I really don’t think there’s anyway around it . . . if anybody should be generous, it should be Christians. If there’s anyone who should give freely, it should those who have received freely. If there’s anyone who should be willing to go the extra mile to meet a need, it should be that person who knows how far God went to meet their greatest need.

A few months back I listened to a podcast by Mark Driscoll . . . and he had, on occasion, gone into restaurants his congregation has visited after a Sunday morning and asked how much they had tipped their waiters or waitresses. If they had been cheap, he said that he’d make up the difference. His point . . . literally putting his money where his mouth is . . . Christians should be generous.

You read 2Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 and you can’t escape that conclusion. Just as we have been graced . . . we are to grace others. “But as you abound in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love of us–see that you abound in this grace also . . . For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2Cor. 8:7,9)

We are to be givers because of what has been given to us. I’m not talking about counting out our 10 percent, or whatever, on Sunday mornings and putting it in the offering. I’m talking about doing life as a giver. And it’s not about how much . . . but about where from . . . “For if there is a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have” (2Cor. 8:12). There’s a mindset . . . a fundamental life perspective that says, “I’ve been graced so much, how can I not grace in return?” And it’s not about going broke . . . not about going in debt . . . not about giving what you can’t afford . . . God’s not impressed with amount . . . but, it’s all about the spirit behind the gift . . . the attitude driving the deed. What really captured me this morning was Paul saying that is should be “a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation” (2Cor. 9:5b).

There it is . . . the two ends of the spectrum . . . the two places where giving can come from . . . from generosity or from grudging obligation. And as I probed a bit deeper at these two sides of the giving coin I was a somewhat surprised . . . and somewhat impacted . . . by the original language behind this English translation . . .

It is to be a matter of eulogia and not a matter of pleonexia . . . a matter of praise or blessing and not a matter of covetousness.

Kind of makes sense, huh? Generosity is rooted in blessing another . . . in the believer’s case, it’s an act of double blessing or double praise as we bless the one who receives our gift and we bless the One who has first graced us as we give in His name. And it’s not really even about whether or not the recipient “deserves” the gift . . . it’s about recognizing the “exceeding grace of God in you” and operating from a place of thanksgiving towards the Lord for “His indescribable gift” (2Cor. 9:14-15). We grace others because we have been graced . . . our generosity stems from wanting to bless others . . . no strings attached . . . just because we have been blessed.

To not be generous, to give out of “grudging obligation”, is really about being covetous . . . about wanting more . . . holding on to that which we have ’cause it’s ours. I usually think about coveting as wanting what someone else has . . . but here, it’s coveting what is already in my pocket . . . greedy for what I already posses. But what do I have that God didn’t give me? Paul also says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2Cor. 9:8).

His grace is shown to me . . . He cares for me making sure I have what I need . . . and that includes abundance of every good work . . . the means to bless in His name. Not about how much I give . . . but about how freely I give — even if it’s just a little. It’s about how much the blessing I’ve received is manifest in the desire to bless others. It’s about gracing for God because I’ve been so grace by God . . . it’s about leaving a big tip . . . amen?