You don’t have to have character to be competent.

Take Willie Sutton for instance.

At one point Willie Sutton was one of America’s most wanted criminals, an original on the FBI’s first edition of its top ten list of most wanted in March, 1950.

Willie Sutton was competent. No one could rob banks with the cool dispatch of a Willie Sutton. And no one could escape the clutches of the FBI as well as Willie Sutton. He was singularly competent as a bank robber. He used careful planning and multiple disguises to pull off his heists, earning him the nicknames of Willie and Actor and Slick Willie. Sutton loved nice clothes and was known as an immaculate dresser.

And when the FBI finally caught him there were times when they could not keep him. Not only was he America’s premier bank robber; he was also one of the greatest escape artists the nation has ever seen. Sing Sing could not hold him, nor could some other prisons. He tried to escape from prison five times and succeeded from three. He always figured a way to get out, rob a bank, and end up back on the inside. After his release from prison in 1960, New Britain Bank and Trust Co. in Connecticut had him make a commercial for their credit card with picture ID.

Legend has it that when a reporter asked him why he robbed so many banks he replied, “That’s where the money is.” He did say, "You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can get with just a kind word." However, he never used a loaded gun because he didn’t want to hurt anyone.

Willie Sutton truly was competent. But he had no character.

On the other hand, you don’t have to be competent to have character.

All of us know someone we would trust with our most precious possessions, someone of great integrity and love who keeps his word and does his best, but who lacks the capacity needed to be placed in a highly responsible leadership position. He lacks the abilities he needs to direct others and move them forward toward a vision and a better tomorrow. He has character and he is faithful, but he just isn’t competent enough to lead.

What we need is leaders with both character and competence.

Kouzes and Posner in their work The Leadership Challenge have shown that followers all over the world long for such leaders. In the past twenty years Kouzes and Posner have taken surveys of 75,000 business leaders all over the world, asking them the top traits they desire to have in their leaders. Across that twenty-year span responses from all around the globe have been universally consistent: leader/followers of every age in every culture long to have competent leaders of character, leaders marked by integrity who can be counted on to be consistently honest in every situation.¹ When followers were asked what they “’most look for and admire in a leader, someone whose direction they would willingly follow,” their number one response was that the leader be honest.

Followers long for leaders with the competence of a Willie Sutton and the character of a saint.

Enter the elder as a leader, the biblical model of a man who is both competent and has character. The concept of elder was born in the secular world and brought into the church from the general society through the synagogue. Every ancient culture had elders, not just the biblical culture. Elders led Greek cities and institutions from the very beginning of time and history. Elders are present in Israel from the time the nation was founded, long before it gained its homeland and was established as a nation among the nations. Throughout Israel’s history elders played a critical political and community role, making decisions in the gates as well as confirming kings and rulers.

In our world today the word elder means church, but not in the ancient world from which it springs. In the ancient world elder meant the city, the university, and the philosophical society long before it meant the synagogue or the church. In light of this, it is time for us to move the idea of elder out of the walls of the church and back into its natural habitat, the halls of the world. The concept of elder contains a total philosophy of leadership that marries character and competence in an indissoluble union that all followers long to have. The idea of elder shows us that a leader must have the wisdom to do orderly things through an exemplary life, to bring people together across the gender and generation gaps by means of truth and integrity through proven character and competence. And the elder must demonstrate this character and competence both inside and outside of the church first before he can step into the ultimate leadership position. 

What do you mean by order? Elders and Order: Personal and Public Elders (business leaders) are marked by order in their private lives and produce order in their public settings. In view of this, we must define order in both private and public terms. The primary reality that lies behind Paul’s qualifications for elders is that they are qualified to bring order out of disorder in the church as tested and proven in their family and business lives because they have brought order out of disorder in their private lives. I have known elders who have sinned in serious ways both before and after coming to Christ. Yet they became outstanding elders, men worthy of great respect and recognition, because they faced and found freedom from their sin. Christ’s forgiveness in their lives gave them a compassion and a commitment to confront sin and hold others accountable even as they had been. Every Sunday when people come to church—or every day when people come to work—they bring the chaos of their lives into the congregation. By nature a congregation consists of people whose lives are in various levels and stages of chaos who are in desperate need of a helping and healing community that can transform and mature them into orderly men and women. That’s the task of elders (and business leaders to the degree they can). Business leaders may object that they don’t run a church or a counseling clinic, and they are right. But if they’re going to do business well, they must deal in some measure with the chaos in their employees’ lives or their businesses will fall apart. And they can’t deal with chaos in their employees’ lives unless they’ve confronted chaos in their own lives. That explains a lot of things in both the church and business. Here is the biblical principle: Personal order qualifies for public leadership. In view of this, here is a definition of private and public order. Private order: the discipline, sacrifice, and growth arising out of a commitment to a cause that focuses all of life’s energies on living the way that cause demands. The person who has private order will be a living example of what his cause demands of him and will be showing all his fellow believers what commitment to his cause looks like. If Christ is the cause, the person with private order will model for others what a focused follower of Christ looks like. Public order is the result of what a group of leaders with private order in their lives do together to bring about freedom from disorder to order. Public order: turning chaos into community; transforming selfishness into sacrifice out of commitment to the group’s cause that results in unity of belief and behavior; providing an environment of structure, direction, organization, discipline, and purpose that results in security and safety so participants can be guided from self-destructive disorder to the freedom of accountability and maturity; the creation a culture of commitment, dedication, and discipline resulting in a focused way of life. Elders in a church do this through their model, their message, their actions, and the structure they bring into being out of obedience to Christ. Fathers do it exactly the same way in their homes, and business leaders do it exactly the same way in their businesses. To the degree that father and business leaders pursue private order and produce public order in their lives, they are qualified to be elders in the church. The difference among elders, fathers, and business leaders lies in which parts of the Bible they bring to bear in their leadership efforts, whether it be the parts of the Bible that relate to the church, the home, or the business. The bottom line of it all is this: leaders bring order out of disorder. And the only leaders who can bring order out of disorder in their public lives are those who have done it first in their private lives.

When Paul sent Titus to Crete to bring order out of disorder he also said, “. . . and appoint elders in every city (Titus 1:5).” That’s the highest priority Paul gives to Titus because he knew you can’t transform disorder into order without leaders who have already transformed the disorder of their lives into the order God wants—that’s what qualifies them to be models and leaders in the church. For this reason Paul gives a list of qualifications for elders that all men must seek to meet in and through Christ. You may not aspire to be an elder in the church, but you must aspire to be a man in life, and these qualifications define what a man is.

Every qualification on the list is overwhelming, not the least the first one: above reproach. This is an over-arching trait, the one from which all the others arise. The rest of the list defines what Paul means by above reproach. It is significant that the place where being above reproach is most clearly tested and is in a man’s marriage and family life. Let’s see what it means to be above reproach.

Above reproach

Time out: Before you read the next section define what you think being above reproach means. Then measure yourself against your definition. Are you above reproach? If you are not, where do you fall short and how can Christ enable you to be above reproach?

Time out question: What does above reproach mean to you?

Some responses:

• Blameless
• Trustful
• Stable
• Committed to living truth
• Not vulnerable to accusations from others
• No skeletons
• Impossible!
• No, not impossible. Supernatural!!
• Transparent
• Authentic
• Constant/consistent

Reproach: to act in such a way as to bring deserved blame, reproof, and discredit on yourself.

Anything can be said about anyone; the key is that we don’t deserve the blame, reproof, and discredit, and this is clear to all around us even if investigation is needed to show that.

We are above reproach when our lives are of such a quality that no charge can be brought against us that will stick so we can never be legitimately rebuked about a consistent pattern of behavior in our lives because there is no consistent practice of sin in us.

Time out question:

Now that you have seen this definition think through your personal life.

Write down any consistent patterns of sin in your life that you are aware of.

Take into account such things asyour relationships

• your speech
• your thoughts
• your attitudes
• your longings (covetousness)
• your reactions (jealousy, envy, anger, defensiveness)
• your emotions (fear, bitterness, ambition, improper competitiveness)

Where do you fall on the above reproach standard on a scale of 1-10 (one low, 10 high)?

Now think through your professional life.

Write down any consistent patterns of sin in your professional life.

Take into account such things as

• your relationships
• your speech
• your thoughts
• your attitudes
• your longings (covetousness)
• your reactions (jealousy, envy, anger, defensiveness)
• your emotions (fear, bitterness, ambition, improper competitiveness)

Add to this business factors such as

• the way you sell products
• the way you keep your promises
• the way you respond to clients/customers/investors/stock holders/stake holders
• the kinds of contracts you draw up and sign
• the sort of attorneys you use (closer to the shoulder of the law or closer to the center line of the law)
• the way you treat employees
• what you will or will not sell your integrity for (especially when your business is at stake)
• add other factors as appropriate
• Where do you fall on the above reproach standard on a scale of 1 to 10?

