: a neglected Christian duty.If you have reached this page, then congratulations. This article has the lowest readership on my site. This could be because the word 'Alms' is old fashioned, or because no one wants to give to the poor. But if your heart is to help the poor, then I hope this short article will encourage you. Why are there so many poor children in the world?
Some Facts: These facts are not to give you a guilt trip, but to show you that God's people can make a difference in the world today. 160 million children go malnourished every day (Lifetoday) Foreign Aid (1998 figures from the Economist 'World in Figures')
What can evangelicals do? (based on Operation World 1993 and Lifetoday) There are 94 million evangelicals in N America and Europe. Suppose that we reduce this by half, because evangelical Christians tend to marry evangelicals. This leaves 47 million evangelical Christian families. If each family contributes 1 dollar a day ($365/year) this gives 17.1 $B a year (or about the GDP of Iraq or Vietnam). This is sufficient to feed and cloth 171 million children per year ($100/year per child). If Christians give alms this will do more than the USA, Netherlands, UK and Canada do now, combined. [I hear that Vietnamese Americans send back to Vietnam 17% of the the GNP of Vietnam, if they can do that, so should we]
What Jesus said about Alms: Mat 6:1-21 mentions three duties of the Christian: giving alms, prayer and fasting. While prayer is acknowledged by most Christians as important, both giving alms and fasting are usually ignored. Giving alms is basically giving to the poor; those who struggle for the basic necessities of life. We should note that Jesus said 'When you give alms...' not 'If you give alms...' Jesus says that we are to give alms secretly before God and not publicly before men and then we shall be rewarded openly before men by God. In giving alms we are laying treasure for ourselves in heaven. When we die we cannot take our money with us but our deeds will follows us (Rev 14:13). So by giving to the poor now, in this life, we are laying up treasure in heaven for eternity. Luke 12:33 goes further and tells us to sell our possesions and to give to the poor, then we will have treasure in heaven. Luke 12:34 goes on to add 'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also'. Do we value our earthly possesions more than our treasure in the next life? We can choose to be rich in this life, which only lasts a short time, and to be poor in the next life, which lasts for eternity. Jesus told the rich young ruler, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mat 19:21), his problem was that money was his god. We are warned that we cannot serve two masters, money or God, we will love one and despise the other (Mat 6:24). Life's riches are one of the things that choke the word of God in us and prevent maturity (Luke 8:14), Luke also mentions life's worries and pleasures. The early Church on Alms: It was the practise in the early church for those who had an abundance of possessions to sell some of them to give to those in need (Acts 4:34-35, Rom 15:26). It was also the practise of Paul (Acts 24:17, Gal 2:10). Cornelius was a 'devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always' Acts 10:2. When an angel came before him he said 'Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God' (Acts 10:4) italics added. Paul: Timothy was told by Paul to "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. {18} Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. {19} In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."(1 Tim 6:17-19) "After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. (Acts 24:17 NIV). All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (Gal 2:10 NIV) Be content with food and clothing: In Heb 13:5 we are told to "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" It is our responsibility to keep our lives free from the love of money and to be content with what we have. Contentment was one of the secrets to Paul's life, he had learned to be content in all situations whether living in plenty or in want (Phil 4:11-12). He also says in 1 Tim 6:8 that we should be content with food and clothing. Many people in the third world have to be content with just that, that is all Jesus had. John the Baptist told the soldiers who came to him wanting baptism for repentance to be content with their pay. Many of us need to do the same. In Luke 12:15 Jesus tells us to "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." James: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27 NIV) You cannot take it with you: You cannot take your money with you when you die, but you can send it on ahead of you by giving alms.
When we die our deeds will follow us as Rev 14:13 reminds us. John Piper on the wealth-and-prosperity doctrine: But a wealth-and-prosperity doctrine is afoot today, shaped by the half truth that says, "We glorify God with our money by enjoying thankfully all the things he enables us to buy. Why should a son of the King live like a pauper?" And so on. The true half of this is that we should give thanks for every good thing God enables us to have. That does glorify him. The false half is the subtle implication that God can be glorified in this way by all kinds of luxurious purchases. If this were true, Jesus would not have said, "Sell your possessions and give alms" (Luke 12:33). He would not have said, "Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink" (Luke 12:29). John the Baptist would not have said, "He who has two coats, let him share with who has none" (Luke 3:11). The Son of Man would not have walked around with no place to lay his head (Luke 9:58). And Zacchaeus would not have given half his goods to the poor (Luke 19:8). God is not glorified when we keep for ourselves (no matter how thankfully) what we ought to be using to alleviate the misery of unevangelized, uneducated, unmedicated, and unfed millions. The evidence that many professing Christians have been deceived by this doctrine is how little they give and how much they own. God has prospered them. And by an almost irresistible law of consumer culture (baptized by a doctrine of health, wealth, and prosperity) they have bought bigger (and more) houses, newer (and more) cars, fancier (and more) clothes, better (and more) meat, and all manner of trinkets and gadgets and containers and devices and equipment to make life more fun. They will object: Does not the Old Testament promise that God will prosper his people? Indeed! God increases our yield so that by giving we can prove our yield is not our god. God does not prosper a man's business so he can move from a Ford to a Cadillac. God prospers a business so that 17,000 unreached peoples can be reached with the gospel. He prospers a business so that twelve percent of the world's population can move a step back from the precipice of starvation. quoted from Chap7 - Money: The currency of Christian Hedonism. Desiring God by John Piper Scripture references (Mat 6:1-21) Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. {2} Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. {3} But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: {4} That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. {5} And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. {6} But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. {7} But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. {8} Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. {9} After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. {10} Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. {11} Give us this day our daily bread. {12} And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. {13} And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. {14} For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: {15} But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. {16} Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. {17} But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; {18} That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. {19} Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: {20} But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: {21} For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mat 5:42) Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Mat 6:24) "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Mat 19:21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Luke 12:15) Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 3:14) Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely--be content with your pay." (Luke 8:14) The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. (Luke 12:32-34) Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. {33} Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. {34} For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Acts 4:34-35) There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales {35} and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. (Acts 10:1-4) There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, {2} A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. {3} He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. {4} And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. Acts 24:17 "After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. Rom 15:26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. (Gal 2:10) All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (1 Tim 6:9-11) People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. {10} For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. {11} But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (1 Tim 6:17-19) Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. {18} Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. {19} In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (Heb 13:5) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Rev 14:13) Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." (Phil 4:11-12) I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. {12} I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (1 Tim 6:5-9) and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. {6} But godliness with contentment is great gain. {7} For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. {8} But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. {9} People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. (James 4:1-8) What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? {2} You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. {3} When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. {4} You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. {5} Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? {6} But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." {7} Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. {8} Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Links
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