Just Give.
Don’t Ask Questions.

What is this page about?

A man gives money because someone asked him. The reason was good. Children need food. Good work needs to be done. He has enough to give.

In every other part of life, this man is careful. He reads a paper before he signs it. He asks what things cost. But here he asks nothing. People have taught him not to ask. “Asking is not spiritual. Asking means you do not trust.”

Does the Bible support that teaching?

The short answer

1. Paul would not carry the money alone. He collected money for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. A second man travelled with him. Paul did not choose that man. The churches chose him. Paul says why: “We are avoiding this, that any man should blame us” (2 Corinthians 8:20).
2. Being right with God was not enough for Paul. He wanted to do what is right “not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men” (2 Corinthians 8:21). This verse answers the person who says, “God knows my heart.”
3. The givers chose who carried the gift. Paul wrote: “I will send whoever you approve” (1 Corinthians 16:3).
4. When people complained about the sharing of food, the leaders listened. Some widows were being forgotten. The apostles let the church choose seven men to do the job (Acts 6:1-6).
5. Careful rules for money are older than the church. See the money box in 2 Kings 12, in Part 3.
6. A gift in the Bible always has a purpose. It is for the poor in Jerusalem, or for certain teachers, or for widows on a written list (1 Timothy 5).
7. The Bible’s warnings are about hiding things. They are not about spending. Each warning describes a difference between what the giver heard and what was true.
8. Paying for someone’s work means taking part in it. If you support good teachers, you are “fellow workers for the truth” (3 John 8). If you welcome and help a man you know to be a false teacher, you share “in his evil deeds” (2 John 11).

This page also gives way in two places.

• High costs alone are not a warning sign. The Bible says clearly that a worker should be paid (1 Corinthians 9).
• The other side has a real argument. Its hardest verse is the story of the poor widow and her two coins. See Part 4.

Whose money is it after you give it?

Most people answer: “It is not yours any more.” There is some truth in that. Nobody was forced to give in the first church (Acts 5:4). And Paul says a gift should be given gladly: “not grudgingly or under compulsion” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

But this answer thinks that the gift moved from one owner to another owner. The Bible does not speak that way. King David prayed:

For all things come from you, and we have given you of your own.

1 Chronicles 29:14 · World English Bible

In simple words: Everything comes from you, God. We have only given you what is already yours.

If God owns the money, then you never owned it. And the person who receives it does not own it either. You took care of it before you gave. They take care of it after. Only the care moved to another person.

This matters. A steward is a person who can be asked. In a story that Jesus told, people say that a steward is wasting his master’s money. The master does not just believe them. He also does not call them disloyal. He says to the steward: “Give an accounting of your management” (Luke 16:2). A clear report answers the question, whether the steward did wrong or not.

One more verse shows this. Paul thanks the church at Philippi for their gift. He writes:

Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.

Philippians 4:17 · World English Bible

In simple words: I am not looking for your gift. I am looking for the good results. God counts those good results as yours.

So God does not only count the payment for the giver. He counts what the money went on to do.

The box with a hole in the lid

In 2 Kings 12, the people had given money for many years to repair the temple. But the repairs were not done. The king did not preach a sermon about giving. He looked at how the money was handled. It was not working. So he built a new way.

• A box with a hole in the lid. Money can go in. It cannot easily come out.
• The box stood in a public place, where people came in.
• Two officials from two different offices counted the money together: the king’s writer and the high priest.
• The money was used only for the repairs. They did not even buy silver cups for the temple with it.
• It was paid straight to the builders.

Then comes a surprising verse.

Moreover they didn’t demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully.

2 Kings 12:15 · World English Bible

In simple words: They did not ask for a report from the men who paid the workers. The reason was that these men were honest.

The best argument for the other side

The argument against asking questions is old and serious.

Jesus tells us to give quietly. He says: “don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does” (Matthew 6:3). It is hard to do that and also ask for reports.

An old church teacher says the same. John Chrysostom lived in the 300s. He wrote:

If we investigate the lives of men too carefully, we shall never have pity on anyone.

John Chrysostom, about the year 390

In simple words: If we look too closely at people’s lives, we will never help anyone.

He thought that people who ask many questions at the door have usually decided already not to give. He is often right.