How to be above reproach in your personal life

While there are no easy answers or guaranteed steps to get us above reproach, there are responses we can make that put us in touch with the Spirit so He can lift us up to His standard and enable us to be above reproach as a pattern in our lives. No one makes it there permanently. That’s why humility is so critical for all of us; we must be humble and prepared to be rebuked when we deserve it so we can move back to a place of being above reproach as quickly as possible.

1. Establish a cluster of biblical priorities and live according to these realities.

I don’t believe we can rank biblical priorities because all of them are equally important.

I don’t believe life can be organized according to the numbers.

Life is dynamic and can only be lived according to the realities we face.

So we are constantly and permanently juggling our priorities while working not to drop anything that matters.

And we won’t always be successful.

All we can do is strive to give each of them the kind of attention they need on a daily basis.

Some days we will give one more than another; the point is that we are giving all of them adequate attention in the daily demands of life.

The one thing we can say is that we must build our lives around God and our relationship with Him so that we virtually never lack some focused time with Him.

There are times when we can’t be with our wives or focus on all of our children or even give our business the due it needs, but we must have consistent focus on God if we are going to move toward being above reproach.

2. Note the areas of your life right now where you are not above reproach as we have stated already.

• Forgive those you must forgive.
• Seek forgiveness from those you have offended.
• Fill your mind with God’s word and begin to think His way.
• Pray, Pray, Pray!!!

Build times of solitude and silence into your schedule during which you learn to focus on God, to read His word, to listen for His direction, and to hear His correction.

Write the key letter of your life: Today’s date

Dear God,

I resign being You.

Signed,
Me

Confess and turn from sin quickly by the Spirit’s power

3. Seek to walk by the Spirit to gain freedom from the flesh

Pay attention to how others respond/react to you—there may be some masked rebukes in their comments you need to hear and respond to.

How to be above reproach in your professional life

1. Establish a cluster of biblical priorities for your professional life—the same cluster as for your personal life

Time out question:

What would it look like for you to establish a cluster of “above reproach priorities” for your business life?

2. Write another letter to God as a deed of trust that goes like this:

Today’s date

Dear God,

All I am, all that I have, all that I think I own including my career, my business, my financial well-being, as well as all that owns me, I release to you. This letteris a deed of trust giving to you the power of attorney in my life. It’s all yours. You can do whatever You want with it.

Signed,
Me

3. Do your job description well for the glory of God in accordance with all of His standards for integrity.

4. Make all decisions carefully, wisely, and biblically.

5. Make sure everything you sign will allow you to maintain your integrity even if it costs you money or image or anything else you’re inclined to value more than God.

6. Communicate clearly so you can be accountable to all who do business with you; tell them more than they need to know without frightening them.

Answer their questions before they raise them and when they raise them as possible.

Come back with an answer as soon as you can.

7. Listen intently so you hear ideas, suggestions, implications, questions, concerns, all the things that will earn you reproach if you don’t listen.

8. Act lovingly so you always seek to do what is in the best interests of all involved—employees, clients, customers, stake holders, and yourself; don’t fail to look out for your own interests, just not at the expense of others.

9. Anticipate the needs of those around you—employees, clients, customers, stake holders, and yourself—and seek to meet them before others are even aware of them so you become known as a man who takes care of those who count on him.

10. Expect criticism, learn from it, correct it with grace, live with it when you must.

Wanted: Fathers (Elders) The generation coming behind us is very different from us. They are all thumbs and twittering, consumed with instant messaging and social networks. The age of thinking and reading appears to be over. Yet, when they see someone who is real they respond with great interest and openness. The most endangered species on earth is men, men who can lead through both their model and their message. Without such men we will have a generation that is lost in itself and its cell phones, wasting their lives on shallow futility and trapped in a living death while longing for the Real Thing. What can we do about it? Become the Real Thing through the True Vine. Show His life to the next generation by becoming fathers—elders—in their lives. Become a model for them to follow. Remember—the greatest thing you can do with your life is change the lives of others. So whose life are you changing?

---

¹ James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, The Leadership Challenge (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, fourth edition, 2007), pp. 28-29.

Part 1 – Biblical Financial Stewardship

Facing how with think about money

Financial advice comes from everywhere. At the bookstore in the mall we can find plenty of books telling us how to earn more or how to invest or save better. We also get abundant advice from those who tell us how to spend our money. It’s called advertising. Or the pressure to spend comes from what our peers have. And if we are involved in the religious world of churches and ministry organizations we also hear a plethora of voices telling us where we should give our money.

But the most persuasive financial advice we get is the voice in our own head. Somewhere in the process of growing up we develop our own private financial philosophy. Our personal values are shaped by parents perhaps, but also learned by experience. Our financial mistakes made life unpleasant or maybe we experienced financial windfalls or had doting benefactors. But each experience marked our thinking. Altogether that brought us to what we now believe and value about money and material possessions.

Unfortunately there’s a universal flaw usually lurking in our well tuned and often defended ideas. The flaw is that our ideas about money usually boil down to “what I think is best for me.” Selfishness hides in every financial decision we make. I take a certain job because I think it’s the best for me in my situation. I buy what I buy because I want to enjoy it. I refrain from buying other things because it leaves me more money to do what I value more or gives me more security later. Even the money I give away is usually selfishly motivated. Giving either makes me either feel good or look good or a combination of both plus a tax benefit.

Could it be that our view of money is all about me? If there is another way to live, it will mean another way to think.

How God thinks about money

Before Larry Burkett became a leading voice in the Christian world on the subject of money and material things, he was a Christian businessman who happened to lead a Bible study. One night he stated at the study that he had found over 100 verses about money. Someone responded by arguing that God was not that interested in the subject of our money. So Larry dug into the Bible and came back armed with over 700 verses highlighted about money in the Bible and started to organize them. Crown Financial Ministries now says that there are actually about 2,350 verses on finances and possessions in the Bible. That is more verses – more material – than all 13 letters in the New Testament that Paul wrote! God obviously cares about our view of possessions to instruct us that much about it.

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). He is saying that what we do with our money and our possessions reveals our real priorities. It’s that simple. So what we study in these pages is not secular or non-spiritual. God is talking to us about a spiritual thermometer – a way to measure what is really going on in our heart with God.

Material things in the beginning

A good place to begin a study of the subject of money and material things is Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." We learn here as the Bible opens that God owns everything because He created everything

David wrote, (Psalms 24:1-2) “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; {2} for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." If God made it, He owns it.

A few years ago I made a decorative mailbox for our house using leftover cedar siding from our house renovation. I owned the materials. Then I designed it with a lower box for the newspaper and a sloped roof and walls enclosing the metal mailbox. It even has a hook at the back for a hanging plant (OK, I’m proud of it!). I designed it, built it and placed it on my property. I obviously own it, because creation establishes ownership.

God made the whole earth so it’s all his. He then put man in it and gave Adam the first job – to rule over the animals and to tend the garden. As their salary Adam and Eve could eat of anything in the garden – except one tree of course.

Like Adam and Eve, we were also created by God. We have been given food by God. We have been given a place to live by God. We belong to God along with everything we think is ours. It’s all God’s stuff!

It was a great garden residence that God gave Adam and Eve. The garden even had gold and other valuables (Genesis 2:10-12). But anything they “had” really must not have been theirs. We know that because when they sinned, they were driven from the garden and didn’t take anything with them (Genesis 3:24).

They lived in God’s garden and enjoyed God’s food gifts and everything else, but it was all God’s. Because of sin, they lost access to it all.

If we have ever lost our job, gone bankrupt, watched our portfolio shrink, had something repossessed, or ever been forced to down-size or sell off, we should have learned that everything belongs to God. He creates wealth and anything else He gives us to use, but none of it is really our possession. If it can be taken away, it’s not ours.

You can’t take it with you

If we don’t learn it by life experiences, there is something we should learn from every funeral. We don’t “own” anything because we don’t take it with us.

Solomon, the wisest man ever, said, "Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand." (Ecclesiastes 5:15). The apostle Paul concurred, "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." (1 Timothy 6:7). Job, at his lowest point worshipfully agreed, saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." (Job 1:21)

God didn’t stutter about how temporary material things are. We only have them for a little while.

If you have ever gone into a Neiman Marcus department store, you quickly notice you are in upscale territory. My wife and I have ambled through their stores in Dallas and Chicago. It was free entertainment because we didn’t buy the $27,000 alligator handbag.

Let’s say that someone was given a one-hour shopping spree at Neiman Marcus. They can have everything they can carry from the store into their car in one hour. Sounds like fun, right? But now consider this disturbing thought. What if in the exertion and excitement of running frantically for an hour the person suffered a heart attack and died with their car filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise? They “owned” it alright – but for only a few moments. It was in their car, but when they died, they left it.

That is basically a fast forward metaphor of real life. That’s God’s perspective on finances. No matter what we gain materially, it is short lived. Whether it’s a $27,000 handbag from Neiman Marcus or if it’s the 15 year old car we drive to work, it’s all staying here. It’s all borrowed.

The heart attack or some form of death is coming. That means I need to emotionally pry my fingers off what I thought I owned. And with that in view, we must conclude that we are not owners. We are stewards.

