Worship-06A-Giving

WANDERING SOUL, LONELY HEART &
THE SIDE-TRACKED CHURCH

WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY

UNEXPLOITED GIVERS

Great Theologians

About 450, AUGUSTINE - PRE-CATHOLIC: Give without a qualm: it's the Lord who receives, the Lord who is asking. You wouldn't have anything to give him unless you had first received it from him....acts of charity. (Sermon 390)

About 1836, JOHN CALVIN - REFORMED CHURCHES:� "Wherefore the Papal priests draw a silly inference when they claim the tithes for themselves, as if due to them in right of the priesthood; else must they needs prove that those whom they call the laity are their tenants...it would be sacrilege to appropriate the tithes to their own use....'The priesthood being changed, the right also is at the same time transferred' (Hebrews 7:12)...whatever the Law had conferred on the Levitical priests now belongs to Christ alone."� (Commentaries on the Last Four Books of Moses, Numbers 18:20)

1682, JOHN BUNYAN - BAPTIST:� "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him....The work now to be done was...to bestow their charity upon the poor; yea, to provide for time to come."� (The Works of John Bunyan, "The Seventh-Day Sabbath" Vol. II, pg. 377)

1721, MATTHEW HENRY - PRESBYTERIAN:� "Markets in the temple...rob God of his honor....The priests lived, and lived plentifully upon the altar; but, not content with that, they found other ways and means to squeeze money out of the people." (Commentary, Vol. 5, Matthew 21:12)

1868, CHARLES H. SPURGEON - BAPTIST:�"Much has been said about giving the tenth of one's income to the Lord....But it is as great mistake to suppose that the Jew only gave a tenth.� He gave very, very, very much more than that...but after that came all the free-will offerings...so that, perhaps, he gave a third....I do not, however, like to lay down any rules....for the Lord's New Testament...teacheth us rather the soul of liberality....Give...proportionately, as the Lord has prospered you....You are not under the Law but under grace; you are not, therefore, to give or to do anything to God as of compulsion, as though you heard the old Mosaic whip cracking in your ears."

�� Oh, Jesus, how hard it must have been for your Apostles to say goodbye to you.� But you assured them you'd always be partners with them.� Your promise is true today also.� You are as close to us as our heart.� We feel you smiling somehow.� Where are you, Jesus?� You're inside of us.� That's why we cannot see you.� Thank you for your friendship.

�� A disaster happened one Sunday morning in church when my twin brother and I were maybe a year old.� It was during the collection.� And, by the way, our World War II era church building had a cement floor.

�� You understand that men do not have laps.� Women have laps - at least whenever they wear skirts.� Women back then always wore skirts.� Well, I was sitting on my mother's lap, and my twin brother was sitting on my father's non-lap.

�� The collection plate slowly made its way down the rows back and forth, back and forth between the ushers in each aisle.� When it got to our row in the back, either my father got his hands mixed up, or forgot he had my brother on his non-lap.

�� Letting go of my brother, he reached up and took the collection plate from the usher.� Then it happened.

�� My brother commenced to slip through my father's legs and fall upside down onto the cement floor.� Immediately the collection plate commenced to slip through my father's hands and fall upside down onto the cement floor.�

�� The collection plate clanged all over the floor, and my brother screamed all over the floor.� Immediately both my father and the usher got down on the floor with the others and began trying to retrieve their charges.� Finally, the usher was able to grab the collection plate and my father was able to grab his baby.� The usher resumed his place in the aisle, and my father resumed his place in the pew.� The money eventually quit rolling and chinking across the floor, and my brother eventually quit screaming.

�� By this time, half the congregation was embarrassed and trying to wish the whole thing out of existence.� The other half of the congregation was snickering or outright laughing.� My father wished he could just fall through the floor, and my mother wished he would.