And there is the widow. Read Mark 12 to the end and go on into chapter 13. First Jesus speaks against the men who lead the temple. He calls them “those who devour widows’ houses” (Mark 12:40). That means they take everything from poor widows. Two verses later, a poor widow puts two small coins into the temple money box. It is all she has. Jesus praises her. Two verses after that, Jesus says the whole temple will be destroyed.

So where do these Bible passages stop? This page thinks they are about the person in front of you. A hungry man at the roadside asks for food. Give to him and ask nothing.

It is different when another person stands between you and the need. That person holds the money for some time. That person decides what you are allowed to know. The Bible treats this second case in a different way. The church has done the same since its first years.

When does a giver begin to share the wrong?

Nobody is guilty for something he could not know. Most givers are in this position most of the time. Nobody is innocent when he knows very well. The difficult cases are in the middle.

You still have no blame when:

• You gave honestly, and you have heard nothing bad since.
• You noticed one small thing and did not think about it again.
• You heard a story from someone who is angry with the leader. This is a reason to ask a question. It is not a reason to decide, and it is not a reason to stop giving.

Something has changed when:

• You asked, and the answer does not fit the facts you already know.
• You decided not to ask, because you do not want to know.
• You know about the wrong, and you still help to persuade other people to give.

The most important line is the second one. The change does not come when you are sure. It comes when you choose not to find out. This is the author’s opinion. The Bible gives the rule in 2 John but does not mark the exact line.

Is this in the Bible?

Here are eight ways to handle money. Six are in the Bible. Two are not.

In the Bible:

1. Two officials from different offices count the money together (2 Kings 12:10).
2. The churches that gave the money choose the people who carry it (1 Corinthians 16:3).
3. Money is used only for its purpose, and not even for another good thing (2 Kings 12:13).
4. There are written rules about who can get help from church money, with a lowest age (1 Timothy 5:9).
5. The leader tells people, before they ask, how he lives and what he has taken. Paul said: “I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing.” (Acts 20:33) “Coveted” means “wanted for myself”.
6. People complain about money, and the leaders listen and change things (Acts 6).

Not in the Bible:

1. A fixed limit on how much money can be used for office costs. The Bible has no such number.
2. A command to the giver not to ask what happens to the gift. This is nowhere in the Bible.

What is a real warning sign?

Cost is not a warning sign. The Bible says strongly that a worker must be paid. Paul asks: “What soldier ever serves at his own expense?” (1 Corinthians 9:7) And he calls the money from Philippi “an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God” (Philippians 4:18). Pay, offices and travel are not wrong.

The Bible points to something else. Is there a difference between what was said and what was done? And is anyone allowed to see it?

Pay attention to these things:

• One person controls the money, the asking, and the reports. No second name is anywhere.
• You are told that asking about money shows weak faith.
• You ask a polite, clear question. You get anger and no answer.
• The money was asked for one clear project. Nothing was spent on that project.
• Giving is described as a way to get more money back for yourself.
• You are asked for money in private, where other people cannot hear.
• “Give tonight. Tomorrow will be too late.”

These things alone tell you nothing:

• A large part of the money goes to office costs.
• The leader lives well. The question is whether the givers were told, and whether it fits what they were told.
• People from the founder’s family have high positions. This happens in honest groups and in dishonest groups.
• Paid workers and outside people who check the books. These cost money, and they are a sign of being open.

Read the first list again. No point in it is really about money. Every point is about information: who is allowed to know what.

Check it yourself

One thing this page is not. It is a study of Bible passages. It is not advice about your church, and it does not know your situation. Has it made you worried about something? Then the next step is a kind question, asked in private, to a person who can answer. It is not yet time to decide, and it is not time to tell everyone.

1. Read 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 in one sitting. See how much of it is about practical plans.
2. Read 2 Kings 12:4-16. End with verse 15. Which side does it support?
3. Read Mark 12:38 to 13:2 without stopping. This is the hardest passage against this page. Decide for yourself.
4. Read 2 John and 3 John. They are very short. The same rule is given two times, once for good teachers and once for false ones.
5. Read what John Chrysostom wrote about giving to the poor. It is the strongest writing against this page.