No One is Too Poor to Give (The Road Less Traveled)

Last week, after looking at the beginning of 2 Corinthians 9, we were amazed at the generosity of the Macedonians, who were living in poverty.

This passage gives us quite an example of godly giving and, in fact, sets the bar pretty high. Despite the fact that the church was experiencing extreme poverty and a severe trial of some kind, the believers overflowed with joy and gave generously.

This giving of even more than they seemed able to give was evidence of God’s grace flowing through them. They clearly desired to give glory to God by sharing with and serving God’s people.

We find no hint that the Philippians thought of themselves as have-nots unable to give and able only to receive.

What is God teaching in this passage? I believe He wants us to understand that no one is too poor to give and that all believers can experience the grace, dignity, and joy of giving by sharing according to their means.

In fact, seeing the gifts of those with meager resources is inspiring! And that’s why it was part of the 2 Corinthians message that Titus took to Corinth on Paul’s behalf. 

Giving the Opportunity to Give

Both the road more traveled and the road less traveled have as their starting point the truth that pastors/churches and Christian leaders/ministries need money.

However, there is a “Y” in the road, and they diverge.

On the road more traveled, Christians have money, and we just need to convince them to give some to our worthy cause. Leaders with this mindset basically ignore people with little or no means.

Consciously or not, the leaders and pastors operate on the premise that some people are too poor to give. Conversely, they give deference to the wealthy in their congregations and ministries.

Christian leaders dedicate their time to being around those who can meet the financial needs of their ministries. This is commonly acknowledged by regular church goers, but rarely spoken about openly. I have observed this in churches and in ministries for years.

This “paradigm” gives people on the road more traveled a reason to ask for money: they share the ministry needs with people of financial means who can provide for those people lacking financial means.

Having rich Christians give to support ministry among poor Christians fuels this approach and gives rise to terms like major donors and history’s handful as well as retreats at high-end resorts for high-net worth individuals.

The well-traveled road does not use terms like minor donors and low-net individual donors. That is not the focus of those travelers.

One of the troublesome, even heartbreaking, by-products of this mindset and the resulting actions is the humiliation of those with meager material resources. This mindset also raises some questions that are very much worth answering:

• If giving is an act of worship—as we state elsewhere—why aren’t we concerned about encouraging worship among God’s people regardless of their economic status? 
• If giving is an expression of our love for God, why aren’t we concerned about allowing all people to express their love for God regardless of the size of their bank account?
• And if fundraising encourages people to go to God, the Owner of all things, and ask Him what He would have them give, then why aren’t we concerned about giving people with lesser means the opportunity to draw closer to Him, too?

The idea that some people are “too poor” to give leaves those people unable to give according to their means, unable to participate in God’s kingdom work.

The “have-nots” are locked into receiving from the “haves.” And within this paradigm, people feel obligated to give from their wealth to those less fortunate. Though the Bible is replete with teaching about giving to the poor, the paradigm of “have” and “have nots” is likely, not the proper motivation. 

Pastors or ministry leaders want to see people grow in Christ; we want every follower of Christ to have the opportunity to give to God from what they have.

The idea of being “too poor” to give is an enormous offense to the gracious giving of people throughout history who had meager material resources. (Remember Jesus’ commendation of the widow in Mark 6:41-44!)

Fortunately, the way the poor think about giving is not determined by the way the wealthy think. The story of the Mizo people in Northeast India is a great example.

You will be amazed by their story. You see, the “poor” don’t know they’re “too poor” to give.

Responding to Matthew 6

After attending the first two days of our fundraising training, one pastor felt very convicted that the Holy Spirit was calling him to teach Matthew 6 “Giving: A Matter of the Heart”.

This godly man was the pastor of a small church in a very poor barrio outside Ensenada in Baja California. When he returned home, he asked the children’s ministry to teach from Matthew 6 in their classes.

The pastor wanted the entire church—from the adults hearing his sermon through the children’s evening program—to study Matthew 6. They accepted the challenge and quickly created some wonderful lessons for their children.

The pastor preached his sermon. The last worship song ended, and the service concluded. Apparently, for at least one time in the history of humanity, the adult service ended before the children’s classes did.

The pastor made his way to his child’s room where they were finishing the lesson with an activity that would drive the point home. The obvious response activity for such teaching was to actually collect an offering from the children.

About fifteen kids, ages ten through twelve, were sitting around a large table. As the little collection basket began to make its way around, the girls and boys were digging into their pockets for some change.

The pastor noticed one boy at the far end of the table standing up with both pockets out and no money. He looked embarrassed as the basket came his way.

Just before the basket swung by, he got a delighted look on his face, reached into his shirt pocket, took out his one stick of gum, and put it into the basket. It was all he had.

The pastor told us that story the next day, and tears flowed when we heard him say, “I believe that stick of gum was the finest offering God received anywhere in the world last night.”

God calls all of us to give according to what He has given to us. No one is too poor to give.