By George Crumley
Have you ever thought about how the word liberality turns up the volume on giving? Liberality totally changes the entire trajectory. Together the words “liberal giving” transform mundane and thoughtless giving into intentional amounts that go beyond the necessary or expected.
Painting a picture in my mind’s eye, synonyms with nearly the same meaning as liberal opened up panoramic views: Bighearted giving, generous giving, bountiful giving, openhanded giving and unselfish giving. The additional colors and textures of liberality convert simple giving into a masterpiece that replicates a picture of who Jesus is. On the opposite end of the portrait spectrum, liberal giving cannot coexist with antonyms like cheap, miserly, or stingy.
In the true story of the Good Samaritan are the visible strokes of what true religion looks like; giving so liberally that the one in need receives the greatest amount of good.
As the story goes, a traveler was headed to Jericho through a rough and rocky gorge when he was violently attacked by several malicious men. Through the bloody struggle the gang forcefully ripped off his clothes, took anything of value, and carelessly left his bruised and bleeding body lying on the sandy floor of the desert. I imagine, in his suffering, the traveler was too weak to even summon help as he faintly recognized the sound of footsteps in the near distance. But then, finally, someone was brave enough to draw near to where the suffering traveler helplessly lay. As he neared the scene of inhumanity, his heart was moved by a compassion that drowned out any concerns for his own safety or forgetting to his destination on time.
After visually assessing the situation, this Good Samaritan grabbed some oil, wine, and bandaging material from the saddlebag that he had packed for his own journey and began to carefully attend to this man’s wounds. He could have stopped after this thoughtful act because he had done more than others who had passed by. But then he carefully lifted the traveler onto his donkey and proceeded ever so slowly over the rough terrain, so as to not cause additional pain.
Step by step they pressed on until they reached the shelter of an inn. They made it! At this point, he could have stopped his giving and returned to his own journey, but he stayed through the night in case the traveler should need his help. In the morning, when there were signs of improvement in the traveler’s condition, the Good Samaritan decided it was OK to leave. He could have stopped giving then, but as he passed the checkout desk, he asked the innkeeper to keep an eye on the traveler and handed him two silver coins— enough, some scholars say, to have allowed the man to stay in his room and recover for about two months. For certain the Good Samaritan could have stopped giving then, but he made a pledge to the innkeeper that he would return and reimburse him for any extra expenses that might arise.
What polar opposite effects were played out on the life of one man! Some hearts were so blocked off from human sympathy by the desire for selfish profit that they didn’t stop at stealing from the traveler, but maliciously inflicted agonizing pain before carelessly walking away. And then there was the Good Samaritan (whose cultural background ironically had the reputation of disregarding God’s ways), whose heart was so filled with compassion that he didn’t stop helping until he had done the greatest amount of good that he could.
God doesn’t insist that we liberally give so as to rob us of our 401K or to keep us from experiencing pleasure. But liberal giving keeps us from the desire for selfish gain and status that would eventually lead us to callously neglect those who are hurting. This kind of giving leads us to be watchful for the needs of those around us and then take action to provide them with what is most helpful.
Our churches need you and me to be personally engaged in being a blessing to Christ and others. Hungering hearts need our churches to overflow with a liberality of food that satisfies their deep longings. We all need the Lord. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every church was ignited with liberality and Rocky Mountain Conference could support hundreds of individuals to do full-time ministry for our precious Lord?
In all your giving, the faithful returning of God’s ten percent tithe and liberal offerings are very much needed and appreciated by those who are suffering and who have been delivered from the emptiness caused by sin.
–George Crumley is RMC VP for finance. Email him at: [email protected]