�� Isn't giving like this today?� We feel like we're letting go of the important things in life to take hold of the collection plate and put something in it.� We feel embarrassed at some times and we're made to feel guilty at other times.� As a result, any sermon on giving is considered too much.�

�� The way giving is approached, we can certainly see why.� Sometimes we are made to feel like the man who announced the collection plate would now be passed with the warning, "And now brethren, let us give in accordance with what we reported on our Form 1040."

�� Oh Jesus, you went through so much for me.� How could you?� You dreaded it.� The Father believed in you and pushed you.� You did it for him.� For me.� For love.� How can I ever pay you for eternity with you, paid for with your agony and tears?

Viewpoint of Outsiders

�� George Gallup wrote in THE PEOPLE'S RELIGION:� AMERICAN FAITH IN THE '90S, page 144, that the number-one reason given by people for having abandoned the church was "too much concern [1] for money." [2]�

George Barna, another pollster, found the same thing and wrote of it in his NEVER ON A SUNDAY:� THE CHALLENGE OF THE UNCHURCHED. [3]� In both cases, half of the dropouts gave this as their primary reason for� leaving the church.

�� With a large portion of religious radio or TV programs, either before, during, or after there will be at least one appeal for money "or else this ministry cannot go on."� It is as though the public is required to support this man, when it was this man's idea to go on the air, not the public's.

�� Everyone is acquainted with the money scams of some media evangelists, bilking believers out of thousands of dollars, sometimes life savings.� In fact, the book THE DAY AMERICA TOLD THE TRUTH lists TV evangelists as 69th out of 71 professions Americans thought were honest.� They were beaten out even by prostitutes. [4]

�� In his book, INSIDE THE MINDS OF UNCHURCHED HARRY AND MARY, Lee Strobel, a former atheist, said, "When I first went to church, I suspected that the ministry's real goal was to fleece me.� Actually, I was secretly hoping I would find the church was a scam because not only would I have a front-page story for The Chicago Tribune, but I could reject the church and its God along with it." [5]

�� Several years ago, TIME magazine interviewed a well-known minister.� The reporter's pre-listed questions centered on his salary, his vacations, his cars, his houses, whether he owned an airplane or boat, and what his benefit package was.

�� Jesus never asked for money.� Never.� Never, ever!� Even though he traveled all over the "holy land" during a period of three years, he never asked for money.� He could have worked miracles to get money, but never did but once in order to pay Peter's and his annual temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27).� We have no indication he continued to work at his trade once he began his ministry.� There were people who voluntarily supported him (Luke 8:1-3), but he never asked for their money. [6]�

�� How could that be?�

�� But, before we get into what the church leadership has a right to expect of people and possible approaches, let us look at what the church does not have a right to.

�� God, I'd never drop out of church because of money.� No matter how much they asked for, I wouldn't drop out.� Well, I may go to another church, but I'd never drop out for good.

Old Testament Giving

TITHING WASN'T ALL

�� Tithing, that is, giving one-tenth of one's income, is mentioned only twelve times in the Old Testament.� It is mentioned four times in the New Testament, and always in reference to Old Testament tithing.� It is never mentioned in connection with Christianity.

�� The first mention is of Abraham who lived before the Law of Moses, but voluntarily gave one-tenth of everything to the priest of Salem (Genesis 14:20 and Hebrews 7:5-9)).

�� According to the Law of Moses, the Jews had to tithe every crop and every animal (Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 14:22-28).� These tithes were used by the Levite tribe to live on, and the Levites in turn were to give a tenth of what they'd received for the priests to live on (Numbers 18:24-28).� In Jesus day, but still during the Law of Moses, Jews tithed even spice seeds, and then bragged about it (Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42; 18:11-14).

�� Only Levites and priests were allowed to collect the tithes, and they did this by going around to all the towns (Nehemiah 10:37-38).� When people failed to pay their tithes, God said they were robbing him (Malachi 3:8-10).

