A little boy attended “big church” with his parents for the first time. Midway through the worship service, he watched attentively as ushers passed a plate to receive the morning offering. As the wooden plate moved down his row, worshippers depositing various denominations, the child turned to his father and exclaimed, “Don’t pay for me daddy. I’m under five!”
Understandably, the concept of giving and generosity may be difficult for a child to understand. But, for the children of God, it’s a fundamental part of discipleship. As one mentor explained to me, “I can write the story of your spiritual life by looking at your checkbook and your calendar.” How we spend our time and how we spend our money are convicting indicators of what matters most and what we are investing in.
However, myths abound. Over time, Christians have adopted malformed ideas about giving. Perhaps this reflects a lack of good biblical teaching in the church or poor models in the family. It may be that people are looking for an “out” with such a delicate topic. The human heart can be quite deceitful after all.
So, let’s take a few minutes to set the money record straight. What does the Bible not say about giving?
God Doesn’t Need My Money
As far as the argument goes, this is true. God doesn’t need anything. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10-12) and He is not served by human hands as if He needed anything (Acts 17:25). However, this fact should never excuse a person from giving to God. We don’t give God something He needs; We give God something He already owns (Psalm 89:11). And, though God will exist and fulfill His purposes with us or despite us, He deserves our worship. Giving, therefore, isn’t a Divine necessity, but a human expression of Divine worth.
It Doesn’t Matter How Much You Give
Actually, it does. There is a correlation between my worship and what I do with my wealth. If giving is a reflection of what I think about God, then my token, half-hearted “tip” in the offering plate reflects a token, half-hearted opinion of God. Our heart will try to convince us otherwise. But this is the truth.
Imagine celebrating your 50th wedding anniversary. You walk through the front door and announce that you’re taking your spouse to…Taco Bell. There’s nothing necessarily offensive about this choice. But, it’s such an ordinary, unspectacular place for such an extraordinary person on such a spectacular occasion. An accusation that you were being “cheap” would be warranted. Such a milestone demands something more extravagant.
The poor widow in the Temple was commended for this. As her two bits clanked in the coffer, Jesus took notice (Luke 21:1-4). It wasn’t her amount which was so impressive, but the extent of her sacrifice. Her generosity spoke so loudly of her devotion to God.
David sets up the standard near the end of his life. Going to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, he comes to the personal property of Araunah, the Jebusite. The man was so excited to be visited by the king of Israel that he volunteered his oxen for the sacrifice and the wood of his threshing floor to build the fire. But David insisted on paying the fair price for what was given. Araunah must have been confused, wondering why the king wouldn’t take advantage of a free ride. David explained, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offering that cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24). David knew that, for his sacrifice to be genuine worship, it wouldn’t come cheap. The greatness of God demanded a great cost.
The Old Testament Tithe Doesn’t Apply Anymore
Yes, and no. It is true that the Christian today is not bound to the Old Testament Law. Paul’s whole letter to the Galatians pushes back against the notion that works can be added to the cross of Jesus. We are saved by grace through faith. Period.
However, we must properly understand the principle of tithe in the Bible. The word means “tenth” and Israel was required to annually return a tenth of their livestock and produce to the Lord (Leviticus 27:30, Deuteronomy 14:22-24, etc.). We should note that actually three tithes were collected so that God’s people ended up contributing approximately 23% of their increase!
While a tithe was demanded by the Law, the principle of a tithe predates the Law.
Abraham offered a tithe to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20) and Jacob promised a tithe to the Lord at Bethel (Genesis 28:22). The 10% principle was already established among God’s people before the Law was ever mandated. So, while a Christian isn’t mandated to follow the Mosaic Law of tithing, the tithe becomes, as one preacher suggested, “the minimum expression of generosity” for God’s people. It is the starting place for us to determine what we might give. The single mother with three children who is living at the poverty line may find 10% impossible. The business owner making $200,000 could easily give 10% and much more.