Stewardship is the most basic of all biblical concepts about material things. So what is a steward? Very simply, stewards manage the property of others.

Joseph the Steward

Joseph is a prime example of a steward as Genesis records. “Potiphar put him [Joseph] in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. {5} From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned…So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate…” (Genesis 39:4-6a.)

Joseph didn’t own anything in Egypt at this point. He was a slave of Potiphar. But that didn’t keep Potiphar from entrusting to him all that he owned. Joseph probably bought all the food for the household of this important man. He probably managed his fields and work crews. He made sure the house was repaired. He seemingly even did the books, because a few verses later (Genesis 39:9) it is clear that he was in charge of everything except Potiphar’s wife.

As a manager, surely Joseph was able to eat the finest foods and wear the best clothes himself. Stewards often can enjoy the things they manage. It’s a perk, like the free luxury box seats some employees can use to entertain corporate customers.

Joseph gives us a model of what it means financially to be a steward of God’s things materially. We manage what belongs to others. Stewards are much like bank tellers or portfolio managers. They handle or control a lot of money, but they better not start thinking of it as their own.

The Steward’s real job is Faithfulness

God has clear instructions for stewards. "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust (literally, stewards) must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). The Greek term “steward” here includes a form of the word, house. It describes a household manager in the ancient Greek world who handled the finances for the owner. Managers are accountable to owners for how they use their finances or material possessions.

In 1989 a family in West Palm Beach Florida gave permission to the film crew of the TV show B. L. Stryker to use their front lawn as a set for a dramatic car crash scene. But while their front yard was being blown up, the owner of the house called from New York demanding to know what was going on. It turns out the family who gave permission were renters, not owners. And now the owner was very upset and was holding everyone accountable for what they did to His property.

Owners will hold managers accountable! And God will hold us accountable for anything He has entrusted to us. There is seriousness to having things!

Now back to Joseph. We know that Joseph was falsely accused and was thrown into jail unfairly. That doesn’t sound fair for someone who was a faithful steward does it. However, at the end of the story, where is Joseph? He is a steward again – in a big way! Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt, in charge of the palace, in charge of everything and everyone except Pharaoh himself. And Joseph evidently could even use Pharaoh’s signet ring any way he chose (Genesis 41:40-42)!

Why did this happen? God made it happen because Joseph was a faithful steward.

So we learn two principles from Joseph about the way God views stewardship. 1) Stewards manage the property of others. 2) Stewards who are faithful receive greater privileges.

How God rewards of good stewardship

Managing a little leads to managing a lot. Do you agree? Look at what Jesus said: (Luke 16:10) "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

What is Jesus talking about? Was He promising to make us richer financially if we are faithful stewards of our money, as some in the prosperity movement teach? No He isn’t. Although I imagine that the apostle Paul was faithful with any money he handled, he certainly wasn’t wealthy. In fact, he was often in complete poverty – and content with that, in fact (Philippians 4:10-11).

So if the promise of financial wealth is not what Jesus is teaching, what is He teaching? He is teaching the surprising truth that God uses our stewardship financially to determine how much He can trust us with spiritually.

Look at how Jesus explains it. "So if we have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth [money, material things], who will trust we with true riches? [spiritual things] {12} And if we have not been trustworthy with someone else's property [money], who will give we property of our own?” (Luke 16:11-12)

What did Jesus mean by “property of our own?” It’s eternal things! Jesus is saying that God is testing our financial stewardship to determine who He can trust us with spiritual and ministry privileges that last forever. Our management of money affects the eternal impact we will have. That is the “property” we can keep. It’s eternal!

Jesus never promised us worldly wealth here on earth, but He does say that the way we manage whatever amount of money or worldly possessions we have is really a spiritual test. And God is grading that test. How much we have is not an indication of our spirituality; how we manage what we have is an indication of our spirituality.

Some believers will be tested on their stewardship with a six-figure income. It’s a test one which God may give them a grade of A, B C, D or F. Other believers will be tested with subsistence level living and receive the same variety of grades.

Stewardship testing starts early and lasts throughout life. Grade school children are tested when they get an allowance. High school students with a part-time job are being tested. Our management of money continues through our working life and retirement. God is looking for people he can trust with real eternal things – and He uses our management of entrusted money and possessions in that evaluation.

So every financial decision is a spiritual decision. Stewardship means a whole different way of thinking.

Stewards think different than owners

What does God want me to do with this paycheck? That’s the real question, because it’s really God’s paycheck. Our budget is His budget. How does God want me to allocate what He has given me? How does God want me to use this house? It’s his house. How should I use extra money? How much should I save, invest, spend or give away? It’s all His. How should I use it? Should I buy this car, this piece of furniture or even this book or candy bar? The size of the purchase isn’t the issue. What matters is that it’s all God’s money and I must decide how He wants me to use it.

The point is that stewards think different than owners. Here are four specific areas about which stewards think differently than those who think they own possessions. The remaining chapters will explore these key areas of stewardship.

1. Stewards are grateful and content

I can be content with what I have if I accept that God picked it out for me (Philippians 4:12, 18). If I resent what others have, or demean what I have, I’m not a faithful steward.

Sometimes we complain about our material things by calling them “junk.” But if God owns everything, then what we call “junk” is actually His junk. He gave it to us. Can God trust us to appreciate our 15-year old car, generic food and second hand clothing? It’s really the same issue for the poor as the very wealthy. Gratitude is an attitude stewardship issue. There is always an upgrade. (Remember Neiman Marcus.)

Stewardship means we are peace with the fact that I’m not someone else. I’m me and God lovingly has given me the skills and the job and the money I need for right now. God assigns everything in life. It’s really submission to God when we are content with our job, our income and all our material things.

Understanding that we just manage what God chooses to give us also sets the foundation of another key financial issue for a Christian:

2. Stewards give willingly

God asks for a “tithe” so we can express that He owns it all and that we trust Him to provide our needs (Malachi 3:10-11). Only when we come to grips with the fact that we are stewards, not owners, does giving come willingly.

I know of companies with Christian owners who tithe from their profits. If you or I worked in the business office of that company and were asked to write the tithing checks for the owner, it really wouldn’t bother us to do it. After all, it’s not our money. We are just doing what the boss asked us to do. Plus, it really doesn’t affect my paycheck anyhow. I know that the boss is also going to pay me.

If I really believe that God is the owner and I am a steward of my money, then that’s how I should feel about my giving also. He determines my flow of income and what I should be “paid.” I only have to be faithful to allocate it the way He wants. And if He wants a 10^th or any other percentage, that’s not a problem. He’s the owner.

Giving God a percentage is the foundational way we express that we accept the fact that we stewards and He’s the owner. While we sacrifice emotionally – letting go of ownership – at the same time we enter a new emotional freedom called trust. We can rest knowing that God will supply the rest that we need.

Thinking like managers instead of owners also enables us to really enjoy what God gives us materially.

3. Stewards can enjoy blessings

God allows stewards to have many good things to enjoy. I don’t have to “bless” myself. Paul told wealthy Christians to not “put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:17).

Frankly, almost everyone reading this is rich in this present world by global standards and by the standards of living Paul was acquainted with as he wrote. And it’s good to know that it is not wrong to enjoy what we have if we live as true stewards.

Sometimes we might think that if we do God’s will we are taking a vow of poverty. While living very frugally might be God’s will for some, God also gives each person different kinds of material blessings. Sometimes when my wife and I have been the tightest financially, God has blessed us with high quality bargains that upgraded something in our house or gave us a special vacation at almost no cost.

Thinking like stewards does not mean we give up good things. It means that we give up control. And a stewardship mindset does not mean that we don’t enjoy good things. It actually means that we enjoy things more.

Enjoyment does not have a price tag. Many who are more wealthy find it hard to enjoy what they have, because true enjoyment comes only from God (Ecclesiastes 2:24,25; 4:8). If we earn our money selfishly, we will spend it selfishly, and selfish people don’t enjoy much. Selfish people complain the most – whether they are digging ditches or staying at a posh resort. On the other hand, as we think and live as God’s stewards, and then God gives us extra blessings – extra money or possessions after being faithful and generous – we really can enjoy them!

Stewards can truly enjoy God’s blessings because they know that God owns it all and controls it all. I simply get to enjoy it as I learn to manage it.

4. Stewards realize work is a gift

Stewards realize that God enables us to earn any money we have. We didn’t make ourselves so smart or good at what we do. Because we work so hard, it’s pretty natural to think that the money we earn is really ours. We know the training we went through, the hours we go in early, the little techniques we have developed to do a good job and be successful at what we do. We are probably very good at something we do in our jobs.

So when our paycheck is in our hand we don’t go away feeling guilty. We earned it! We put up with a lot and got the job done right. Thank me very much!

So it’s a little hard to swallow the thought that it all belongs to God! This self-righteous thought was anticipated by God in Deuteronomy 8:17-18. “You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." {18} But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today."

Stewardship means really seeing our job as God’s gift. If we have the ability to run a punch press, run a corporation, write ad copy or greet customers at Walmart, it’s all possible only because God enabled us to do it.