�� But it didn't stop there.� Over and above their tithes, Jews were required to give the firstfruits of their crops, firstborn of their herds, and other gifts (2 Chronicles 31:5-12).�

�� But still the good Jew did not stop giving.� Deuteronomy 12:6 refers to "your [1] tithes, [2] and special gifts, [3] what you have vowed to give, [4] and your free will offerings, [5] and the firstborn of your herds and flocks."� Some people even got so they bragged about their freewill offerings which were over and above their tithing (Amos 4:4).

�� Storerooms were set up in every town to store the special contributions, firstfruits, and tithes (Nehemiah 12:44; 13:5).

�� Furthermore, every third year, all Jews were to set up a welfare program with an additional tithe for the Levites, aliens, fatherless, and widows in times of emergency.� So, once every three years, Jews were to give 20% of their income.

PAYMENT FOR PRAYER REQUESTS

�� Special prayer requests involved what the Jews referred to as vows.� They paid in "temple shekels" which, in today's buying power, is about $5.�

Examples of vows/prayer requests were....

for traveling mercies (Genesis 28:20)

to dedicate oneself or someone else for special service to God � (Leviticus 27:2)

to dedicate oneself as a Nazarite (Numbers 6:2-18)

to be delivered from an enemy army (Numbers 21:2),

to have victory over an enemy army (Judges 11:30, 39)

to have a child (1 Samuel 1:11; Proverbs 31:2),

to return to one's home and be reconciled with family (2 Samuel 15:7-8)

to be freed of troubles and desertion by friends (Psalm 22:11, 25; �66:13)

to thank God if prayer is answered (Psalm 50:14, 56:12; 65:1)

to prove allegiance to God before others (Psalm 76:11; Isaiah 19:21

to thank God for a verdict of not guilty (Psalm 116:8, 14, 18-19)

to find the perfect place to build (Psalm 132:1-5)

to recover from illness (Job 22:27; Jonah 2:7-9)

to express fear of and acknowledge God's justice (Jonah 1:16)

to express peace (Nahum 1:15).

�� David, by the way, made vows every day (Psalm 61:8).

�� These prayer requests were not free.� Leviticus 27:2-7 lists the following money that had to be paid for vows/prayer requests:

male 20-60�� = 50 shekels�� = $250

female 20-60�� = 30 shekels�� =� 150

male 5-20�� = 20 shekels�� =� 100

female 5-20�� = 10 shekels�� =�� 50

male b-5�� =� 5 shekels�� =�� 25

female b-5�� =� 3 shekels�� =�� 15

male 60+�� = 15 shekels�� =�� 75

female 60+�� = 10 shekels�� =�� 50

ANIMAL /FOOD OFFERINGS

�� Leviticus 5:15 refers to "...a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel."� One shekel of silver was worth about $25 dollars in today's values.� Therefore, let us give a minimum value to every animal of $25.� Below is a list of potential offerings:

$25�� FIRST BORN (Leviticus 3:45-47).� Whenever an animal or person bore their first born, that child or animal had to be given to God's service.� However, they could be redeemed or bought back for five shekels each.

$25�� BURNT OFFERINGS (Leviticus 1:6, 8-13; 8:18-21; 16:24) could be a bull, ram, or male bird.� It was voluntary for (1) atonement for unintentional sin in general, (2) expression of devotion, or (3) commitment and complete surrender to God's will.

$ 5�� GRAIN OFFERINGS (Leviticus 2; 6:14-23) were grain, flour, oil, incense, bread, and salt.� They were sometimes burned up with a burnt offering, and sometimes eaten with fellowship offerings.� It was voluntary for (1) recognition of God's goodness and provisions, (2) devotion to God.

$10�� FELLOWSHIP OFFERINGS (Leviticus 3; 7:11-34) could be any clean animal or a variety of breads.� It was voluntary for (1) thanksgiving.

