The Generous Life
A rejection of modern idols in favor of Christlike love
Earlier this spring our church went through a series on generosity. A lot of pastors understandably feel a bit weird talking about generosity and its companion topic, money, because so many people are aware of how Christian leaders have abused their power to take advantage of others and their money. I think my pastors handle the subject as well as anyone, but I know that for many pastors it can be a difficult, if not just a bit awkward, to talk about it.
Of course when a pastor preaches a sermon series on generosity, there is a lot of talk about money. This is important because one of the most practical ways we can be generous in our lives is by holding our money with open hands and freely giving to people and causes and institutions who could use our financial generosity. It’s also important because money is one of the chief idols of our day, and to withhold it is often rooted in wrong worship more than just stubborn stinginess.
But I think it’s important that when we think about generosity we don’t only think about money. Generosity is at least about what we do with our money, but it’s also much more than that, and I think it’s important that we not neglect the ways we may be generous in our lives beyond what we do with our money.
The Generous Life
What is a generous life? What does it mean to live a life marked by generosity?
A generous life is a life is one that sacrifices self-fulfillment and monetary gain on the altar of God’s glory and others’ good.
When I challenge myself to live life more generously and less selfishly, the kinds of questions I ask myself are ones like, “In what ways are you choosing your own comfort over the good of other people?” and “What luxury does your money get you that could be given up to address the needs of others?”
I think of verses like Romans 12:1, in which Paul pleads, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
I also think of 1 Peter 4:10-11, which says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace... in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”
Generous living calls us to hold money with open hands, no doubt, but it also calls us to steward the gifts and talents God has given us for others’ benefit over our own.
At its core, the generous life is a rejection of modern idols in favor of Christlike love.
Rejecting Modern Idols
Two of the key idols of our age are self-fulfillment and monetary gain, and the second is often a pit stop on the way to the first. Monetary gain can serve as the key to unlock the door to the promised land of self-fulfillment, so both are pursued simultaneously at the cost of a life centered on God’s glory and others’ good.
In contrast to the generous life, which sacrifices self-fulfillment for God’s glory and others’ good, the selfish, idolatrous life pours itself out in an effort to fill itself up.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become he righteousness of God.”
In Christ we see the generous life personified and crucified. The image of the invisible God sacrificed for the glory of God. The spotless lamb slain on the altar for the good of others. The generous life gives itself for even the selfish.