HOW S YOUR GIVING? Most of us learned our responsibility to the church through our parents. We watched them put their money in the collection plate when it was passed. We watched as they bowed their heads in prayer and turned the bible pages as the minister preached. Though our parents did not have much to give, they gave! Yet, there have always been those among us that did not see the need to give back to God. For nearly two years while I preached for the church in Elkhart, every Sunday a folded piece of paper, resembling a check, was placed in the contribution plate. Someone took the time to cut and fold those pieces of paper to fool others around him or her. Howbeit, they didn t fool God. This writing says no more or less than what you have heard throughout the years. It serves simply as a reminder of our obligation to give as we have prospered. There are no secrets revealed, or formulas transcribed to aid you in your giving. It is a matter of conviction. It is a matter of the heart. Old Testament Tithing The first mention of tithing is in Genesis 14:18-20. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. Abraham had just fought a great battle against Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, who kidnapped his nephew. After defeating the enemy, Abraham is met by Melchizedek, king of 1
Salem, and priest of Jehovah. In paying honor to the priest/king, Abraham pays him a tenth of all he had captured. This voluntary, generous, and unprovoked giving was called a tithe. It is an iconic episode and response to the king of Salem that is illustrated further by the writer of the book of Hebrews. Melchizedek is presented as a type of Christ worthy of the tithe and the honor bestowed upon him by Abraham. In the Old Testament they were commanded to tithe. The Pentateuch mentions three types of tithing: (1) the Levitical, (2) tithe of the feasts, and (3) tithe for the poor. (1) The Levitical: And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance (Num. 18:21-24). (2) Tithe for the Feasts: Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee (Deut. 14:22-27). (3) Tithe for the Poor: At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the 2
LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest (Deut. 14:28, 29). On average, the Jewish citizen gave twenty-five percent of all that they earned to the Lord. We have already established that tithing was something the people did long before the Jewish nation was established. Yet, why did they tithe? There are many rules established with men that are implied but not verbalized in the Bible. For example, a system of sacrifice was given to Adam and Eve. Later Cain s sacrifice is rejected by God for not following the pattern He had set forth. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell (Gen. 4:5). The advanced system of tithing was given to the Hebrew nation. It supported the needy and allowed the priesthood to perform their duties. It was also a means of focusing on the blessings received by God. There is another reason why tithing was created. It was a method of trying the hearts of the people. God does not tempt any man, but He does try us (Jer. 17:10). God measures our love. What we are willing to give, and sacrifice weighs the spirit. Further tithing involves recognition. Paul wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). God is good to His people. Tithing was a way for the common man to focus his attention on the blessings of the Almighty. I give because I believe. The Hebrew people saw the manna fall from heaven. They heard the prophets and sat at the feet of the Messiah; but failed to appreciate what their eyes beheld, and their ears heard. In their minds tithing became a burden along with the animal sacrifices. In the end, what that possessed was taken from them. 3
ROBBING GOD Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Mal.3:8-10). Can you imagine robbing God? God made this proclamation to a people who were corrupt. The leaders, priesthood, and even the common people on the streets were disobedient to Jehovah. However, God says give. It must be understood that leadership can be corrupt. Nevertheless, God says give! It may be that the congregation has dissention, but God says give! Your giving is not to the leadership, or the membership, but to God. The leadership s improper spending will not affect your eternal soul but withholding what belongs to God will! There is a song entitled, Feel the Nails. One of the stanza s reads, Does He still feel the nails every time I fail, does He hear the crowd cry crucify again; am I causing Him pain, then I know I have to change, I just can t stand the thought of hurting Him. I believe that many nails have been driven back into the Savior by our lack of giving. There is another prominent fact that comes out of this passage from Malachi: God makes a dare! You don t find this happening too often in the Bible. In this scene, God dares the people to give to Him. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 4
