Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

A person reported in the news sacrifices and gives up $3 million in an offering plate, and on the other hand the church gets excited about hoarding it. Here’s a news story of a person anonymously putting a lottery ticket in the offering plate of a (here we go now. . .) strugggglllliing church. Ooooh! doesn’t it just make you shiver! Man, this church was busting out the seams and now they can afford a new building. yippeee! God is glorified. When our building cup runneth over, God just goes all out and gets us a new building cup.

If your cup is full? Duh! Just get a bigger cup. We don’t need to plant more churches. Duh! Just make ours bigger. That’s the problem with us Christians. When our church is packed out, we think the size of the building is to blame. When a cup overflows, the size of the cup is not at fault. The fault is those who don’t pour it out when its full.

Our first reaction when we are full is to get a bigger cup instead of pouring ourselves out into a completely different cup that’s empty. There are desperate and empty parts of town that need a church, but we don’t want to pour ourselves into that area, because we just want to get bigger. Our first reaction is “let’s just expand ourselves “IN” here”, instead of “let’s just spread OUT there”.

Before you get onto me about the big deal of getting a new building, let me explain something to you. What was all the hype about in that news video? The truth is that the excitement was generated from what they were going to “build” with that money. You didn’t hear anything about needs being met, or bodies or souls being fed with that money. Because. . . well. . . duh. . . that would just be boring. Who would just give away that money and not use it on themselves? Giving away money is boring. Using it on ourselves, now, that’s exciting! Apparently, the person who gave the lottery ticket away in the first place felt that it was important to distribute the wealth. Unfortunately the Church doesn’t think it’s important to distribute. The church is truly where the buck stops.

The deception our church leadership has is that we take this money in the offering plate every Sunday and invest it into facilities and programs and call it a distribution. We don’t recognize that we are just spending it on ourselves. For instance, if me and my wife saved money for some long term goals, and rarely and barely gave to others; we would be considered selfish. But if a church does this very same thing under the cloak of “God’s will”, then they do not fall under the same accusation. But why not?

God’s Word does not provide instructions on how to fund an organization. It does however show us how to help those in need. We are the only thing left on this earth that resembles Jesus Christ. Jesus left us a legacy from his works and actions. He didn’t leave us a building, or a worship center, or a youth center. On the other hand, we’ve done a good job of leaving all the things that Jesus didn’t leave. Unfortunately, we have not done a good job of leaving Jesus. Where does the buck stop with you?

I like to go in forums and strike up debates with people. It drives me to study and prove the truth behind what i am saying. I am my biggest critic. I guess i try to stay open minded about myself. I am not a respecter of persons and that means myself included. There are times when i’m on forums debating and arguing when people take what i say and either twist it, or take the polar extreme of what i’m saying and argue with me on their own conclusions.

For instance, I wrote on a forum that cheerfulness is required in giving to God, so in turn someone accuses me of saying that we shouldn’t give unless we feel like it. First, i never stated that, but nonetheless, i try to reason with them. In a nutshell my conclusion was that cheerfulness is not required “in order to” give, it is required “of” giving. There is a difference in the comparing statement above. You don’t sit around and wait for your heart to get right in order to obey God’s orders.

So anyways, i get accused further for obeying God based on emotion. Then they want me to provide bible verses that show how emotions is a requirement to obtain or maintain salvation. . . the list goes on and on. Quite frankly, it gets very tiring and annoying. I don’t know why i try to reason with people, or why i even go back to that forum. Maybe one of you reading this is a psychologist and can explain why a dog returns to its vomit, and why i go back to this emotionally draining forum.

So yeah, as i said, i am pretty open minded, but it just is crazy to me that people aren’t the same way. i mean for crying out loud. People will argue with you over one stinking little word that you said, instead of sticking to the subject. I have conceded to many things on the opposing side of the tithing debate, but not once can i remember in my 400 something posts, that the opposing side conceded to me.

If i state that the tithe was part of the fulfilled law and is not required for New Covenant Christians, i get painted as a heretic that is trying to throw out the bible. It’s crazy. I feel like i’m the one that has to defend my position, but in reality, i’m the one that is armed with so many accusations and questions that they should be the ones on defense.

