The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Acts 28:2
“To be happy and serve those around us we need to forget about ourselves and not become excessively concerned about personal matters which are seldom very important. Complete confidence in God is also a necessary condition. Whoever worries to much about his or her personal affairs will not easily find the genuine happiness which causes us to be united to God and to other people.
Our joy will then provide one more opportunity for others to encounter the Lord. Prayer prepares us to be open to the grace of God. With this powerful source of help we can accept any of the difficulties we experience. Whatever is bothering us we leave in God’s hands. Our personal conversation with Christ brings us to be more generous in serving God and others.”
Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 7 (London: Scepter, 1993) 301-302.
When I think of the idea of generosity, it makes no sense unless a person has “complete confidence” in God. We cannot share with others without trusting God to supply for us.
I feel led today to pause to define the term ‘generosity’ for readers who may have joined more recently.
Brace yourselves. Did you know that a non-believer that gives any amount of money – it could be a dollar or a billion dollars – does not, in biblical terms, exhibit generosity. Let me elaborate. A non-believer cannot practice generosity because ἀγαθωσύνη (agathosune) is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Recall today’s Scripture. Paul is shipwrecked on an island. He experiences the ‘unusual kindness’ of the islanders. I hope you like my island focus these days as I find myself ministering on islands. Today, I am preaching on the island of Trinidad. Did those islanders practice generosity in biblical terms? No.
They did not know Christ, so the Greek word used here is not generosity but philanthropy. Philanthropy is human giving for human benefit. It’s uncommon kindness and exceeds expectations, but it’s not generosity. So, if the rich people of the world, apart from God give with unusual kindness, in biblical terms, they show philanthropy not generosity.
So, why would the biblical writers use different terms and never associate generosity with non-believers?
Generosity implies that a person serves as conduit of blessing from God to people. The reason Christians can give at all times and at all occasions is because God abundantly supplies the resources for their generosity. Abundance is our new operating system or OS. And this stands in contrast to the scarcity mindset or OS.
Brace yourselves again. Humans can only have a scarcity OS because they do not have a connection to the only abundant source. In phone operating system terms, apart from Christ, scarcity is our operating system (think: Android). And when we come to faith we now have a new OS (think: Apple). Biblical instruction teaches us to learn how to use it.
Apart from Christ those with the scarcity OS see themselves as containers and cannot help but be consumed by the cares of this life. That’s why we must have compassion on them. Such a person may be wildly successful, in human terms, and make a lot of money and write big checks, but they do not practice biblical generosity.
Please, I beg of you, watch your language when you use the term. Only link generosity to believers serving as a conduit of divine blessing. Generosity appears as a fruit in our lives when we serve as a conduit or channel of blessing from God to others.
If any of this bothers you, pray for grace. Don’t shoot me, I am just the reporter of biblical truths. Have a personal conversation with Christ about these matters and their implications. I pray that conversation moves to you become more generous.
And I appreciate your prayers for me to serve as a confident and generous conduit of spiritual blessings from the pulpit this morning and then to a group of youth later today. Thanks.