Matters of the Heart
Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor
“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
It is an interesting thing that the Bible does not give quotas or lay down requirements in the New Testament. Imagine if Paul had said that you must share the gospel with five people a week or one person a day. You would get to the end of the day or week and realize that you fell short of the standard and experience a sense of guilt and shame. That guilt might motivate you to try harder to not fall short next week or there might be a sense of shame of others found out you didn’t meet your quota. Guilt is a powerful short-term motivator but over time it loses its influence. In the short run a person feels overwhelmed with a sense of guilt and shame but over time those feelings fade and they either become accustomed to them or they move away from whatever is causing those negative feelings. In the short run it may cause numbers to go up but it won’t last long because the motivation is external to the person.
As a church we might think this is a great thing! We went from two people hearing the gospel a week to 500! Don’t the ends justify the means? But does this please God? God says, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Under the Old Testament law there were external expectations that were a reflection of obedience, but they were never the heart of obedience. In Jesus’ day, before his death and resurrection fulfilled the ceremonial law, Jesus confronted the Pharisees. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Mathew 23:23)
Under the Mosaic covenant they had an obligation to fulfill the law. In fact, before Jesus’ death he too had that same obligation in order to fulfill all righteousness. However, they were forgetting that there were underlying principles that were matters of the heart. He would compare them to whitewashed tombs that looked nice and pretty on the outside while being dead on the inside. God was not concerned about mere external obedience but actions flowing from a sincere heart. Jesus quotes Isaiah stating, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:15)
So, does this mean we don’t have to give or evangelize or serve? Of course not. We share the gospel out of a heart that desires to see God glorified while having a love for the lost. We serve not because we want to look good or fulfill the expectations of others. We serve because we love God and want to see his kingdom advance and his church built. We don’t give to reach a quota or meet some predetermined expectation. We don’t give thinking that God is obligated to give us back more. We give and serve and witness, not grudgingly or out of compulsion, but cheerfully, out of a generous heart filled with gratitude. The Old Testament law points us to something deeper, richer, and grace motivated.
If someone genuinely is not able to serve, has he sinned? No. If he doesn’t serve because he is selfishness or just doesn’t care about the ministry, that is a heart issue. But if he is physically not able or it is not possible because of other obligations he has not sinned in his heart. If someone does not share the gospel at one time or another with an unsaved person, has she sinned? No. If she has a love for the lost and tells others about Jesus when God opens the door, if she doesn’t have an opportunity to share, there is no transgression. If someone genuinely cannot give because of poverty or other financial constraints, has he sinned? No, provided he has a desire to give generously and sacrificially when he is able. His circumstances which prohibit him from giving do not cause him to sin. The issue is the heart. If the heart is right before God and he is passionately pursuing him, he will serve, evangelize, and give joyfully and generously whenever he is able.