Relax, it’s not really yours

Evangelist and pastor Greg Laurie tells the story about an older lady who was determined to be prepared if someday she felt threatened. Then one day she finished shopping and returned to her car. She found four men inside the car. She dropped her shopping bags, drew her handgun, and screamed, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car." The men got out and ran like crazy.

Somewhat shaken, she loaded her bags and got in the car. But she could not get her key into the ignition. Then it dawned on her: her similar car was parked four or five spaces away! So she did what she had to do. She loaded her bags into her own car and drove to the police station to turn herself in. The desk sergeant nearly fell off his chair laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four men were reporting a carjacking by an old woman with thick glasses and curly white hair, less than five feet tall, and carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed.

You see, she thought it was her car, but it really belonged to someone else.

Sometimes we get all bent out of shape trying to keep and defend what we think is ours. People ruin their lives over financial rights, inheritance squabbles, and suing people they think cheated them. But God is calling us to think different – to be stewards – to just faithfully manage what God gives us.

Part 3 – Biblical Financial Stewardship

The Stewardship Taboo

Two men were marooned on a tiny island. One man paced back and forth worried and dreadfully frightened, while the other man sat back, whistling and sunning himself. The first man said, "Aren’t you afraid we’re going to die here?" "Nope," said the second man. “How can you be so sure?” the first man asked. “Well, you…” said the second man, “I make $100,000 a month and I tithe faithfully to my church… My Pastor will find meJ."

This humorous story identifies one of the key reasons why many pastors and churches avoid saying very much about financial giving. There is a perception (and a reality in many cases) that pastors are motivated to preach on giving only because of their own selfish concern about the budget or a building program. For many years as a pastor myself, I ventured into the area of financial stewardship and especially giving quite rarely. As I would preach expositionally through a book of the Bible, I wouldn’t avoid the subject of giving, but I hesitated to approach the subject extensively as a topic, lest I appear to be focused too much on the bottom line of the church rather than spiritual discipleship. I assumed – and it was partly true – that if people are growing spiritually, they will learn to give.

However, there is no other area of spiritual growth where we make the assumption that believers will grow without reminder and exhortation. I have come to realize that we are not mature disciples if we have not embraced the reality that materially we are stewards instead of owners.

If churches and pastors they have communicated somehow that “stewardship” messages are primarily about fund-raising, then they are responsible to change that attitude internally. Stewardship is not fund-raising; it’s basic discipleship. But in a similar sense, each believer must come to understand that giving is not just about “doing their duty.” Giving is actually a deeply personal indicator of our spiritual maturity as well as our love for God. If we understand Jesus’ words that our “treasure” is an indication of our “heart,” how can churches and pastors avoid teaching on the important issue of giving?

Knowing God through Giving

Giving is a spiritual issue and in fact, a relational issue with God. In order to truly yield to God’s ownership of our possessions, we must evaluate carefully what may be the most telling evidence of our stewardship – the part we give. Just as we decide on what we spend on an appliance or how much we will put in a savings or retirement account, we must also have to decide how much money we will give. Even to give nothing is a decision. Stewards are accountable in each decision to please the owner.

Many see the responsibility of giving as a burden. How sad that is in light of Paul’s reminder that God loves a cheerful giver. Giving is actually a relational decision. In the process of making giving decisions we really establish our agreement with God about stewardship. As we continually decide to give, we constantly affirm how much we value our relationship to God as His children. And as God’s stewards, giving decisions are simply a matter of thinking through how He wants us to allocate His money.

An amazing benefit of giving as stewards is that it releases us from the real burden of our own financial needs. As we learn to trust God through giving, we can live confidently on what is left because we know that God is taking care of that. Giving is a freeing experience as it connects us more closely to God relationally. The ultimate outcome is that those who give as stewards experience a sense of intimacy with God that all followers of Christ long for. Giving becomes worship. Giving becomes a way of saying thanks to God for His grace and promised provision. Giving becomes a deep part of our personal connection to God.

Three Widows who Trusted God

1. The Widow of Zarephath – 860 BC (1 Kings 17:7-14)

This passage tells us the story of God providing for a widow in a small town northwest of Galilee along the Mediterranean Coast. After a 3 ½ year drought, God sent Elijah to this widow living in financial fears. There had been a terrible ominous fear growing in her heart for several years. There was no rain in the land. She could not grow anything. There was no welfare – especially in pagan Sidon. This wasn’t Israel where people at least knew they were supposed to care for the widow and the poor. As far as she knew, the starvation process would begin after this meal. There was nothing to eat anywhere.

And then the prophet Elijah showed up. First he wanted a drink. His brook had dried up and he was thirsty. She must have had some source of water, so in spite of her own desperate plight, she does the proper oriental thing and aided the traveler. But his next request stopped her in her tracks. Bring me bread, he asked.

Right. Kick me when I’m down, she must have thought. I have no bread. I’m about to die with my son, and you want me to bring you bread. But Elijah does not back down on his request. He sets in place a test of this woman’s heart. He says, Don’t be afraid. Go make bread like you said, but make mine first (1 Kings 17:13).

This sounds rather selfish of Elijah, but Elijah represents the God of Israel. And the God of Israel and heaven and earth is sovereign – and to be obeyed. And as God’s representative, Elijah promises her a miracle – but she has to make his cake of bread first.

Now the woman has a decision to make. Do I divide my very last meal? This means that I and my son will not even have the hunger pains subside today – in the scant hope that something might be found tomorrow. It means the hunger starts today, not tomorrow.

Shall I do it, she had to wonder. This is a man of God, representing the living and true God. He has promised to provide miraculously for me. But do I really believe it? Do I believe it enough to give this man bread that leaves me hungry today?

She decides to trust God, but perhaps not without a large degree of doubt. Maybe she even had a “What do I have to lose?” attitude. So she made the bread – dividing the little she had and giving to Elijah first.

How does it work out for this widow? 1 Kings 17:15-16 tells, us, "She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. {16} For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah."

God did the miracle! Perhaps it was the next morning after feeding Elijah that the miracle occurred. Did she wake up hungry and inch toward the empty vessels she left on her simple table the night before? What am I doing by thinking and hoping that there is something in here? But in the morning light she grasps the flour jar to pick it up. It seems to be stuck to the table. Is it possible…? I emptied it. No! It’s not stuck. It’s full! She grabs the oil jug. It’s full too. Maybe she screams in delight. Maybe she wakes up Elijah and her son.

And maybe Elijah had a sleepy, “I told you so,” look on his face. The questions come stumbling out: Where did… How did you…?

But for this woman of faith who gave first there was bread for today. God gave her and her son their daily bread.

We don’t know how God did it. Maybe there was an angel on special assignment each day – just to fill this widow’s jug and jar. (It must be a great job – being an angel!) But in some way God created extra oil and ground flour continuously for this one widow and her son and God’s servant Elijah until the rains came again.

God spoke the seed-bearing plants into existence on day six of creation, so He just carried it through a little further this day. God went into the flour-making business and oil-pressing business for a brief time because this special woman loved, trusted and obeyed Him.

I imagine that life was never quite the same for this woman spiritually. The God whom she only knew at a distance was now her Divine Provider. He cared personally for her.

Does God still do that? Certainly. That’s the way God is. He cares about us personally and reaches out to us relationally when we are devoted to Him. “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) It should be no surprise to us that God uses the area of financial giving to test our heart and then to draw us close as we trust and obey Him.

Let’s just make a few observations about this widow that might fit our situation:

• She was a believer in the true God.
• She had serious financial needs herself.
• She was asked to give away a big part of the little she had.
• She heard God’s promise to provide for her if she gave.
• She believed God’s promise and first gave obediently to God.
• God show His care by providing for her needs miraculously!

Let’s fast forward to another widow about AD 30.

2. The Widow and Jesus at the temple – 30 AD

Jesus and His disciples were at the temple in Jerusalem sitting where people put in offerings for the temple treasury. It was Passover time and the town was extra full. At feast times like this, people who came to the temple would often give extra gifts. This wasn’t the tithe. It was not obligation. These were special gifts that were supposed to be given as personal worship.

But of course worship is not proven by a gift or anything external. Worship is what goes on in the heart. And that is what we learn by the Bible’s account of what took place next.

"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. {42} But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. {43} Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. {44} They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

Jesus doesn’t say anything against the wealthy people who gave at the temple this day. He doesn’t say that the wealthy were wrongly motivated. But Jesus noticed a particular widow whose heart was genuinely committed to giving as worship. And Jesus makes the divine observation that this woman gave MORE than the wealthy!

She gave the smallest of all imaginable gifts. It was two tiny coins. These coins – lepta – were little bronze pieces weighing less than a gram each. (A penny weighs about 3 grams.) Together these two coins equaled 1/16th of a denarius. We know that a laborer could earn a denarius per day (Mathew 20:9-10), so for comparison, the amount she gave was about what a laborer today would earn in a half hour (a half hour of minimum wage).

So on one hand what made her gift remarkable was how small it was. But ironically, what made her gift remarkable to Jesus was how large it was! What make this gift so large was that it was all the money she had.

