11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
Imagine that! Two people die suddenly for trying to appear more generous than they really were. I can think of quiet a few ceremonies before the media that are staged to highlight a gift. The oversized check is brought out and presented to the recipient. There are speeches about the good that will be done with the proceeds and how wonderful the giver really is. Can you imagine if some of them died because they were trying to inflate the size of their sacrifice! That certainly would have an impact on future gift-giving events. The media would be sure to turn out in full force. I can think of several billionaires who give a million here or there. They don’t even notice the drop in their bottom line because they are so rich. I would love to see one of them give 90% away without even telling anyone they were going to do it, silently and without fanfare. They could make a huge difference in the lives of millions. They could turn around the fortunes of millions of people if the money was given the right way, given without strings, targeted to those who need it the most. But instead, the money is given to discover if there is alien life in outer space, or to save the habitat of an animal no larger than a mouse, or to support obscene art. It is like the earmarks that Congress approves. Wasted money! All these are done to appear more generous than they really are. Just look at the percentages of charitable giving of members of congress. Most of them don’t really care about others. They just want to appear to be helping. But they are not the only ones who like appearances. We too can get caught up in the support of a façade. Jesus wants us to be genuine with Him, ourselves and with others. Let’s pull down our own fake fronts and live transparent lives. Then God can work through us as He desires.
The Arnold Journey 