What’s the connection?
I know what some of you are thinking. How stupid can you be. Stewardship and giving, isn’t that what it’s all about? I must admit that when I started studying and researching this subject of stewardship I got a real surprise. I thought I would start by “Googling” the term stewardship. WOW! What I got was a lot of websites for consulting firms that promised help for pastors and congregations in convincing members to give more money to the church. Each one seemed to have a different technique/method/approach/strategy for extracting more money from members of the congregation. None of these firms were what we normally think of as philanthropic. That is, they all charged some kind of fee for getting people to give more money. Some specialized in major campaigns to get people to give money for a new building or other special projects or “ministries”. The other thing I found was sermons or sermon series designed to get people to give more money. Certainly giving is an important part of stewardship but I guess I was surprised that so much focus was placed on this one aspect. I do remember that over the years as I have witnessed to various people and invited them to church, some objected to becoming involved in a congregation because “all they ever want is more money”.
My Googling exercise did produce some other results but they were in a minority. If you have been following along in our stewardship education series, you know by now that a steward is simply a manager of someone else’s money/property/possessions (Joseph is a wonderful example of a steward). For us aliens (Christians), that someone of course is God. We learned early on that God owns and controls everything including us. Management of course is a very simple concept. It involves making wise/smart use of resources to accomplish goals and objectives. Thus, we (Christians) are responsible for the wise use of God’s resouces to accomplish His objectives. His goals and objectives can be boiled down to one thing, to bring glory to Himself.
I must admit that I have been struggling with the concept of giving for some time. I keep hearing and reading about “giving back”. It sounds so good and we certainly do “owe” Him. After all, He sacrificed His son (a free gift) to save us from the lake of fire. However, I think it is wrong to think this way. We don’t have anything to “give back”. It (everything) belongs to Him. We are just managers.
Then it hit me. All this talk about giving is God speaking to me and instructing me about a stewardship/management issue. That is, how I am to handle the giving of HIS money. I was just looking at this from the wrong perspective. For example, Prov 28:27 “He who gives (MY MONEY-GOD’S MONEY) to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.” In other words, Christian managers/stewards who give God’s money to the poor will never want. Looking at giving from this perspective has helped me a lot.
But, why doesn’t the Bible talk about “keeping”? Isn’t it a matter of how much of His money we should keep for ourselves, to meet our needs and (remember) He has promised to meet our needs.
The big question of course is HOW MUCH? How much of God’s money does He want me/you to give? Based on previous instruction, it looks like the answer is “everything we don’t NEED.” Here’s where we could get into an interesting discussion about needs versus wants. I’m not going to open that can of worms. I’m going to let the Holy Spirit convict you about it. He sure does speak to me on this subject.
A lot of people would end the discussion at this point by concluding that we should just tithe. Isn’t that what the Bible teaches? Well, let’s take a look. First I want you all to get out your dictionary and look up the word tithe. What does it say? ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Now, take a look at several scripture passages. What do these say to you about tithing? Numbers 18:25-30 and Lev 27:30-33: _________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Then Deut 12:10-12 & 12:17-18: _____________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
And Deut 14:28-29: ________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Are you confused yet?
====================================================================
Num 18:25-30 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. 27 ‘And your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. 28 ‘So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. 29 ‘Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the Lord, from all the best of them, the sacred part from them.’ 30 “And you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as the product of the threshing floor, and as the product of the wine vat. NASB
Lev 27:30-33 ‘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. 31 ‘If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 32 ‘And for every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. 33 ‘He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.'” NASB
Deut 12:10-12 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, 11 then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God shall choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. NASB
Deut 12:17-18 You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or new wine, or oil, or the first-born of your herd or flock, or any of your votive offerings which you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the contribution of your hand. 18 But you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all your undertakings. NASB
Deut 14:28-29 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. NASB