Perhaps this woman had some simple housekeeping job or something where she earned this amount each day. We aren’t told if she had any source of possible income. But we do know that she emptied her bank account that day. She had every reason not to give. But she wanted to worship and thus, in the eyes of Jesus, she gave more than those who gave large amounts out of their wealth. The gifts given by others were expendable income. It didn’t affect them really in any way. Her gift was essential income.

This is how God views giving today. God always sees the sacrifice of giving. That’s where the worship of giving really happens. It costs. King David once said, I will not sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing (1 Chronicles 21:24 ).

Jesus didn’t make any promise here of God’s future provision for her. In fact, we don’t even know that Jesus spoke to her at all. It doesn’t say. But what do we think about this woman’s future? Do we think she had what she needed in the days to come? Do we think Jesus used her this day for an illustration and then abandoned her – and she starved? Certainly not. God’s not like that. God certainly cared for this needy woman.

Jesus pointed her out because He recognized the sincerity of her heart. This woman has stood through the ages as a model for giving, not simply because her giving ratio exceeded the gifts of others, but because the sacrifice indicated her deep love for God. Love for God is the goal. Sacrificial giving is a means of establishing and expressing that closeness with Him.

Again, let’s learn some basic lessons from this incident:

• We are never too poor to give.
• Giving generously means trusting God for the future.
• God is honored by our degree of sacrifice, not the amount.
• Giving is worship that expresses our relationship to God.

Here is one more true story of a widow who gave.

3. The Widow and God’s business (1990’s)

This story took place in modern times. It’s told in Ron Blue’s book, Generous Living (published in 1997). It’s the story of Christian woman named Ruby.

Ruby’s husband, Bob, was dying of cancer. Fifteen years earlier he had started a company that manufactured water treatment chemicals. Now in his waning days, his adult daughter had quit her teaching job to help with the business along with Bob’s wife Ruby. Ruby knew business was slow, but she was shocked to find out from her daughter that the company was actually on the verge of bankruptcy. Some bills were 36 months overdue. Bob had kept the problems secret to avoid burdening her, but now the truth was out.

As she began to pray about the desperate condition of the business, God impressed upon her something that she had previously learned from God’s Word about giving. She sensed from God that she was supposed to start giving from the business account.

She asked her husband’s permission and he agreed they had nothing to lose. Ruby went to the company secretary and told her to write a $1000 check to their church. The long-time secretary protested that there was really no money in the account and there were many bills that should be paid first if they had the money. But Ruby insisted and the check went out.

The next week Bob died. It wasn’t until a month later that Ruby went back to the company she now owned. She asked the secretary what happened to the check that was written to the church. She replied, Ruby, you won’t believe this, but there was somehow enough money in the account to cover it.

Write another one, Ruby said. Never, the secretary said. But Ruby prevailed as the owner. And for a whole year they contributed $1000 a month – the checks just barely clearing each month. The following year the business began to flourish and in that next year all the past due bills got paid. Ruby increased the company giving to the point where at the time of the writing of Ron Blue’s book they were giving $20,000 a month to ministry purposes.

Actual results may vary – like all the disclaimers say. This is just one person’s story. The giving principle, as we will see in future study, is not about getting rich. Don’t misunderstand the point. The widow who fed Elijah and the widow in the temple probably just got by financially throughout the rest of their lives. Ruby may have become wealthy. God is still sovereign in how much He provides. The amount is not the issue, but it is encouraging to learn that God miraculously provides. God honors those who have trusted him not only in 800 BC or 30 AD; His provision continues for givers today.

Ruby is one of a long line of people who in their need have reached out to the God who provides. That reach toward God is expressed through financially giving that we tests our trust, but then rewards us with a closer connection to God.

Giving connects us with God personally

These stories are not just about God’s reward for giving. They pull back the curtain on God’s desire to connect relationally with us. The widow who fed Elijah believed God’s promise and got to know and enjoy God because she trusted Him. The widow at the temple already was a worshipper. She didn’t come to the temple that day the way we often come to church – asking, What will I get out of it? She came to give as worship. And Ruby in those months of grieving while learning to manage a business certainly drew closer to God as the One who would now provide for her as she trusted Him through giving.

Giving was the crucial element that connected each of them to God as they stretched out to Him in personal trust. Giving connects us relationally with God. Giving is not about us; giving is about our relationship to God. Giving connects us to God relationally in a several significant ways.

1. Giving establishes our humility before God.

What does the IRS call the money that we can deduct from our income because we gave it away? It’s called “charitable giving.” How is charitable giving defined by our world? It’s giving some of what we have to help out people who are needy or suffering. That’s a good thing to be sure, but in the world’s way of thinking, we are benefactors if we give. Those to whom we give are recipients. There is a certain superiority in that concept. Benefactors are put on the pedestal because they gave something away. Recipients feel small because they are in need of someone else’s generosity.

If that’s what giving is to us, it is not biblical giving. Giving does not make one superior at all. God of course is not in need of my gift. Giving is about me expressing to God that He is my superior. Giving is about me putting myself into a rightful humble relationship with God because He is the Owner and I am the steward. I am simply giving something to Him to express that I understand His ownership.

Deuteronomy 26:8-10 describes how giving expresses humble dependence, "So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. {9} He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; {10} and now I bring the Firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him."

The steward who gives to God is not superior at all. He is to bow before God the recipient! Giving here is how Israel expressed their humble gratitude to God for what He let them enjoy. You gave it to me, Lord. You are really the owner, the benefactor. Biblical givers are not superior because they are stewards. Obviously owners are superior to stewards.

On a human level, giving doesn’t elevate us over others either. In fact giving is not a people thing at all; it’s always a “God and me” thing. That’s where the world’s view and the biblical view of giving are going in totally different directions. When we give we are recognizing our relationship to God as a manager of his money. It places us in our proper position under God.

If we give financially to other people with a smug attitude of superiority and condescension, we have tipped our hand that we are not really a steward of God at all. Or if we give to have our name in print or placed on a bronze plaque, we better enjoy it, because that’s all that we will ever get. Jesus said of people like that, They have their reward in full (Matthew 6:2).

What Moses was saying in Deuteronomy 26:8-10 is that God gave them their land and God gave them their blessings. His point is that our gifts are really just recognition of who God is. By giving, the Israelites were saying back to God, You have placed me in charge temporarily of this little bit of real estate. I am bringing my gift to you not because I’m big or wonderful, but because you are. That’s the attitude God is seeking in us.

2. Giving is worship

The computer program, Google Earth, allows you to zoom down from a picture of the globe to the level your house – via satellite photo. When I zoom down to a picture of our church property, I can see my car parked out front on the day the satellite took the picture. When I zoomed down to my house, I could even see my grill on the patio. But what strikes me as the computer is zooming down is how very, very, very tiny my place is – in the perspective of the earth. Even if I owned 10 square miles of land and houses, or owned the Taj Mahal, I would still own very little.

But God owns the earth (Ps. 24:1)! So what posture should a person have as they bring their gift? Bow down. Bow down! God is great. The Israelite had in his hand a tiny portion of a single crop, but it served to acknowledge the greatness of the God who made all the crops throughout the world in all ages. Our gift might be big to us because it’s a sacrifice, but to God it’s big only because it acknowledges His infinite ownership. This little bit I call “giving” is actually just my way of saying, You own it all.

The tiny cake of bread for Elijah, two lepta for the temple, a measly 1000 bucks from Ruby, or our check to support the church is big in God’s grand scheme only if the gift acknowledges and worships the real giver, the real Owner.

Giving is literally worship. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops."

The Hebrew word “honor” means to “glorify” or to acknowledge the importance of something. Its root meaning is that something is heavy or weighty and thus significant or important. When applied to God, honoring Him means that we ascribe to Him the significance that He deserves as God.

When we bring our “first fruits” – our gift to some ministry from our income – we should write that check to express how important God is. He is the “heavyweight” – the priority – in my life. The needs I meet are secondary. My primary need is to worship.

And when we give to acknowledge that God is the owner, and when we give to express our worship and honor, there will arise within us an expectation and confidence that God is so powerful and faithful that He will not only use our gifts for His larger eternal purposes, but also that God will meet our needs as well.

You see, financial giving trains our heart in another crucial part of our relationship with God. Do we really trust God – about everything?

3. Giving expresses our trust in God.

Do we trust what God is doing in our human relationships, our careers, and our health? Do we really trust God? How do we develop trust in God? Financial giving is actually one of God’s key training grounds to produce a trust connection between us and Him.

Giving is test. (Malachi 3:10) “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

We will talk more about the issue of God blessing our trust in giving later, but for now, just notice the test. God was probing and correcting the issue of their trust in Him.

Giving really is about trusting God. Because, like the widows we studied, giving means that we have less. It’s simple math. 10-1=9. I have less if I tithe.

There is nothing more relational than trust. If we trust our wife or our husband it means that we don’t have to check on them. If we trust your teammate, we know they’ll be there where we need them to be. If we trust our friend, we know they’ll keep their promise.

