The Lavish Note of Generosity
Why I'm (Still) A Christian-Part 7
For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son… (John 3:16)
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For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9, NRSV)
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John Dickson, in his book, Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History, makes this observation about the reckless, lavish note of generosity embedded in the Christian message:
The notion that rich citizens had a moral obligation to care for the destitute was almost non-existent in Greece and Rome during this period… charity formed no part of the moral discourses of the era…
(Sounds like USAmerica 2025!)
Christianity sang a radically different note—a note of lavish generosity. A note rooted in the heart of the Creator. Since God is love, God is also generous because love, to be love, is always generous.
And that generosity flows out to all people, including those who stand against God or on the wrong side of God.
Throughout the history of Christianity, Christians have sung the lavish note of generosity—and that note was often sung the loudest by those with the least to give.
Paul, for example, commends the Macedonian Christians for their head-scratching generosity (I’ve bolded the parts I find most stunning):
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia, for during a severe ordeal of affliction their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the favor of partnering in this ministry to the saints… (2 Corinthians 8:1-4, NRSV).
Giving out of poverty joyfully! Begging for the opportunity to give! Giving beyond their means!
Either the Macedonians were completely bonkers, or the grace of God really had captured their hearts, minds, and pocketbooks.
When Dickson asked Teresa Morgan, Professor of Graeco-Roman History of the University of Oxford, what she regards as Christianity’s most distinctive contribution to ancient life, she replied:
Charity
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I’ve charted the many, many miscarriages of grace perpetrated on culture as of late by those claiming to be Christians.
But their out-of-tune singing of the Gospel does not negate the majesty and brilliance of the Jesus movement nor of his message.
Many of the things we take for granted today from science to hospitals to education were birthed out of the generosity of Christians and their passionate belief that all people are created in the Image of God and therefore worthy of love, respect, dignity, and compassion.
Dickson offers two examples of generosity in action in the early days of the Christian movement:
In 252 a plague broke out in Mediterranean world. Modern historians suspect a type of Ebola that ravaged the area for ten years. As was often the case during these outbreaks, people fled their homes and cities, including doctors. The infected were left to fend for themselves and die alone.
But the Christians stayed. They tended to the sick, offering them grace and compassion while exposing themselves to the disease. Many Christians died through their acts of lavish love and generosity. Non-Christians noticed. They heard the melody of grace.
One of the great fears of ancient life was dying with no chance of a proper burial. Many could not afford that burial. So Christians, believing that all deserve respect, even in death, provided free burial services, giving birth to the catacombs.
Caring for the dead may not seem that radical in 2025, but in ancient Rome, dying alone or having no funds for a proper burial was a frightening proposition. Christians met that fear with grace, offering grieving families comfort, hope, and dignity through the dying and death process. Again, non-Christians noticed, hearing the lavish note of generosity.
The note of audacious love. The radical note of human value. The note of lavish generosity. Played together, it’s a melody that transforms the world.
There is no other song like it.
And that’s why, surrounded by the loud, off-key voices of so many claiming to follow Jesus, I am still a Christian.