A Review of Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle

I recommend Randy Alcorn's The Treasure Principle for anyone who is wondering why Christians give. More generally, anyone who wonders how and why being a Christian would make a difference in one's everyday life would benefit from this book. Among other books on this topic, this book stands out because it is concise and to the point (the main text is only 94 short pages with one-sentence summaries). Alcorn carefully shows that what he says has a solid Biblical foundation. He gives good illustrations so that readers will remember his main ideas, and he keeps his discussion practical, not just ideal.

The Treasure Principle's main topic is heavenly (as opposed to earthly) treasures, and its key text is Matt.6:19-21. Alcorn rubs the reader's nose in the fact that we cannot “take it with us;” all of our earthly possessions will eventually end up in the junkyard, but we can convert our earthly resources into heavenly treasures. Naturally, the next question is: What are “heavenly treasures”? Alcorn depicts these as what accrues when we give to further God's purposes, for example, when we have compassion on those who are in need or when we use our resources to affect people's souls (e.g., evangelization). For we are stewards of God's resources, which means our job is to use God's resources as He would like. God notices our actions and will reward us in heaven for our faithful stewardship; hence we call them “heavenly treasures” because they are rewards we get in heaven.

What Christian stewardship looks like depends on what kind of person one sees Jesus Christ as. Alcorn reminds us that Jesus has been gracious to us; He is good, and we can trust Him. Our generosity is a response to God's generosity to us; when Jesus calls Christians to be generous, He is not asking us to do anything He has not already done. Even gifts that are real sacrifices to us are imitations of His giving. Alcorn says that when God gives people more than they need, it is so that they can have more joy in giving, not so that they can spend more on themselves. Alcorn reminds us that having a life that is focused on possessions – a materialistic life – is really not joyful; rather, “Giving is the only antidote to materialism.”

Alcorn challenges his readers to see their resources (especially money) with the eyes of faith – a faith that recognizes that Jesus is the sovereign God over the whole world and can provide for His followers, which means Christians do not have to hoard earthly treasures. I was most challenged by Alcorn's exhortations to plan to give more than we think we can (in chapter 5) and to talk more about specific givers and giving projects in church (in chapter 6; his suggestions sounded almost competitive to me). I appreciate Alcorn's determination to stick closely to God's Word and how he lays out the principles of giving without sounding like one-size-fits-all; he acknowledges that different people do have different needs and, thus, different levels of what is “excess,” without toning down his challenge to most American Christians. If you want to read one Christian book about how and why to give, read this one.

Finally, for those who are curious right this minute: take a good look at Eternal Perspective Ministries, Randy Alcorn's website, for more from this author, or search for this book at Multnomah's website.