In the book The Heavenly Man brother Yun talks about how when the Christians in his village gathered together to worship no one ever gave routinely, or tithed money to the group. However when the group did gather and the Holy Spirit spoke telling them to send out a member to the next village or the next province to share the good news, THEN they gave. This group of poor Chinese farmers would instantly give all the little money they had and any food they had to the person going. Then these Chinese farmers would go home praising the lord, even as they faced hunger for the next couple of weeks.

This story is a powerful example of how generosity can operate in the Church. There are two major factors that were operating and which can happen in our lives too.

They were being guided by the Holy Spirit.

In the Institutional Church, members do not need to worry about this. They follow a law saying they need to give 10% of there money which they pop into the offering plate and trust that the finance committee is being led by the Holy Spirit. They don’t have to ask God how much to give usually, because they think they already know (10%) and they don’t have to think who or what to give it to (Church of course) and when (quickly!). This makes Institutional generosity robotic and unthinking.

I am reminded of myself when I was in that situation. I had an automatic payment going straight from my bank account into the church account. I never missed the money because I had just calculated it into my budget; I never worried about where it went (because I had done what was required of me). I don’t think I ever enquired of the Holy Spirit about what I did with my tithing. Even when believers gave to extra things on top of their tithe, it was most often in response to a request from the pulpit (I have made such requests myself many times!) So even in those situations they only have to ask Father about how much to give.

When we leave behind the systems and controls of organised Christianity one of the biggest changes that we need to make is breaking free from our mechanical giving and become inspirational givers. We need to stop letting others make all the decisions for our giving and start letting the Holy Spirit guide us in our giving.

As I have travelled around the country I have noticed that sometimes organic believers are not flowing regularly in generosity. My theory is that they may have broken free of mechanical giving (e.g. rejected the tithing lie) but have not yet walked into what it means to be an inspirational giver. I hate people quoting scripture to back up a point so I won’t. However I have found 2 Corinthians; chapters 8 and 9 are really excellent in instructing and guiding believers and churches in regards to giving. I encourage you to read these chapters and let the Holy Spirit speak to you.

They were in a position to give.

One of the biggest surprises that happened to the groups we were originally working with was the difficulty in gaining bank accounts for our groups. Looking back it was Holy Spirit led, but at the time we were in a crisis. How on earth could we give to our ‘church’ when it did not have a bank account? Talk about God having to give us a few paradigm shifts! Since then the majority of groups / gatherings / individuals do not have designated accounts to accumulate funds for giving to.

Funnily enough the churches in the New Testament did not have bank accounts either, yet they were able to give so inspirationally and compassionately that the world took notice of them.

So if we can’t give mechanically to a church bank account and we are beginning to listen to the Holy Spirit’s whisper, how do we make sure we are in a position to give when he speaks? For me there are two obvious steps.

In the New Testament, Paul speaks of putting the money aside each week until he came for the collection for Jerusalem. I am beginning to see this quite commonly now. People are led to put aside a certain amount on a regular basis, and then as the Holy Spirit guides them they release the money. Sometimes they are distributing it as quickly as it is put aside and sometimes it sits in their accounts until it builds up into a significant amount as they wait for the Holy Spirit’s leading. The key to this as above is personal responsibility. We can’t rely on the treasurer of the group to look after the money, we need to be good stewards of God’s money.

The 2nd thing is like Brother Yun; we need to have a heart and attitude that is ready to respond sacrificially in regards to giving. Those poor Chinese Christians had hearts that were instantly ready to respond to need, even if it meant self sacrifice on their part. As a family we have talked about not just giving of our plenty but about giving of our selves as the Holy Spirit leads. One example is giving the steak we were going to have for our dinner to a family that needs a meal and having vegetable soup instead. We would have often done it the other way around in the past!

The world happily gives some of its excess generously, but if we give sacrificially of our selves as lead by the Holy Spirit, then the world will really know that our love is real.