Trust is always based on a relationship. Once we have gotten to know someone’s character we can predict much of what they will do. But even in the times when we don’t know for sure what they will do, we don’t sweat it, because we know their character well enough to trust them to do what is in our best interest.

Do we know and trust God? Do we know His character? God wants us to know and trust Him so that even when we can’t see for sure what He is doing, we don’t doubt Him. Financial concerns seem to be an area that tests the trust of all people no matter what economic level they are. God wants to use this constant tangible area of life to draw us closer to Him. As we give back to God in sacrificial worship, we are telling God that we really do trust Him. As a result He is honored and we are come to know the peace of trusting God with our financial situation.

A Personal Story

Over the 30 years of our marriage, God has used financial giving and His provision to teach us that God is really individually active in our life. In 1977 Priscilla and I were just married and trying to pay my college tuition and all other living expenses on Priscilla’s small salary working at the Bible College and my part time work. We were financially tight, plus we knew we had seven years of school and tuition ahead of us before I would be through seminary – and get a real job. Our church hosted at seminar one weekend with a speaker who taught us what the Bible said about being stewards, not owners, and about giving a regular, sacrificial percentage of our income back to God to express our worship, as well as our trust in Him about our finances.

So we began to tithe – giving back to God 10% of our income. In one way it seemed terribly much because it left us even less to pay our bills. In another way it seemed ridiculously small, compared to the budget of the church we were attending and the needs of the first missionary we began to support. But based on what we saw in God’s word, we had a husband-wife talk where we made that commitment.

That starting point in our giving was the best financial decision we ever made, but also a crucial relational decision with God. We’ve not only had the privilege of giving seeing how God used our gifts, we’ve had the opportunity to experience the testing and proving of God’s faithfulness in our lives – through finances. We will never forget a couple of substantial gifts that came to us from the most unlikely sources – but at a critical time of financial need.

Over the years since, like everyone else, we have experienced many other difficulties that tested our faith – children, health and ministry issues. But as different issues have arisen, one of the reasons we know that God will be faithful to us is because of what He has taught us about Himself through finances. The biggest benefit of giving has not been simply that our needs have been met; the biggest benefit is the first hand knowledge that the God of heaven personally knows and cares for us.

Part 5 – Biblical Financial Stewardship

Rewards

Everyone knows that rewards work. If you are going to train a dog to do tricks, you better have some doggie biscuits in your pocket. If you are trying to potty train a toddler, rewards are pretty handy also. The credit card industry has also gotten the hint and they compete for our credit business by offering rewards to use for free flights, discounts, cash back or some other form of return. And we as consumers figure that since we have to buy stuff anyhow, we might as well get something back. It’s our human nature to look for rewards or return.

As we have studied financial giving in God’s word, we hopefully felt the need to evaluate our giving. And we probably have wondered what would happen if we did begin to give what we think God wants us to give. Would anything change for me? Would I be better off financially? Would I simply be better off spiritually? What would happen?

Hebrews 11:6 says that God “rewards those who earnestly seek him." God rewards. It’s just the way God is. God is not in anyone’s debt.

The rewards we discuss in this study are not a deal we can make with God. He is sovereign and we can’t make Him do anything. Our motive must remain rooted in simple thankfulness for His grace. But we can know that when the books of earth are closed someday in eternity, no one will ever say that they give more to God than He gave to them.

A Generous Woman (2 Kings 4:8-37; 8:1-6)

Around 850 BC, a wealthy woman in Shunem, about 5 miles south of Nazareth, one day asked Elisha the traveling prophet to eat at her home (2 Kings 4:8-10). He did so and her house soon became a regular stop whenever Elisha came through the area.

Helping Elisha must have somehow been rewarding to the woman, because she began to think of ways that she might be able to bless him even more. She told her husband that she wanted to build a small addition onto the home to give Elisha his own furnished room when he came. Then he would be able to come and relax there. What a blessing! And that’s exactly what they did.

This Shunamite woman was much like several families I have known in our church and elsewhere who have space in their homes that they developed largely to offer it to house missionaries while they are at home in the United States. They have generously spent their money and give their hospitality in the spirit of this Shunamite woman.

Now this woman didn’t do this to “get” anything. She didn’t make a deal with God that if she built this room for Elisha, she expected certain things back from God. She seemingly just gave as God led her. But what happened? Elisha wondered aloud if there was a way that He could bless her and his servant Gehazi mentioned that she didn’t have a son (2 Kings 4:11-13). Evidently it was a real desire of her heart that so far had not been fulfilled. So Elisha the prophet promised her a son. And God came through as Elisha promised! This woman who had been childless had a bouncing baby boy! God is certainly a rewarder! The blessing of a child was a far greater blessing to her than she had even been to Elisha.

A Generous God

Now the story doesn’t end here. This child grew and as a boy one day working with his dad in the fields, he suddenly died. Of course the woman was heart broken – and even angry at God and Elisha. She laid the body of her only son on Elisha’s bed in his room and went to find Elisha. In her bitter grief she said, "Did I ask you for a son, my lord?" she said. "Didn't I tell you, 'Don't raise my hopes" (2 Kings 4:28)?

So Elisha went to her house, prayed and laid himself over the body of the boy and God gave her son life again. God gave her a son to begin with and the God raised him from the dead, giving him to her again.

God is a giver. But we learn that when we give to God, there is no guarantee that life will suddenly be wonderful and without pain. When we give, we will still be tested.

There was yet another time when this Shunamite woman was tested – this time financially (2 Kings 8:1-6). Elisha told this woman to leave the land of Israel because God had revealed to him that a seven year famine was coming.

Evidently the Shunamite woman’s husband who was older had died by then because now she was a widow. So she left the country of Israel to avoid the famine. But what evidently happened in those days is that if you left the country for an extended time, your abandoned land would become either the property of the king or perhaps of a relative. But whoever had it, evidently it was no sure thing that you would get it back.

So when the Shunamite woman came back to the land, she went before the king to beg to get her land back. This is where God’s rewarding character is again obvious. When this woman comes to King Joram, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, just happened to be talking to the king. Imagine that! And the king has just at that moment had asked Gehazi to tell him about his master Elisha’s miracles.

(2 Kings 8:5-6) "Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life." {6} The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, "Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.”

So how did this woman’s generosity work out in the long run? Her gifts to God were initially just meals for Elijah and then she built and furnished a small room for him. God’s gifts to her included the birth of a son, the resurrection of her son, advance warning of a 7-year famine and then God made sure she received her land back – plus seven years income!

God is an incredible rewarder to those who give to Him out of a grateful heart. But along with the principle we find in Old Testament scriptures the principle that those who refuse to give miss out on God’s blessings.

Robbing God of Tithes under the Old Covenant

In the time of Malachi the prophet (about 400 BC), there were serious spiritual problems in Israel. The book of Malachi addresses several of them. The Israelites were bringing God sacrifices consisting of their maimed animals (1:7-8). The priests had stopped teaching the word of God accurately (2:1-9). Furthermore, the Israelites had married unbelievers (2:11-16) and were divorcing their wives (2:13-16). They were even saying that evil people were good (2:17). Included in God’s rebuke through the prophet Malachi was proof that they had turned from God as shown by the fact that they stopped giving their tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:7-9).

At first they denied that they had turned from God (Malachi 3:7). They seems to have protested that they had done nothing wrong, What do you mean, return to God? I’m doing fine with God. I don’t need to change anything.

And then interestingly Malachi uses as their failure to give financially as evidence of their spiritual state. He tells them, You’ve robbed God. Now they are really sputtering. How do we rob God?

(Malachi 3:8-9) "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. {9} You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me.” The failure to bring their tithes and offerings is called robbing God.

Tithes are a largely misunderstood part of Bible teaching about giving. “Tithe” is a Bible term that means 1/10th. Tithing was an obligation under the covenant of the Old Testament law. The first 10% of their crops went to God. The following chart describe the basic tithing requirements under the Law.

Giving Forms in the Old Testament

1. Regular Tithes = 10% of crops (income) given each year to the Lord (Leviticus 27:30) OBLIGATION

a. Provided regular income for Levites and Priests serving at the temple in Jerusalem (Numbers 18:21-26)

b. Provided means for having three special feasts in Jerusalem each year (or if they lived too far away, they could bring money – Deuteronomy 14:22-26)

2. 2nd Tithe every 3rd year = 3.33% OBLIGATION

c. Used to support the local Levites and the needy (Deut. 14:27-29)

3. Personal Offerings – Any other gifts (2 Kings 12:4; Mark 12:41 – voluntary vows, gifts). VOLUNTARY

There is some scholarly discussion and disagreement on the details of the tithing laws. It is possible that the feasting tithe (1/a above) was actually a 2^nd separate tithe and thus it would mean an additional 10% tithe was required. This would actually make the annual “tithe” a total of 23.3% of one’s yearly income. But we’ll assume for now that it was part of the 1st tithe. Even then, the basic Israelite farmer would be giving an average of 13.3% per year as an obligation. Then they could and should give offerings above the tithe as thanks or praise.