$20�� SIN OFFERINGS (Leviticus 4:1 - 5:13; 6:24-30; 8:14-17; 16:3-22) had to be a goat or lamb, or perhaps a bird if poor, or of flour if extremely poor.� It was mandatory for (1) atonement for specific unintentional sin, (2) confession of sin, (3) forgiveness of sin, (4) cleansing from defilement.

?�� GUILT OFFERINGS (Leviticus 5:14 - 6:7; 7:1-6) had to be a ram or lamb, but were not offered very often.� It was mandatory for unintentional sin requiring full restitution (such as killing someone else's animal) plus 20%.� It was mandatory for cleansing from defilement.

JEWISH ANNUAL GIVING BUDGET

�� Let us make out a sample annual giving budget for a good male Jew.�

Making one vow a month @ $250 each�� $ 3,000

20 firstborns in herd each spring @ $25�� 500

Asking forgiveness for one unknown, unintentional sin a week @ $25 1,300

Reaffirming his dedication to God once a week @ $5�� 250

Giving thanks to God for his goodness once a week @ $10�� 520

Asking forgiveness for one known unintentional sin a week @ $20 1,040

TOTAL FOR MIDDLE-INCOME JEW�� $6,610

PLUS TITHING OF AVERAGE INCOME OF $30,000*�� $3,000

YEARLY TOTAL GIVING FOR AVERAGE GOOD JEW

�� @ $800/MONTH OR 32%�� $9,610

*based on today's dollar values

�� So, we see that an average middle-income good Jew is going to give one-third of his income to God, not one-tenth.� Plus,� every third year, he must give an additional tenth ($3,000 in our example or $250/month) for the welfare program (Deuteronomy 26:12), which would take his total contribution to $1025 per month or $12,610.� That's 42% of their annual income!

�� Are we sure we want to get involved in the Jewish rules for giving?� Anyone who tries to get people to tithe is being inconsistent.�

�� First of all, tithing was part of the Law of Moses, and only represented one-third of what the average good Jew was expected to give.��

�� Second, if people insist on tithing anyway, to be consistent, they must also offer animal sacrifices, which is part of the same law, go to the temple three times a year, etc.� Actually, there are approximately 600 laws involved in the Law of Moses.� People insisting on keeping the old law must keep it all.� If they fail to obey any part of it, they are guilty of breaking the entire law (James 2:10).

�� Third, the Law of Moses was nailed to Jesus' cross, thus nullifying it in the Christian era (Colossians 2:14 and Hebrews 8:6, 13).

�� I thought I knew all about tithing, God, but now I see that was just the tip of the iceberg.� Do our leaders know all this?� This is really strange.� I never heard of it before.

Christian Giving

�� There are only five passages in the entire New Testament on giving.� Does this mean it is not important?� No.� It only takes God saying something one time to make it so.�

�� However, it seems that some church leaders have so much to say about tithing and other variations of "giving," that they're indirectly chiding God for omitting so much discussion about it.� However, God had it all figured out.� It is man who has complicated it.

�� The first mention of giving is in Acts 4:32-35, right after the church began.� It is a beautiful example of giving just because they wanted to, not because there was a thermometer on the wall, finance committee meetings, a campaign, pre-assigned envelopes, or even a church-owned business.� Let's just quote it:

�� "All the believers were one in heart and mind.� No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had....There were no needy persons among them.� For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need."

�� Did all the early Christians sell all their real estate and donate the money to the church?� No.� It says that "from time to time" someone would sell something so the money could be used by other Christians who were in need.

�� Did the church go into a selling business?� No.� The individuals did the selling themselves and then brought the money to the church for distribution.� Notice, they sold their possessions.� That means valuables, or cookies, or whatever they had individual Christians sold on their own.

�� In the account that follows, one couple brought money to the church, but lied about the amount by saying this was 100% of the sale price when it was not really.� The amount was not as important as the lie.�

�� Peter replied, "Didn't it belong to you before it was sold?� And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?"� Did Peter ever say the church owned anything?� No.� Did he say the church sold anything or received any of the money directly from the purchaser(s)?� No.� The church was not involved until after the selling transaction took place.

