It happens that those who have the pecuniary means of doing good, fail to employ them, because they persuade themselves it is better to keep all they have, so as to make more, that at some future period they may have it in their power to give liberally to the cause of God. Whatever such persons may say about their future beneficence, they may well apprehend they are under the influence of covetousness, if they give nothing at present for purposes of benevolence. If they are unwilling to consecrate their property to the serrvice of God to-day, their unwillingness will probably condtinue to the close of life. For there must be some cause which so operates on them as to produce this unwillingness; and it may be reasonably inferred that cause will operate just as powerfully in time to come, as it does now. How improbable, then, the supposition that those will be beneficent in [the] future who are not beneficent at present. Persons who indulge this supposition deceive themselves, and the spirit of covetousness has possession of them. I mean to say that the man who is worth a thousand dollars, and gives nothing to objects of benevolence, vainly flatters himself that he would give provided he was worth ten-thousand. And the man who is worth ten thousand, but gives nothing, deceives himself in supposing he would give if he had at his disposal a hundred thousand. If such men desire expel the spirit of covetousness, they must begin at once to pursue a course of systematic beneficence.There are some who have informed the purpose to make, as they think, liberal provision for the cause of Christ by "last will and testament," and this purpose, in their judgment, exempts them from obligation to be beneficent while they live. It is to be feared that such persons are more or less influenced by a spirit of covetousness. They intend to bequeath their "property, or a portion of it rather, to the cause of benevolence. They virtually say when we can enjoy it no longer we will give it to the Lord. This looks as if the posthumous beneficence was intended as a kind of expiatory apology for a penurious life. There are doubtless cases in which the truly benevolent are justifiable in making testamentary bequests to the cause of God. The circumstances in which they are placed do not allow them to be their own executors. They are, however, liberal while they live. Their posthumous beneficence is only a perpetuation of their living beneficence. But where there are no offerings cast into the treasury of the Lord during life, and the first surrender of property is simultaneous with the exit of the soul from the body, there is much reason to fear the operation of the covetous principle.
I have thought that young persons greatly overlook the danger of becoming covetous in after life. Their warm hearts beat with feelings of benevolence. Even in their childhood they learn to speak contemptuously of the miser; for his avarice excites their scorn. Should it be intimated that they may, at some point in the future, become parsimonious, they would perhaps feel somewhat as did Hazael when told of the evil he would perpetuate on his accession to the throne of Syria. How indignantly he said, "Is your servant a dog that he should do this great thing?" Alas, Hazael did just what the prophet said he would do.
Insidious are the operations of a covetous spirit - many are the disguises under which it exerts its influence. In proof of this, it may be said that those persons who are guilty, most manifestly guilty, of the sin of covetousness, are by no means willing to admit the fact. - Nor is this all - they really do not believe it. They consider themselves slandered when it is alleged that they love money inordinately. - How many persons, after entering upon the theater of life, and becoming immersed in secular cares, have exemplified the spirit of covetousness though in their earlier years they may have been free from such a propensity. - How many noble youths have in this way made shipwreck of a good conscience! - Though their sun has risen in brightness, it has gone down in clouds of darkness. Facts innumerable bear witness to the danger of becoming covetous. The young overlook the danger, but it is not on this account the less imminent. The position they occupy is a perilous one; and if they would escape the sin and the disgrace of covetousness, they ought at once to adopt the plan of systematic giving. Their means, however scanty, ought to be considered the Lord's, and a suitable proportion of them should be consecrated to his service. Would it not be well for the teachers in Sabbath Schools to impress the minds of their scholars with the importance of pecuniary liberality? If they were trained in the way in which they should go, when old, they would not depart from it. That the young should be trained in beneficent habits is all-important to the future prosperity of the cause of benevolence. Soon will the fathers and mothers in the churches rest from their labors. Soon will their bodies lie motionless in the grave, and their spirits mingle with the spirits of just men made perfect. Who, then, will fill their places? The young must be their successors. Whether pecuniary contributions will in [the] future be so abundant as to fill the treasury of the Lord, is materially dependent on the adoption by the young of correct principles of action. O you who are in the spring-time of life, remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said, "It is more blessed to give than to reccceive." Be beneficent according to system - give to the cause of God in proportion to your ability, and you will avoid covetousness, which is idolatry.
============== [From the Tennessee Baptist, December 24, 1859, p. 2, from CD edition. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
More on J. M. Pendleton
Baptist History Homepage