“But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!” Acts 8:20
Self centred christianity is not authentic christianity. Yes, there are many scriptures about God rewarding those who give, but I do not believe that scripture teaches that ‘getting’ should be our core motivation. God so loved the world that He gave, and love should be our motivation too. A love for God and a love for other people; not the love of money and selfish ambition.
Korah in the Old Testament and Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament are Biblical examples of people who made offerings to God with a good sprinkling of selfish ambition and the desire to gain out of their offerings. They perished with their gifts and so can serve as a warning to us not to follow in their footsteps (1 Corinthians 10:6)
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Korah and the popular crowd’s offering
In the book of Numbers chapter 16 we read about Korah the ‘gainsayer’ who spoke against Moses and who sought to usurp Moses’ position. It was neither the incense nor the censer that made Korah’s offering unacceptable to God but it was the heart in which that offering was being made. God knows our hearts. He knows what we truly believe and He seeks that we approach Him in humility, proud “sacrifices” will not be accepted.
Korah had 250 men with him when he went to make his offering to God. These 250 men were men of position too, they were important people (Numbers 16:2). And yet, this was of little importance to God. All of that got swallowed up including all that they owned (Numbers 16:32). And this should encourage us, because it’s not our great titles, popularity or possessions that God is looking at, God is looking at our hearts.
Korah’s offering shows us that it really doesn’t matter how popular an idea is, if it is not God’s will it won’t be blessed. It does not matter to God how much acclaim the crowd give you or who that crowd is. God is never swayed out of His righteousness by public opinion. This is why we must always take the time to read the Bible and to know it fully for ourselves.
There may be times in life when we stand alone with our personal convictions. Men like Korah find strength in numbers and make offerings driven by selfish ambition. But we are to find strength by seeking God first and finding purpose in pleasing Him. People are fickle, even after all that Moses had done, Korah still managed to rouse a crowd to stand against him. But God is a faithful friend forever.
Ananias and Sapphira, the people pleasing offering
Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-5) suffered a similar fate to Korah and his followers. Acts 4:36-37 explains how Barnabas had made an offering that had been pleasing to God and a real blessing to the early church. It is a beautiful picture and a wonderful memorial to the work of the Holy Spirit in Barnabas’ heart, to make such a free will offering. No wonder he was known as the ‘son of encouragement’.
But, along came Ananias and Sapphira who, maybe after seeing the positive affects of Barnabas’ offering, want to get in on the action. Of course, we do not know the couple’s true motivation but, we can clearly see that it was not a full hearted one (Acts 5:4-5). In fact, they were pretending to give all from the sale of a property, but in reality they were holding some back. The offering would have been fine if they had been honest, but they wanted their offering to appear bigger and better than it really was in the eyes of the other christians. So, they added lies.
Similar to Korah standing at the entrance to the tent of meeting, placing gifts at the feet of the disciples was also a holy place. It was a place where men and women had laid down their lives and all that they had for the kingdom cause. Not for personal gain, not for personal honour, but like the woman with the alabaster box, at cost (Matthew 26:7)
Giving ourselves to Him
The precious nard of our offerings are for the Lord alone (John 12:3) and this frees us from comparison, and self preservation or exaltation. Because the one who offers an acceptable sacrifice is offering themselves with it. Our giving becomes all about Him and it is not the quantity of the precious nard, or the value of the money, but it’s about giving our offering from an open and humble heart (Psalm 51:17).
Korah and his 250 followers approach as a crowd, Ananias and Sapphira are concerned about public opinion. But, the one who presents an acceptable sacrifice does so, all alone. It’s a personal thing, it’s not about other people, in fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with others it is all about the object of our affections Jesus (Matthew 6:4).
Remember we have an enemy the devil, and he may be telling you that your offering is ‘just is not good enough’. The enemy may be pointing the finger at you accusing you of ‘not being good enough’. But let us consider who discerned the hearts of Korah, Ananias and Sapphira? Was it men and women? No. And who brought their removal was it men or women? No, It was God. Even the devil can sometimes use the word against us (Matthew 4:6). He attempted to do that to Jesus in the wilderness but thank God for His Holy Spirit that leads us into all truth.
With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.