�� So, in the same way, if we are good at selling a particular commodity, we should sell it on our own in private, and consider the money from it ours.� Then we can take it to the church.� We could tell others in our congregation about it to give them a chance to purchase, but we should follow their example and sell whatever we have as a private transaction.

�� Did it ever cross the minds of the early Christians for the church to go into a business?� Probably.� After all, selling things in the temple lobby and providing services (currency exchange) in the temple lobby were accepted practices.� But did the apostles allow it?� Never.

�� Surely they understood just how effective free-will giving is.� In Exodus 35:4-9, Moses asked the people if they would voluntarily donate whatever was necessary to build the tabernacle and the golden furniture in it.� Did they grumble?� No way.� Exodus 36:2-7 says the people kept giving and giving and giving.�

�� Someone went to Moses and complained, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done."� As a result, "the people were restrained from bringing more" (Exodus 36:6).

�� God, for some reason this makes sense.� People shouldn't be squeezing the money out of us.� But does it work?� It sounds like it could.� I hope it does.

Free-Will Offerings

�� Paul is the only apostle to write down instructions about giving.� Ninety percent was to the church in Corinth, the church he had so many problems with, and which required at least two letters to try to straighten them out.� Because they were lazy?� No.� It was because their zeal was clouding what God wanted them to do.�

�� He covered this same issue regarding the Jews when he said in Romans 10:2 and 17 "they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge."� Their zeal had to be based on something besides the emotions or man's logic, for "faith comes from...the word."

�� In 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 Paul referred to the Jewish practice of feeding the priests and Levites from the sacrifices the people offered, which was allowed for in the Law of Moses.� He said that practice could continue so as to provide support for various ministers of the church.� Reading Exodus-Deuteronomy in the Old Testament shows the large variety of work the Levites did around the temple, especially since no one else was allowed in the building itself.� Therefore, today we can support any minister who preaches, evangelizes, oversees (elder), does secretary work, does janitor work, or whatever their ministry.

�� Notice, he did not include the practice of selling, although he had personally witnessed it upon many occasions at the temple grounds, having been raised and educated in Jerusalem.� What he did allow was for the offerings of the worshippers be used to support the priests and Levites serving in the temple.� That is all.

�� We do know that Paul did not accept the church's money except in dire emergency.� Instead he sold tents (Acts 18:3).� Did he take them to the church to sell?� No, he did it on his own.

�� Later in the book he told the Corinthians to take up a collection every Sunday of each member "in keeping with his income" and save it so that when he arrived, they'd be ready with their collective donation for the poor.� Notice, the church was not to collect money any other day of the week.� If we'd just keep this one rule, it would sure go a long way into convincing people "all the church wants is your money."�

�� Much later, Paul wrote Timothy in Ephesus and told the church that any widow age sixty or above left alone with no family, and who dedicates herself to good works, should be supported by the church.� However, he warned that if a widow has family - children or grandchildren - they are to support her or be considered worse than unbelievers.� (See 1 Timothy 5:3-10.)

�� Thus far we have seen that the money can go to support people with various ministries in the church, and it can go to support Christian widows with no family.� What else was their money used for?

�� God, I've always wondered whether being paid makes preachers like mercenaries.� I guess not.� You are wiser than I and you said it is okay.� Thanks for the explanation.

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Endnotes For This Page

1.� Gallup, George Jr., and Jim Castelli, The People's Religion:� American Faith in the '90s, McMillan, New York, 1989, pg. 137-138.

2.� Barna, George, Never On a Sunday, Barna Research Group, 1990, Glendale, Calif., p. 3-4.

3.� Patterson, James and Peter Kim, The Day America Told the Truth, Plume, 1992, pg. 143.

4.� Strobel, Lee, Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI., 1993, pg. 206.

5.� The Holy Bible, New International Version, Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1988.� [All quotations of the Bible except otherwise indicated]

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