Made to Give

Church people get funny about money. But the fact is, we are made to give. How do I know? Because we are made in the image of God and He constantly gives and gives and gives.

Joash is the boy king saved by Jehoiada and Jehosheba in 2 Chronicles 22-23. Now installed and grown to adulthood in 2 Chronicles 24 he begins the process of restoring the Temple by instructing the Levites to collect from the people the Temple Tax that had become a dormant practice in all Israel by this time. He tells them to quickly act and they hesitate. Then he puts a collection box outside the gate to the Temple and the people step up to give in abundance.

2 Chronicles 24:10–11 (ESV) And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. 11 And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance.

I think Joash models something here that Christian leaders are often afraid to acknowledge. Leadership in the Church compels the people to give to the church. If that never happens, the house of God becomes a toxic culture of self-centered me-ism. In other words, we are made to give. 

Joash's efforts and the people's giving produce results quickly.

2 Chronicles 24:13–14 (ESV) So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. 14 And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD regularly all the days of Jehoiada.

Sadly, tragic events begin to unfold on the heels of this religious revival. Jehoiada the courageous priest that saved and established Joash's reign dies:

2 Chronicles 24:15 (ESV) But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death.

Amazingly, the King quickly loses his bearings and begins to listen to those he should have led. 

2 Chronicles 24:17 (ESV) Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them.

Notice how they get his ear. They "paid homage to the king." In a word, they flattered him with money. 

Quickly the king that sought to honor God's house with the giving of God's people turns away from sincere devotion to the Lord and instead abandons him to follow the pagan gods of the nations around Israel. 

2 Chronicles 24:18–19 (ESV) And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19 Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.

Finally, Jehoiada's son is sent to rebuke Joash one final time in warning:

2 Chronicles 24:20 (ESV) Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’ ”

Notice the tie-in here that Zechariah makes. Disobedience inhibits prosperity in the people. Sadly Joash still refuses to listen, kills Zechariah and in a few verses, his doom is spelled out at the hands of an inferior army. 

What is the warning for us? We can quickly lose grasp of God's calling to give and see the prosperity of God upon our lives as some sort of entitlement leading us to abandon Him for His gifts. Joash shows the heart set on self grows callous and eventually implodes. The fight against me-ism is a life-long battle. 

Thankfully, we have the power and mind of Christ to fight through the Holy Spirit so that our hearts are strengthened in the grace of giving and not subject to the spirit of getting.

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