These additional personal offerings were personal worship decisions. An example of this would be the widow at temple we studied who gave her two small copper coins while the wealthy threw in large amounts (Mark 12:41). These gifts were over and above tithing. When Josiah collected money to restore the temple, that was all above the tithes (2 Kings 12:4). And these financial offerings still did not account for many of the sin offerings and other offerings that involved animals or produce of the field.

So under the giving system of the Law, an obedient Israelite would be giving 13% (or maybe 23%) that was their obligation, plus whatever God led them to give above that in personal offerings.

Malachi rebuked the Israelites of his day who for the most part were not giving their tithes and offerings. He said that they had thus robbed God. As it turns out, they were actually robbing themselves of God’s blessings. Notice the promise of God to the Israelites if they were to repent of their failure to give.

Blessings for Giving in the Old Testament

(Malachi 3:10-12) "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. {11} I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. {12} "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty."

God is promising Israel financial success as a reward for tithing. Now before we start planning on building a new home and buying that yacht because we are going to give, we need to remember several things. 1) God’s purpose in rewarding us is not so that we can become selfishly wealthy. 2) We do not have the promise about tithing repeated today in the New Testament. We live under the new covenant and we actually don’t have a tithing law in the New Testament. No one can tell you that you must give 10% or 13% plus other voluntary offerings. That was the Old Covenant.

But it would seem a bit strange that we would make it our goal in this age of grace to do less than what was required under the law. In His teaching Jesus often challenged people to live by a higher standard now under grace than what Moses had required under the law (e.g. Matthew 5:27, 28).

So although the law of tithing and the financial promises of tithing are not in force today, we find from the words of Jesus and from the epistles of the New Testament that the general principle of God’s promises to givers are still true.

Blessings for Givers according to Jesus

Jesus taught the basic principle that God rewards those who are generous not only financially, but generous in spirit. Listen to the words of Christ.

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. What kind of reward? It doesn’t say – perhaps here, perhaps heaven. {36} Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. {37} "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:35-37)

People who do good to others generally find themselves blessed with the same kind of graciousness with which they treat others. God makes sure that happens somehow. Jesus says next that God gives back even more than a generous merchant.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)"

A “good measure” meant that when you bought grain in the market, the merchant didn’t do to you what the potato chip people do to us. When we open the potato chip bag we often find it half empty when we think it’s going to be full. But a generous merchant would fill his measure to the brim and then press it down and shake it so it settles so he could get a little more in before giving it to you as the costumer.

Jesus says God is like that generous merchant – only more so! God will reward us in such abundance of blessings that they will be overflowing our basket and filling the robe in our lap. God is just that way! He will not be out-given.

What kind of giving is Jesus talking about? He could mean money, but He could also be referring to anything of ours that we give away – time, concern for others, encouragement, money or other material things. And what kind of return or blessing is Jesus promising? God may give back to us in many ways. In His miraculous way He can choose to bless us financially through finding us good deals, preventing high expenses or by providing raises or more hours and overtime. But it could be also be that God bless our “giving” by rewarding us with unexpected time to relax even though we had given away time to serve others. It could be that God miraculously bless our marriage, restores relationships or health or any number of good things.

At our church we need to replace our entire roof one fall. We hired a contractor who was willing to work with our volunteers. Many guys gave up their time in the evenings and Saturday to help on the project and the total cost was far below the estimate of having a contractor do it all. How did God reward those who volunteered to help? I don’t know all the ways, but I am confident that they were rewarded with joy, fellowship and even God’s provision of time that they needed for their own family and personal projects.

Those who give time regularly to serving others in their church, family and community are not shortchanged in the long run. Providentially, God takes care of the time needs of those who gave time, the financial needs of those who give financially and the encouragement needs of those who give encouragement.

From what we’ve seen from the Shunemmite woman and from the tithing promises of Malachi and Jesus’ words to us here, we can be sure that God will reward our financial giving. We may not get wealthy, but no one will get to heaven and think, Boy, I got the raw end of that giving stuff.

Blessings for givers in the church age

In the New Testament God’s promises to givers include a great variety of both spiritual and financial blessings. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 Paul urges the church at Corinth to give to an offering he is collecting for famine relief for believers in Jerusalem. At the end of his exhortation he lists some of the blessings they will experience if they do.

If God is working in our heart to produce a new attitude of giving based on stewardship, contentment, trust and worship, then what God wants us to know very clearly from the following passages is that we will never regret it.

The general principle is exactly what Jesus taught: God blesses givers; “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-14). Here are other blessings Paul describes that will come just from participating in this offering for needy believers in Jerusalem.

1. We will have enough to live on (8). “…having all that you need.”

2. Our ministry will multiply (8,11). “You will abound in every good work… [God] will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

3. We will have enough to give more (10-11). “[God] will also supply and increase your store of seed … {11} You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion”

4. People will thank for supplying their needs (12) “… your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God … supplying the needs of God's people…”

5. People will praise God for your obedience to God and generosity (13)… “Men will praise God for the obedience … and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.”

6. People will pray for you (14) “And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you."

If we are privileged to live the kind of life described above, our life will be richly blessed indeed! As I look over this list of God’s rewards, I find that all six of these blessing describe God’s reward on the lives of my wife and I. It certainly does not mean that there are not many other struggles or trials in our lives, but as we have given to God financially as He has directed us concerning our local church and other ministries, He really has given us these rewards.

To appreciate God’s rewards, we have to adjust our expectations. Those who teach that it’s God’s will that Christians should be wealthy appeal to the selfishness of our hearts. They suppose that “godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Timothy 6:5). The problem with that thinking is first of all that God never promises that in the New Testament and secondly, that if we give in order to live selfishly, we forfeit the real rewards God promised here.

If we struggle with a constant desire to be better off financially, we must note in the passage above what Paul promised the Corinthians. The reason why God will bless them financially is not so that they can spend it on upgrading their lifestyle, but so that they could give more. “[God] will also supply and increase your store of seed … {11} You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion” (2 Corinthians 9:10-11).

The principle is not that we should “Give to Get.” God’s word is saying that we should “Give to Get, to Give more.” God rewards that kind of an unselfish heart.

More Rewards from God for Givers

Paul’s letter to the Philippians reveals his own financial struggle and how he learned to be content through Christ even when he was hungry (Philippians 4:11-13). But in this section Paul stresses that he really did appreciate the financial gift that the church in Philippi sent him. Paul had received a gift from them for his support, just as a church budget pays salaries for pastors and missionaries,.

Philippi is one of those Macedonian churches we studied previously who gave to the offering for Jerusalem out of their poverty (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Since this letter to the Philippians was written about seven years later, we realize that they didn’t quit giving with that single offering. Philippians 4:10-20 is really Paul’s thank you note for that gift. And in his note, Paul includes additional promises of rewards from God for giving.

1. Eternal Rewards are placed on our account (Philippians 4:17-19) “Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. Where are these rewards? These are rewards awaiting us in heaven!

2. We have the Privilege of Pleasing God (4:19) “I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”

3. All our needs including money will be supplied by God {19} And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

All means all. God is promising not only material blessings. This is a much better promise than even the Old Testament promise of material blessings. This is a promise of incredible blessing throughout our life.

Will life still be hard at time for givers? Yes. Will it actually be hard to give at times? Yes? Will there be doubts and fears about giving? Yes. But God will bless. We can just leave that part up to God.

Should we give to get? No. We should give out of gratitude for what God did for us through Christ. But God wanted us to know that He will not ignore our gift or be out-given. God rewards those who give.

Forming a Giving Plan

Now, if giving is new to us, or if God is working in our heart in some new way, we need to make some practical decisions about where to give and how much.

The New Testament describes three crucial parts of a giving plan.

1. Give Proportionately

Two key passages from Paul to the Corinthians make the point that God expects our giving to reflect our income in some proportionate sense. Our giving should be a reflection of the income God has given to us. Paul called it giving “according to your means.” (2 Corinthians 8:11).

Even clearer are his instructions when the offering for the Jerusalem church was first announced. (1 Corinthians 16:2) "On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made."

A George Barna poll in 1999 revealed that, “Evangelicals are the most generous givers, but fewer than 10% of born again Christians gave 10% or more to their church.” (George Barna. News release by Barna Research Group, April 5, 2000.) Also according to Barna, in 2000 14% of evangelicals said that they tithed. In 2001, 12% claimed to tithe. After 911, in 2002, the polls showed that it fell to 6%. However accurate the polls may be, it’s nonetheless obvious that only a small number of those who claim to be believers and to acknowledge the Bible as God’s word are giving even at the most minimal Old Testament standard.

Paul would not say that we must tithe, but tithing can serve us as a basic principle for proportionate giving. For some who are beginning, it might be a target to plan toward. For some it might just be a starting point.

We as believers today give with a full understanding of God’s grace and of God’s promises. So while the tithe should not obligate us, it also should not limit us!

What Paul seems to say in 1 Corinthians 16:2 is that we should simply decide on a percentage of our income to give regularly. Then it’s just a simple pre-spending decision that that comes off the top of every paycheck or other source if income. In one sense it is a simple as taxes – just a lot more fun. Beyond what we decide to give proportionately, there may be many other occasions when God shows us a need to which He prompts us to give.

