SERIES: Christian Stewardship
A New Standard for Giving
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: I recently heard about an Elder Board that was confronted with a situation that demanded a person of superior wisdom and speech. The need was for this person to go to an elderly church member who had a heart condition and tell him he had just inherited $10 million dollars from a deceased relative. Because of the man’s condition, the elders feared for a heart attack at the news. The pastor volunteered, thinking himself wise enough to handle the situation. When he talked with the old man, he decided to approach him indirectly by asking what he would do if he inherited $10 million. The old man quickly replied that he’d give half of it to the church. With that the pastor had a heart attack!
I guess there’s always a risk for the pastor who speaks to his parishioners about money. But I’ve decided to risk it here for the month of February. I told you when we began this four-week series on Christian Stewardship that it would probably be different from any you have heard in the past. The first week we examined 1 Tim. 6 and noted the important difference between wanting to be rich and being rich, and we noticed that it’s fine to enjoy the good things God has given us so long as we aren’t selfish with them. Last Sunday we looked at the parable of the Unrighteous Steward in Luke 16 and learned that we ought to use our money to win friends for eternity.
Those two themes were a bit out of the ordinary for stewardship messages, but today I’m entering more familiar territory—tithing. You expected it, didn’t you? Only I’m going to tell you why I don’t believe in tithing and why I don’t tithe. And the deacons are probably worried that by the end of next month this church will be broke! Relax! Biblical teaching has never hurt a church yet, and it won’t start today.
The old standard for giving was established through Moses.
The first thing that is obvious to us when we study OT giving is that…
Tithing was mandatory. (Lev. 27:30-34) Listen as I read from Leviticus 27:
“Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord…. And for every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord…. These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.”
The word tithe means simply “a tenth,” and Israelites were expected to give 10% of all their income, whether cash, property, herds, or capital gain, to the Lord. These tithes went to the clergy, the Levites, who, in turn, tithed 10% to the High Priest.
In addition, however, a second tithe was brought to Jerusalem for the Lord’s feasts. Interpreters are virtually unanimous in their understanding that Deuteronomy 14:22-27 speaks of a second 10% that was to be brought to the Central Sanctuary. In addition, Deut. 14:28 indicates that every third year a third 10% was to be given, which was kept at home for the Levites and the poor.
The result was that the mandatory tithes on every Jewish family added up to an average of 23% a year. Thus, if one is going to follow the Old Standard for giving, he has no right to be satisfied with a 10% contribution of his net income. The Jew was required to give 23% of his gross! Of course, this helped pay for the Jewish welfare system, so it’s not strictly comparable to the contributions one might make today to the church. But if you’re paying 7% Social Security tax, you’d still have to give 15% of your gross to the church in order to meet the minimum requirements under the old standard!
But it’s worse than that!
Offerings were volitional but expected. (Deut. 12:6). That is, a person was encouraged to give free-will offerings besides the tithe. Deut. 12:6 indicates there were several kinds of additional free-will offerings one could bring. For example:
1. Votive offerings (faith promises or pledges)
2. Freewill offerings
3. Firstborn offerings
4. Contributions
We won’t take the time to distinguish all these offerings, but one can see that a generous Israelite could end up giving a very sizeable percentage of his income to the Lord. But there’s another point that needs to be made, namely that…
Failure was costly. (Mal. 3:8-12). It’s always costly to violate God’s laws, even His laws regarding giving. In the interest of time, I’m only going to point out two passages which speak of the tragic and costly results of the failure to tithe, but there are many more we could look at. Turn to Mal. 3:8-12:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed Thee?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
Now it can be seen here that the Jews of Malachi’s day were suffering drought and crop failure, and the prophet traces it directly to the fact that they were not being faithful with their tithes and offerings.
In still another of the O.T. minor prophets, the costliness of a failure to tithe is made even more obvious. Turn to Haggai 1:3-11:
“Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, ‘Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?’ (In other words, why are your own homes so much nicer and fancier than the house of the Lord?) Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.’
Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,’ says the Lord. ‘You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘Because of my house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.'”
I don’t think much needs to be added to Haggai’s words, except perhaps some application. This may be describing the old standard of giving, but I wonder if there isn’t a universal application to be made from it. Perhaps any believer who is struggling under great financial burdens should first ask, “Have I been faithful in my giving?” If not, could that be the reason for his financial trouble.
Many of you remember George Fooshee, a well-known author and financial counselor from Wichita, who was with us a year or so ago. George has counseled literally hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who were up to their eyeballs in debt. In fact, for over 30 years he owned one of the largest collection agencies in Kansas. Every time he counseled a believer who was in debt, the very first step he gave them toward getting out of debt was: “Start giving 10% of your income to the Lord.” Now the last thing some of these people expected to hear as a means of getting out of debt was to give away a substantial portion of their money. But he really believed that tithing was the first step toward becoming financially free. I’m going to share with you later why I believe George was wrong in focusing on the tithe, but I believe he was correct in that the first step to getting out of debt is to give a systematic proportion of one’s income.
Now allow me to summarize: under the old standard of giving, tithes were mandatory, offerings were volitional, and failure was costly. The old standard given through Moses was in effect for 1400 years; in fact, it was still in effect when Jesus came. He was born under the Law of Moses and He lived in absolute obedience to it. He did not abrogate the old standard, but He did clarify it and revitalize it.
The old standard was clarified and revitalized by Christ.
One of the tragedies that Jesus found during His earthly ministry was that many people, particularly the Pharisees, were trying to keep the Mosaic Law while they had no real heart for God. There’s nothing more nauseating, really, than to see a person go through religious motions when it’s all hypocritical.
In two passages in Matthew and Luke Jesus took the old standard and clarified it by telling the Pharisees that even under the old standard there was more to tithing than giving a certain percentage of one’s income to the Lord. First, He told them that…
The rite without the right actions was unacceptable. (Matt. 23:23) Here are Jesus’ words from Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law; justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”
You will recall from Lev. 27 that tithes had to be paid on “all the increase of thy seed,” and therefore even upon herbs of trifling value, such as mint, dill and cummin. One can almost see these Pharisees getting down their spice racks and counting out one tenth of the dill seeds so they could bring them to the temple. They were meticulous, super-meticulous, about meeting the requirements of the law of tithing. However, when it came to justice and mercy they were like hardened criminals. Note that Jesus didn’t criticize their scrupulosity; rather He criticized their inconsistency. Tithing was useless if not accompanied by godly actions.
Then in Luke 18 Jesus clarified another aspect of the old standard of giving. Not only was the rite of tithing unacceptable without right actions accompanying it; it was also unprofitable without the right spirit.
The rite without the right spirit was unprofitable. (Luke 18:10-14) Here’s what Jesus says in Luke 18:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”
What Jesus was telling people of His day was that giving by the old standard is not sufficient; their tithes must be accompanied by justice, mercy, faithfulness, and humility. Then and only then would their giving be spiritually profitable.
Now to review very briefly: the Mosaic Law required that every Jewish family give approximately 23% of their total gross income to the Lord; plus, they were encouraged to give freewill offerings and faith promises besides. Jesus clarified and revitalized the principle of tithing by stressing that one’s heart attitude in giving was every bit as important as the giving itself. What I failed to mention, however, is that the subject of tithing is by no means a common one in the Gospels. It is mentioned in Matt. 23 (the identical passage is repeated in the parallel portion of Luke 11) and in Luke 18; that’s it.
When we come to the Acts and the Epistles, however, we find something that is even more interesting. Tithing is mentioned only in Hebrews 7, which speaks of Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek 2,000 years earlier. From the time of Christ’s death and resurrection through to the end of the Book of Revelation there is not a single exhortation to tithe, not a single example of anyone tithing, and not even a mention of the word “tithe,” except for the historical reference in Hebrews 7. Now that fascinates me and, I think, demands an explanation. How can a principle as important as tithing seems to be in many churches be mentioned only three times in the whole NT and be totally ignored in the Epistles which are the handbook of the Church?
