by Tim Howington

Jesus challenges not only our willingness to give, but the motivation behind our generosity.

It seems that lately, I have had a lot of interaction with the poor.  I really didn’t seek it out; it just kind of happened. For those of you who don’t know what I do, I am a leader for a ministry that helps people with personal finances. We discovered that many people live paycheck to paycheck, and many of those same people aren’t very organized.  This pressure adds a lot of problems to their lives and relationships, and a ministry like ours can come along and bring a fresh set of eyes to a family problem. We have been doing this since 2010, and I personally have been with the ministry since 2013.

A few years ago, a guy approached our ministry about addressing the need for the poor working in our area in financial literacy and financial life skills. And even though we had been helping this demographic all along, we had not aggressively created tools and approaches to really jump into the deep end of helping the poor. So, after we had prayed for a little while, we decided to move forward. We have created a new division and are now trying to make ourselves available to help more effectively. 

At the same time, I began to spend more time in our international ministry and got some firsthand exposure to a different kind of systemic poverty in different parts of the world.

And finally, my family began to run into people in our own community that we tried to help a bit. And it moved from a theoretical perspective to real people that we know.

I think God has been preparing me to understand how to deal with the poor. And I still have a long way to go.

Which brings us to our passage today.

2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matt 6:2-4)

We see clearly that Jesus expects us to help the poor.  He doesn’t say if you give, but when you give. A few years ago, I co-authored a book with a friend that we called When You Give. It is a New Testament look at generosity for the Christian family. In the book, we address three key questions:

1. Why should we give?
2. How much should we give?
3. Where should we give?

Giving to the poor is clearly a destination point of the Christian family’s generosity.

Yet we don’t know how to do that?

Our passage doesn’t answer all the questions but does address a few.

Should we give to the poor?

The answer is a resounding yes. Almost every major religion has as one of its tenets generosity to the poor.  And the Christian family is not exempt from this call. Part of our giving portfolio should be to help those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Should we give to be noticed by men?

The inference from the passage is that we should not make a big spectacle of our generosity to be noticed by men. If we do, then whatever reward is offered by men is the reward we get, and there is none forthcoming from God. Jesus says, don’t do it that way.  There is a better way.

Should we give in secrecy?

The answer is yes. I admit I don’t know what that looks like. Is he saying that we drop off the food or money or whatever else on the front porch and make a run for it? Or is he merely talking about being more concerned about pleasing God than man? What does it mean to not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing? Should I not let my wife know that I gave it?

I think the principle is what we talked about in our first article in this series: Noticed by Men or Rewarded by God.  Our giving to the poor (some translate almsgiving), our prayer, and fasting are to be done in such a way that they do not draw attention to ourselves but are rather an extension of the hands and feet of Jesus and ultimately give God glory.

Does God see our giving to the poor done in secret? Does He reward us?

Yes. The passage says specifically that your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. What is that reward? He doesn’t say, but it is probably in the same discussion of the Bema Seat rewards that we talk about in detail on in our Bema Seat Series (see categories).  We will stand before him, and he will reward us for good deeds done in the body.

So how do we need to look at this?

I may have created more questions than answers.  If you have the answer, let us know in the comments. I think I lean toward the idea that giving to the poor in secret is not about the visibility of the gift but about the true invisible motivation of the heart that only God sees.

Let me know what you think.