If we make financial decisions alone, we can simply pray and decide what percent we should begin with or move toward. If we are married we should pray for and with our spouse that we to be able to come to an agreement of what to give jointly. It’s a spiritual exercise that can affect not only our finances but our marriage. If the discussion of what to give becomes an argument about spending and whose fault the money problems are, then a couple knows that they need to explore the whole concept of being God’s stewards. The need to give is part of a the whole issue of living as stewards.

Some of us might think that we can’t afford to give up to 10% when we can’t seem to afford to live on what we have now. Indeed it can seem impossibly out of reach, but as we think like stewards and worshippers, God begins to make it possible. That’s where trust begins and God’s promises kick in.

In coming chapters as we learn what God says about practical areas like spending and debt, we will realize that God wants to free and enable us financially so that we can give. Generous proportional giving can be a reality for every one who follows Christ.

So tithing is not a rule, but proportionate giving is God’s plan. The second principle we find in Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians is that proportionate giving needs to be regular.

2. Give Consistently according to a plan

Paul taught the Corinthians to give regularly. (1 Corinthians 16:2) "On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money…."

Paul was telling them to get ready for the offering by setting aside a regular amount each week when they came together to worship. This does not establish a rule that everyone must give every week, but it does establish the principle that regularity is key to proportionate giving. Just giving when we feel like it will probably lead to less and less commitment.

Consistent giving is possible even though we may get paid at very different intervals. Those in business or who receive commissions obviously have a bigger challenge at giving consistently. One suggestion for Christians who work on commissions is that they should establish a consistent budget of both spending and giving that is based on a conservative estimate of their income. Not only does that avoid the volatility of a feast and famine approach to expenses, it also enables giving to be consistent.

It’s pretty easy for me to give consistently because I have a regular salary. My dad, however, was a farmer and had two main harvests a year. One crop was harvested in early summer and one in the fall. This meant that Dad had just two main paychecks each year. But my memory is that he wrote a check every week to the church. He somehow had averaged out what he intended to give. But I also remember that at harvest time he and mom would also write out a lot of extra checks to different ministries – because that’s when the income was finally determined and more money was available to give.

We have complete freedom in how much we give and how often, but as in all areas of life, we need a plan that has some consistency. Regularity holds us accountable and it also enables the ministries that we support to be able to count on the gifts they need.

3. Give personally, willingly and cheerfully

As God moves in our hearts to be faithful givers as His stewards, probably the most important decision we make is about our attitude.

Paul states it directly, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)

We should give personally. No other person can tell you how much exactly to give. But as we seek God in prayer, God will direct us. If we have a sincere desire to be a steward, and if we are giving out of worship, gratitude and trust, we need to simply decide on a percentage to begin at for now.

If giving is an issue between me and God, then it is also crucial that we give willingly. At times we will need to pray for a willing and eager spirit, just as we need to do about any ministry or area of commitment in our life.

Part of giving willingly as worship to God is that fact that God is some very personal sense loves a cheerful giver. Give cheerfully to God.

There’s an old story about a father who gave his son a dime and a quarter. He told his son that he should give one of them in the Sunday School offering and then he could keep the other coin. But the father reminded him, Remember, God loves a cheerful giver. Later, the dad asked which coin the child had given. He replied, Well, Dad, you said that God loves a cheerful giver, and I decided that I’d be more cheerful if I kept the quarter.

We naturally think we would indeed be more cheerful keeping or spending as much as possible on ourselves. But if we have already lived that way – keeping and spending and hoarding – how cheerful has it really made us?

Paul’s word cheerful here is the Greek word hilaros which is where we get our English word hilarious. The Greek term does not quite have the connotation of hilarity, but the general idea is that when we give in gratitude for God’s grace to us, it should be a happy occasion.

And why shouldn’t it be? Giving is really somewhat of a legal form of insider trading. We have just seen the list of what God does when we give motivated by His grace. God’s blessings to givers are abundant. We as believers have an insider’s knowledge of all God’s dividends for givers. Giving should be joyful when we are guaranteed such returns.

Deciding Where to Give

We have seen that the Old Testament tithe went to support the worship and ministry of Israel at the temple. It was essentially the Old Testament equivalent of the local church. The local church would seem to be the biblical place to start giving proportionately. The epistles of the New Testament describe the need to support elders/pastors who teach the word (1 Timothy 5:17-18; Galatians 6:6). The point was that when we receive our regular spiritual “food” and encouragement from those who teach and lead us in the local church, they should be supported financially.

Along with such teachers are the financial support needs of others who preach the gospel such as Paul – who was financially supported much like missionaries today (1 Corinthians 9:4-14). Most missionary support today goes through the local church as well today. Finally, benevolence gifts are frequently channeled through local churches as well.

So the local church would seem to be the primary place to give financially based on the worship precedent of the Old Testament as well as the support principles of the New Testament. The necessity to have places to meet and to provide other ministry materials in our modern culture also points to the church as being the primary focus of biblical giving today.

In addition there are of course many other worthy ministries who support and supplement the ministry of the local church. One of the most exciting means of giving is to personally connect to missionary families and other ministry needs through regular giving. Our children learned the joy of giving their “tithe money” to missionary families that knew personally.

If we ask God to lead us to personal needs and ministries, He will be very creative in matching our hearts with His purposes.

Other Forms of Giving

Cash will probably be the normal currency of giving for most today, but giving has always taken various forms. In Bible times all the way to early America, support for pastors often came through providing food. Later it became norm to provide a parsonage as a home.

Going back to Old Testament times, people gave material, valuables and other items needed to build, assemble and furnish the tabernacle (Exodus 35:22-29). Today a person might give items that they know a missionary or someone else needs. IRS laws in the US allow tax deductions for “gifts in kind” just as it does for direct cash gifts.

When the church started in Jerusalem people sold items of value and gave it to support people in the church (Acts 2:44-45). Acts 4 tells about people who sold some of their assets of land to make significant gifts to the new church at Jerusalem and gave it to the apostles to distribute to those in need (Acts 4:34-37).

Christians today can give creatively and substantially to ministry needs to which God directs them by selling items of value, donating stocks, or including a church or ministry in their estate plan.

God prompts and provides ways for us to give that uniquely part of his plan and fit us perfectly. Then God rewards and blesses our giving in many ways.

Manuel’s Story

Dr. Gene Getz (Real Prosperity, Moody Press. 1990 pp.47-48) reports a story from Lyle Eggleston, a missionary church planter in Chile in the late 80’s. Lyle desired to continue to plant churches, but it was crucial for the church where he was working to first of all become self-supporting. Unfortunately, the offerings at the church were averaging only about six dollars a week and the idea of Lyle leaving to start another church was not promising.

Then God began to work in this church through one rather poor couple who asked Lyle to teach them about financial giving. They had been reading on their own about tithing and ask Lyle to teach them more about it. Manuel was an out-of-work carpenter and their only income was selling the eggs from 20 Rhode Island Red hens. Lyle almost reluctantly began to teach them about regular and systematic giving from 1 Corinthians 16 and 2 Corinthians 8 & 9.

The next Sunday Manual handed Lyle an envelope containing his “tithe.” Inside were bills that amounted to 19 cents.

Later that week Lyle was bicycling past their house when Manuel flagged him down. He told Lyle that on Tuesday, after they had set aside their tithe for the next week, they were out of food. They thought at first it would be OK to use their tithe money for food, but then decided they shouldn’t do it.

When they went out to the chicken shed that day, they noticed that there were a lot of eggs already at 6:30 in the morning when normally there wasn’t much to gather until noon. So they had some to eat and sold the rest for bread for the day.

Later that day, a man came by in a push cart and asked them if they had any manure to sell. They hadn’t cleaned their chicken shed for a while and so they sold 20 sackfuls of manure and had enough for groceries and feed for the hens and some money left over.

Manuel’s wife needed shoes so she went to the neighboring town to buy some. There she ran into her nephew who she hadn’t seen for 5 years and he told her that he had a shoe store. She picked some out that she could afford, but her nephew insisted on giving them to her as a gift. So she went back home with new shoes and the money she had brought.

The next week Manuel found work on a project that would last two years. Their income increased and they continued to tithe and soon this couple was providing about half of the church’s income. Others began to hear about their “tithing experiment” and wanted to be involved as well. So they began to tithe also.

The congregation grew and the income grew. A surplus was available every month. Lyle suggested supporting one of the mission’s national pastors who was working among nearby Indians. So they began to support him at $20 a month. Before long they were ready to hire a pastor themselves. They hired the national pastor they had been supporting. They also bought the building the missionary had been renting for them and the land around it, remodeled it and built Sunday School rooms and an auditorium seating 200 people.

Lyle and his wife were therefore able to move on to plant another church.

No one got rich, but God’s blessing was obvious upon the first tithing gift of 19 cents and the faith it represented.

God rewards giving and builds His church through the faithful financial worship of His people.