Well, I take you back to a statement Christ once made that He had come, not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. There were aspects of the Mosaic Law which ceased with the death of Christ—not because He destroyed the Law but because He fulfilled it. For example, there were dietary restrictions under the old standard which were still in effect during the earthly life of Christ. But after His death they were no longer applicable. He fulfilled the Law in respect to those restrictions, and the early church was told they could eat anything so long as they received it with thanksgiving. A new standard of eating had been introduced.
I believe a new standard of giving also came into play with the death of Christ.
A new standard of giving is introduced by Paul.
The best way I know to explain the new standard for giving is to share three over-riding principles and then ten practical guidelines next Sunday. The three principles will show continuity with the old standard; the ten guidelines will introduce discontinuity with the old standard.
Three over-riding principles for Christian giving. As I have mentioned, these three principles are not contrary to the old standard. In fact, all three were operative then as now. This is what we would call the common ground between the old standard of tithing and the new standard of grace-giving. When we get to the ten guidelines we will see where Paul breaks new ground and establishes procedures that could never have been accepted under the old standard.
A precept on attitude: It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)
In Acts 20:35 Paul writes, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” As you can see, Paul is quoting Jesus Christ here, though the original quotation is not found in the Gospels. But Christ not only spoke these words; He lived them. And Paul himself was a living example of the truth found here.
Think for a moment of the five people who are the happiest you know. Now think of the five who are the unhappiest. I’m almost willing to wager you that one factor common to nearly everyone in the first group is a spirit of generosity and that one factor common to nearly everyone in the second group is stinginess. Now occasionally you may find an exception—for example, an unhappy person may give generously for legalistic reasons, like the Pharisees did, but generally generosity produces happiness. Even psychiatrists will verify this principle that Paul enunciates. The well-known psychiatrist, Karl Menninger said, “Giving is a very good criterion of a person’s mental health. Generous people are rarely mentally ill people.” In fact, some have suggested that one way to relieve depression is to start giving more.
There’s an interesting application of this principle in the local church. Do you know who is generally the first person to know if a member is unhappy? It’s not the pastor, not the Chairman, not the S.S. teacher, and not even good friends. It’s the financial secretary. The unhappy person quits giving and his subsequent lack of generosity only makes him more unhappy, for “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” and the corollary is that “where your treasure isn’t, there your heart won’t be either.”
A precept on motivation: God loves a cheerful giver. (9:7) In 2 Cor. 9:7 Paul tells us, “Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.” There are many motivations one can have for giving: need, obligation, selfishness (giving to get), tax benefits, praise, etc. The kind of giver God loves is a cheerful giver. The word in Greek translated “cheerful” is “hilaros,” from which we get our English word, “hilarious.” Now we can’t always read our English meanings back into the Greek, but the word derivation here indicates at least the joyful and happy connotation of the term Paul uses. Giving should be an exhilarating experience. Gifts given through a sense of obligation are better than no gifts at all (usually), but how much better to give cheerfully, gladly and from a kind and gracious spirit? (By the way, this principle operates, too, in respect to gifts of service).
A precept on results: Reaping is proportional to sowing. (9:6) 2 Cor. 9:6 says, “Now this I say, He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.” It’s a general principle that the farmer who has the most land under cultivation will harvest the most crops. Weather, fertilizer, and quality of seed, of course, have something to do with the crop yield, but all other things being equal, the more seed that’s sown, the more crops will be harvested.
Now the point which Paul is making is that to give is to sow. What is given is not lost, but like the seed sown by the farmer, it’s only in the sowing that there can be an increase. One can leave seed in a seed sack for years, and when the sack is opened there will still be the same amount of seed as at the beginning, albeit somewhat moldy. But if that seed is put into the ground enormous increase is possible.