I Give My Service, Not My Money
This myth is one of the biggest deceptions in the modern church. Somewhere along the line, Christians developed an either/or mentality. Like the child who cautioned his father from “paying” because he was five, some churchgoers give nothing because they serve in Children’s Ministry or hold the door every Sunday.
There are two serious cautions that must be considered with this thinking. First, if everyone in the church served, but didn’t give, churches would have to shut their doors and sell their property. In other words, no church could exist without at least some people giving. To say it differently, those who serve instead of give wouldn’t want everyone else in the church to do the same thing! Otherwise, there would be no pastors, no worship leaders, no custodial care, no air conditioning, no electricity, no missional outreach, or anything else. Ministry requires money. This was true in the Bible and it’s true today.
Second, the Bible never offers the option. All the people in the New Testament church served and gave. We don’t have the choice between being faithful or kind, studying our Bible or praying, or believing in the Father or the Holy Spirit. Both are important. And, it is important for every Christian to use their gifts in the building of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13) and give their material resources to meet the needs of the church (Acts 2:42-47).
I Give, But I Choose Where I Give
This is a popular variation on the previous principle. It has become quite common for Christians to give, but to choose niche ministries to give to. Why not? It’s your money. You should be able to decide where it goes!
I find that there are “two surrenders” which must take place for each Christians to embrace biblical stewardship. The first surrender is the surrender of currency—the decision to give. It’s deciding to let go of a portion of our income to glorify God and make Jesus known in the world. According to recent data, only about 25-30% of Christian give anything and those who do give offer an average of about 3-4% of their total income. So, there’s a lot of progress to be made in this first surrender.
However, after this first surrender of currency, there is a second surrender which must be tackled: the surrender of control. Often, when a Christian decides to give, they want to maintain control of where they give. So, many resources are being stewarded outside of the church.
Now, in and of itself, this isn’t a bad thing. I’m all for good ministry being supported, wherever it’s found. But God designed His church to be the primary agent of all the ministry in the world. The local church, as a sodality, has the responsibility for the breadth of ministry—to singles, couples, children, students, aged, immigrants, physically impaired, of worship, counseling, Bible study, recovery, and so on. So, the priority of giving should be directed to one’s local church so that the church can accomplish its God-given mission the world. Offerings—additional resources—should be directed to modalities, ministries which are specialized in specific places. In this, God is glorified both through our surrender of our currency and our surrender of our control, partnering with our church to do what God has called us to do.
It Doesn’t Matter Where I Give
My wife and I updated our will recently to take into consideration the independence of our adult children and the addition of grandchildren in our family. One of the changes me made is the designation of a significant portion of our estate to be given away upon our death. We gave specific instructions for these funds to be distributed to “Gospel affirming ministries.” Put simply: We want our money to make much of Jesus. We want our wealth to do this while we are living and after we’re gone.
This means that our highest priority isn’t saving the whales or funding no-kill pet shelters. We’re not giving God’s money to an alumni organization or the local arts league. We’re thankful for the cancer institute, the Girl Scouts, and Rotary Club. But the greatest need in the world isn’t wildlife, healing, education, or leadership. The greatest need is for lost sinners to find Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christians should be directing the majority of their resources to their churches, Bible translation, evangelistic ministries, and organizations which are proclaiming the Gospel and planting churches. There is no comparison. Our greatest goal isn’t to make the world a better place but to help as many people get into the world beyond.
At our church, I teach a year-long theology course to help God’s people develop a biblical worldview. In one of our lessons, we talk about folk theology. Sometimes referred to as “armchair theology,” folk theology is the set of beliefs that get passed on from generation to generation that may have a ring of truth but are not actually found in the Bible. People who die don’t become angels, God doesn’t “help those who help themselves,” and sometimes, God will give you more than you can handle! For some Christians, their strongly held beliefs about money are nothing more than folk theology. Be on guard against myths that have a ring of truth, sounding sincere, but don’t represent the truth about giving. Only when we learn what the Bible actually says and then do it, can we truly become cheerful givers.
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See also the “Surrender: Trusting God More” sermon from the “Openhanded” sermon series.