“Portion Or Proportion”
Rev. Dr. Earl B. Mason, Sr., Senior Pastor

In last week’s sermon and study,  several of you asked for more clarity about this topic. Let’s see how we may elaborate further.

If I am a billionaire and I give you 10.00 what would you say?  If I give you a million what would you say? 

When it comes to our giving, God sees more than the portion; He also sees the proportion. Men see what is given, but God sees what is left, and by that He measures the gift and the condition of our hearts. Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” He may have learned that from Jesus (Luke 6:38) or perhaps from Paul (2 Cor. 8:1–15). 

A proportion is always more than a portion. It is worth noting that the Jews always diluted their wine with water, usually to the proportion of three parts water to one part wine.  

If you remember in the p.m. Bible study, Lk. 12:13,  Jesus made it clear that true life does not come from an abundance of things, nor do true success or security. This man had a false view of both life and death. He thought that life came from accumulating things, and that death was far away. On March 11, 1856, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal, “That man is the richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” He also said, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.” 

We have fallen into the fallacy of thinking the strength of prayer is in direct proportion to the length of prayer - even though Jesus went out of His way to say that we wouldn’t be heard for our “much speaking.”

New Testament Giving is to be proportionate. “As God hath prospered him” (1 Cor. 16:2) suggests that believers who have more should give more. The Jewish believers in the church would have been accustomed to the tithe, but Paul did not mention any special proportion. Certainly the tithe (10 percent of one’s income) is a good place to begin our stewardship, but we must not remain at that level. As the Lord gives us more, we should plan to give more.

The trouble is, too many saints, as they earn more, involve themselves in more and more financial obligations; and then they do not have more to give to the Lord. Instead of finding a suitable “level” and remaining there, they keep trying to “go higher,” and their income is spent rather than invested. As the old saying goes, “When your outgo exceeds your income, then your upkeep is your downfall.”

Paul made it clear in 2 Corinthians 8–9 that Christian giving is a grace, the outflow of the grace of God in our lives and not the result of promotion or pressure. An open heart cannot maintain a closed hand. If we appreciate the grace of God extended to us, we will want to express that grace by sharing with others.

Our present suffering is only for a while. Our various trials are only “for a season” (1 Peter 1:6), but the glory that results is eternal. Paul had this same thought in mind when he wrote 2 Corinthians 4:17 - “These little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent, glorious, and solid reward out of all proportion to our pain”.

Again, Henry David Thoreau, the naturalist of the 1800s, reminded us that a man is wealthy in proportion to the number of things he can afford to do without.

On the current scene, the economic and energy crises that the world faces will probably be used by God to encourage people to simplify their lives. Too many of us know the “price of everything and the value of nothing.” We are so glutted with luxuries that we have forgotten how to enjoy our necessities.

God has told us to be careful where we sow, and it is this principle that Paul deals with in Gal. 6:6. He looks on our material possessions as seed, and he sees two possible kinds of soil: the flesh and the Spirit. We can use our material goods to promote the flesh, or to promote the things of the Spirit. But once we have finished sowing, we cannot change the harvest.  

Money sown to the flesh will bring a harvest of corruption (see Gal. 5:19–21). That money is gone and can never be reclaimed. Money sown to the Spirit (such as sharing with those who teach the Word) will produce life, and in that harvest will be seeds that can be planted again for another harvest, and on and on into eternity. If every believer only looked on his material wealth as seed, and planted it properly, there would be no lack in the work of the Lord. Sad to say, much seed is wasted on carnal things and can never bring glory to God.

Of course, there is a much wider application of the principle to our lives; because all that we do is either an investment in the flesh or the Spirit. We shall reap whatever we have sown, and we shall reap in proportion as we have sown. “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6). The believer who walks in the Spirit and “sows” in the Spirit is going to reap a spiritual harvest. If his sowing has been generous, the harvest will be bountiful, if not in this life, certainly in the life to come.