I believe this dare is universal and eternal. The same promise He made to those disobedient Hebrews is extended to all of us today. Your giving will be returned to you many times over. Does that mean God will make you monetarily rich? No! Does this mean that your crops will not suffer a drought or be devoured by natural disasters? No! The rain falls on the just and unjust (Matt. 5:45). It does mean that you will be under God s providential care. Face it! You don t want to make God your enemy! James wrote, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (Jas. 4:4). Without a doubt, God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). That one fact should motivate me to be generous in what I drop into the collection plate. I want to make God happy! YOU DON T OWN ANYTHING 1 Cor. 10:26, FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S, AND ALL IT CONTAINS. Lev. 25:23, The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. Haggai 2:8, The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts. The above passages teach us that we own nothing. We hear often how someone has earned a paycheck or has earned a piece of the pie. Truthfully, you haven t earned anything. Everything you have has been given through the grace of God. It doesn t take long in this world to see how quickly things come and go. You may think that you are the best and brightest at what you do; yet one car accident can change all that. You could end up in a wheelchair or suffer brain damage. Note the parable of the rich farmer: 5
Luke 12:15-21, And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Often people miss the point of this parable. Jesus is not teaching that it is wrong to save, plan, build, and further one s career. Most people I know save and plan for the future. Jesus wants his disciples to know that putting God first is the priority. Physical ownership is merely temporary. Plus, most things devalue as time goes on. You pay fifty dollars for a pair of pants today and sell them later at a yard sale for fifty cents. Jesus tells us to invest in things eternal, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal (Matt. 6:19, 20). Physical desires change with the times. People want what others have. The commercial industry taps into the wants and desires of the masses. Many good Christians find themselves drowning in debt. Contributions often suffer because of poor spending and management by God s people. HOW WE GIVE First, there are those who give out of convenience. Convenience is a matter of attitude. Something is convenient when it benefits me! Yet giving is not a matter of convenience, but a characteristic of the righteous. 6
Note what Paul wrote concerning the brethren at Corinth, And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God (2 Cor. 8:5). That s the key! Once you give yourself to the Lord it is not difficult to give as you have prospered. Second, there are those who give compulsory. The word compulsion is defined as governed by an obsessive need to conform, be scrupulous, etc., coupled with an inability to express positive emotions. You ask some people why they give, they may say, Because I have to! They don t like to give, but feel they have to give. Imagine being told by your doctor that you have cancer. At first the diagnosis is bad, but then he says, We have a miracle cure, but it is going to cost you! How much would you give for that miracle cure? We worship a God that has the cure for every disease known to man. The cure is called, salvation! Being saved offers me a cure from all the afflictions of this life. It offers me eternal life. Not every person that Jesus miraculously cured made it to paradise. Many of them joined the crowd at the crucifixion. Many of them sided with the Pharisees believing that Jesus was Beelzebub. Some appreciated the healing but failed to thank the healer (Luke 7:17). I think about the crippled man in Acts chapter three. According to the scriptures he was laid daily at the gate of temple (Acts 3:2). Wasn t this the same temple Jesus entered on several occasions and healed a multitude of people? Yes! How often had this person seen the face of Jesus yet was never healed? God has a time and purpose for everything! 7
Third, there are those who give out of conceit. These individuals give well, and brag about their monetary support to the church. They make a lot and give a lot! Sadly, some of these individuals think they can buy their way into heaven, and into the hearts of the saints. In Mark 12, Jesus teaches the apostles about giving. And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living (Mark 12:41-44). There were many people who came to the temple to give on that day. He could have chosen one of the wealthier people in town to show His apostles the art of giving. Yet, who did he choose? One of the poorest people in the community, an old widow! We should learn from this story that giving begins with your faith in God. I am a firm believer that God blessed this woman far beyond what we could imagine. She is immortalized in the Holy Bible for her complete submission to God. Further, there are those who love to be controlling in their giving. If they don t like the way the money is being spent, they withhold their contribution. In order for them to contribute, they must be pampered. These heartless sinners need to repent or go elsewhere. Why do many congregations so desperately try to keep these people happy? Jesus did not say to the rich young ruler, Give me your money, and I ll make you one of my apostles! Jesus told him to sell all he had, give it to 8
the poor, and follow him! (Matt. 19:21). Jesus offered him treasures in heaven. Yet, in the young man s mind it was impractical to make such a demand. Brethren we are in the land business. As a follower of Christ, I have a deed to a piece of real estate in heaven. As a gospel preacher, that is what I am selling! It is going to cost you everything you have. You are going to have to put God first, follow His commands, and Honor His Son! There are those who give out of commitment. The sin of Ananias and Sapphira was centered on their lack of commitment. The Bible reads, But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him (Acts 5:1-6). When noting this couple, they gave more than many members in the church today. It wasn t their lack of giving that condemned their souls to hell, but promising God to give all and only giving some. NEW TESTAMENT GIVING (1) Give secretly: Matthew 6:1-4, Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when 9
thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. There are no bragging rights to giving. It is a carefully planned and executed commitment that demands secrecy and honesty. It is a pledge that is carried before the throne of God. When I use to do mission work, I remember a man who loved to gain the attention of the brethren in India by sending funds to build meeting places. He loved to see his name on the building. It was Jesus who said, For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (Jn. 12:43). Don t get me wrong, I have a great deal of respect for the man who uses his wealth to further the borders of the kingdom. Yet everything we do is for the honor of Jesus, and not ourselves. (2) Give as you have prospered: 1 Cor. 16:2, Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. Let s get personal, When you get a raise, does God get a raise? If you want to be prosperous, don t forget God! He has removed obstacles in your life, opened doors, and brought you through every major storm. He has been there for you when others have not! He has been your one constant. 10
(3) Give cheerfully: 2 Cor. 9:7, Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. I have never regretted giving back to the Lord! In fact, it makes me feel good to give. My children will often say, Dad you never get excited when opening presents! My response, I get more joy out of giving than receiving! I like putting smiles on people s faces. I especially love putting a smile on God s face. When we give generously, purposefully, and cheerfully we are putting a grin on the face of God. (4) Give purposefully: (2 Cor. 9:7), according as he purposeth in his heart The word purpose means to choose beforehand. Giving to the Lord is not a spur of the moment thing! It is a determined amount that is executed with love and commitment. Sit down, estimate what you can give, and be dedicated to that decision. Give until it hurts, and then let it hurt some more. Believe me! you will be surprised how giving brings blessings. (5) Give knowing we have a better covenant: Heb. 8:6, But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. When you look at the giving of those early saints in the book of Acts, it becomes apparent that they believed a better covenant had been established. It was my pleasure to have Billy Nicks at the school of Preaching when I attended East Tennessee. In one session, he addressed the subject of giving. He asked the question, Do you 11
believe we live under a better covenant? He continued, If we live under a better covenant then our giving should reflect that! (4) Give generously: Prov. 11:25, The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. Generosity can be limited. You may be generous to your family and friends, but how generous are you to God? Often you find that God gets the leftovers. Is God worth more than the coins at the bottom of your purse, or the folded dollar in your wallet? I would hope so! There should be a book written on how many ways you can fold a dollar bill. The time and effort people take to camouflage a dollar is amazing. The mere action tells me that people are embarrassed at their giving. If you blush at what you contribute than you must know you are not giving correctly. (5) Give sacrificially: Acts 2:44-46, And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Acts 4:34-37, Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 12
God is not asking for the saints to sell everything they have and lay it at the feet of the elders. He wants you to understand the necessity of giving and be willing to sacrifice what you have for the benefit of the Kingdom. When we talk about sacrifice in our giving today, what exactly does that mean? For some it might mean only eating out three days a week instead of five. Maybe it implies shopping at KOHLs once a month. It is certain that many people waste more money in a week than they give to God in a month. Do you see the problem? Imagine the advancements in the Kingdom if every Christian gave as they should. HELP ME TO GIVE To aid you in giving correctly, let me offer you some steps to follow: (1) Make a yearly commitment. This commitment is not given to your neighbor, or the leadership at the church; this is your personal pledge. Whatever you decide to give, be committed. Don t forget that the Israelites gave more than a tenth to the Lord; that is just a starting point for Christians. (2) Commit to increases. Whenever you get a pay raise, increase your contribution. Remember that God has given you the ability to work your profession. We worship a jealous God. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God (Exod. 34:14). (3) Be active & supportive: Set aside funding for special needs. Paul praised the saints in Macedonia and Achaia for contributing to the poor saints at Jerusalem (Rom. 15:26). Every congregation has projects that emerge. It might be supporting a 13
mission s program, or, putting a new roof on the building. Whatever the case, do your part to be supportive financially and spiritually. (4) Be prayerful: Thank God for all His blessings. This allows us to be motivated to give back to God. Thank God for the privilege of being able to give back a portion of what He has given to you. 14