So too, Paul would say, money put into the bank doesn’t really increase. In fact, frequently the interest received barely keeps up with inflation. But money given with a cheerful heart is promised a bountiful increase. John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress wrote,
“A man there was and they called him mad.
The more he gave, the more he had.”
The rub comes that many of us don’t have the faith to test God on this principle. I like the comment of John Calvin here: “Whenever fleshly reason calls us back from doing good through fear of loss, we should immediately oppose it with this shield, ‘But the Lord declares that we are sowing.'”
We must be very careful with this third principle, for it is easy to derive the wrong lesson. Nowhere does Scripture propose the gaining of rewards as a proper motive for goodness. Giving for the sake of gain ceases to be goodness flowing from a pure and unselfish heart. Generosity should be practiced because it is right and because it pleases God; if material blessings result, that is just frosting on the cake. This is, of course, a very different emphasis than one hears from the health-wealth theologians on radio and TV. They are constantly promoting giving to their organizations as a way of obtaining rewards for the giver. “Seed money” they call it. Frankly, I believe the only rewards most of them are interested in are the ones that your money will buy for them personally.
Now in wrapping up the first half of this message, I want to focus on the divine example of giving as found in 2 Cor. 8:9:
The divine example of giving (2 Cor. 8:9)
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” How does His example coincide with these three over-riding principles of giving we have looked at:
What was Christ’s attitude in giving Himself? Jesus once said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Again, He said, “I am among you as one who serves.” Jesus knew experientially that real happiness and fulfillment come in giving to others.
What was His motivation? Did he give grudgingly? Did He give out of obligation? Did He give out of anything He might get in return? No, He gave cheerfully and freely. Of course, His sacrifice was great and His pain and suffering were likewise great, and it was no cheerful experience in the normal sense of that word. But it was in the sense that He gave Himself willingly and freely and felt no sense of regret about it.
What were the results of Christ’s gift? Was His reaping proportional to His sowing? Yes, indeed. The prophet Isaiah put it in the terms of childbirth: “Christ will see the travail of His soul and be satisfied.” Just as a woman who has gone through twelve tortuous hours of labor finds satisfaction and fulfillment when she holds her child, so Christ found satisfaction and fulfillment in the spiritual progeny which His suffering and death produced.
Were the results of Christ’s gift significant for us as well as for Himself? Of course, for when He died, He made it possible for millions to live. Rom. 5:19 puts it this way, “For as through the one man’s (i.e., Adam’s) disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of one (i.e., Christ) the many will be made righteous.” One author put it this way: “God utilized the law of sowing and reaping to its fullest potential when He gave His only Son so that He would get back many sons and daughters.”
And not only were we enabled to live; we were also enabled to be rich. The riches spoken of in 2 Cor. 8:9 are not primarily material riches but spiritual riches. Listen to what the Scriptures say about these riches:
Eph. 2:6,7: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Eph. 3:8: “Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given to me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
Phil. 4:19: “And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Heb. 11:26: “Moses considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.”
Rev. 3:18: Christ says, “I advise you to buy from Me, gold refined by fire, that you may become rich.”
Rev. 2:9: “To the Church at Smyrna, ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) . . .”
Conclusion: What should our response be to the divine impoverishment which Jesus endured? I think it should be this: “If He did all this for me, then nothing I give or do for Him can be too much.” But you cannot give or do anything for Him unless you first become one of His children. You could sell every possession you have and give it all to the church, and it wouldn’t profit you one cent if you have not responded to the grace of God, by believing that Jesus Christ died in your place and paid the penalty for your sin. In fact, even if you give everything away, you will go to Hell if you do not believe in Him.
The text we read this morning ends with these words: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” It may be indescribable, i.e., human language is utterly inadequate to express it or explain it, but still the human heart can experience it. Believe in Jesus today.
DATE: February 15, 1987
Tags:
Tithing
Stewardship