God Loves a Cheerful Giver

One of the most difficult things for pastors to speak on these days seems to be the subject of giving. I cannot tell you how many Christians have told me that the only reason preachers urge giving is to line their pockets -- simple greed. That's Christians, mind you. Acknowledging that there are pastors who do so for that reason, I don't think that 1) it's fair to say all or even most do, and 2) if our worldview is a biblical one, it is abundantly clear that the Bible thinks that giving is important.

In the Old Testament, God calls those who didn't give their tithes robbers (Mal 3:8). God built giving into His original sacrificial structure. In the New Testament, the tithe isn't mentioned but giving certainly is. We know, for instance, beyond a doubt that "God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Cor 9:7) Say what you want about giving, it is absolutely clear that God loves people who give cheerfully.

I've heard people use this as an excuse. "Hey, I'm not cheerful about giving, so I won't give." Like that's what is in view here. Like the intention of the God who inspired it and Paul who wrote it was "Look, here's an out for you; if you aren't cheerful about it, don't give. Don't worry about it. It's all good." I find this kind of thinking ... mindless.

Look, we're supposed to be Christians, lovers of God. We're supposed to want to do those things that please God because of the "indescribable gift" (2 Cor 9:15) of His Son and His grace in His Son and all that goes into that. Jesus said that those who are forgiven much love much (Luke 7:47), and the basic principle of Christianity is that we have been forgiven sin that earned us Hell. That is "much". If this is true, it would stand to reason that the moment we read "God loves ..." we would sit up and take notice. "What does God love???" And when we get the end of the thought -- "... a cheerful giver" -- we would not go, "Oh, that? No thanks. Not interested."

So, if the aim is to love God and be loved by Him and if it is true that God loves a cheerful giver and we are, at this moment, not so cheerful about giving, how are we to fix that? Give up giving? No. Paul lists in the passage exactly why we should be cheerful about giving. He says that if we sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully (2 Cor 9:6). He says that "God is able to make all grace abound to you" and goes on to promise "all sufficiency in everything" (2 Cor 9:8). He says, "You will be enriched in everything for all liberality" (2 Cor 9:11). Beyond all this, though, he says that the outcome of your giving is the "producing of thanksgiving to God" (2 Cor 9:11) and multiplication of the Gospel (2 Cor 9:10). Now surely you can see how these are all good reasons to give cheerfully, right?

The point of the famous "cheerful giver" text is not that we would have that as an excuse. The point is that we should be concerned if we are not cheerful about giving to the needs of the saints, to the ministry of the gospel, to the glory of God. If God's "indescribable gift" is not sufficient to produce cheerful giving, perhaps you don't have it yet. We can talk about that.