So Anyways, my question to you is do you think cheerfulness is required of giving? I don’t want to know if you should be happy in order to give. I want to know if being cheerful is a command just as much as giving is a command? I feel like this answer is obvious, but i want to hear your opinion. I want to make sure i am not losing my mind on this issue. The next post i will state my defense and reasoning on this issue.

I continue and conclude the series on the Invisible Church with Homelessness. Before i go on, I want to say that I have read some things from people that have taken my posts out of context. My intentions were to reveal the neglection of our duties in the Church. I do not want to negate preaching, teaching, or witnessing as a means of evangelism. I simply am stating that words without benevolence is simply faith without actions. Taking care of those in need is part of our mission. The basic needs of every human being are health care, hunger, and shelter. We simply need to create ways to provide these basic needs of God’s creation.

We are stewards of God, but stewardship does not begin and end with possessions. Our priority in stewardship is investing in people. I would go as far as saying that stewardship has very little to do with money and possessions and has a lot to do with people. Sure, we want to keep and maintain our church facilities; but to neglect the starving souls around you in order to maintain the facility or organization is still poor stewardship.

Homelessness is just one aspect of many social responsibilities of the Church. Yes, there are spiritual needs, that are more important. I know that! But if we are not good at meeting the physical needs, we’re not going to be good at meeting the spiritual needs. A good father feeds his children on top of spiritually nourishing them.

If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?”

I know taking care of your children is just common sense, but what about taking care of children who are not yours? What about providing shelter for God’s children?

Psalms 61:4
I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.

Psalms 143:9
Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; In You I take shelter.

Isaiah 4:6
And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.

Isaiah 16:4
Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler.

Joel 3:16
But the Lord will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel.

I am not saying that you should invite a stranger into your house with your family there. I’m sure many have done that and have been safe, but there are plenty of programs out there that can do more to help with homelessness than you can. Many city shelters provide recovery programs that will help adults get back on their feet on top of providing shelter and food.

Here’s some basic ways that you can help with homelessness

1. Volunteer at your shelter downtown.
2. Buy extra food at the grocery store and drop it off at a shelter on your way back.
3. provide supplies or money to the shelter organization.
4. Start a ministry in your fellowship that helps out at the homeless shelter.
5. Go through your old clothes and donate them.
6. Donate your beat up car.

People in a homeless shelter are there for many reasons. Some from addictions. Some from mental or physical disabilities. Some from depression. Some from financial devastation. Some from divorce. When you serve at a shelter, make sure you interact with these people and find out their needs. Pray for their weaknesses, and encourage them. Many of them don’t have family. Many don’t have friends. All you have to do is be their Jesus, and love them.

The three words: ministration, ministry, and administration, all have the same greek root word - “diakonia”. When you look up the definition, the first description you read is “service, ministering, esp. of those who execute the commands of others“. the ability to control, manage, or run things is not being a minister. The Greek term strictly says those who EXECUTE the commands that others have given them. We have many that act as bosses, or managers, but very little who act as ministers or servants. Make sure you are the one executing the commands of God by serving.

If you and 50 people in your church were asked to worship and fellowship in the middle of a barren wasteland for 40 days, what basic needs would you ask for? It’s not an impractical question. It doesn’t matter if you are in a grocery store, you still have to pay for food. Without money, you might as well be in a wasteland, because that food is just as much out of reach as it is to someone in a dessert.

In the United States, the Health care system is destitute, the Social Security system is going bankrupt, the housing is devastated, and all people can do is cry at the government. Taking care of our families and taking care of the stranger is the Church’s responsibility, but we take up our pitch forks and torches and march on capital hill with all the other complainers. What’s wrong with us? The Church has really gone down the tube when people stop asking us for benevolence, and continue to beg Uncle Sam.

In the last post we had spoken about providing and helping people pay for health care. In continuation of the “Invisible Church” series, let’s talk about “hunger”. When it comes to world hunger the Church takes the verse, “man shall not live by bread alone” in a literal sense. People ask for food around the world and we just hand them a tract, or we send them a missionary. We say, “here, this is even better for you”. In a sense, when they ask for food, you might as well just give them a stone:

“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?”

There’s nothing wrong with sending missionaries, or a shipping container full of bibles- that’s part of Jesus’ commission to us. The other part of the commission dealt with taking care of the poor, and feeding the hungry and the stranger. Send food also.

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’”

We have much to be thankful for in our country. We need to share what we’ve been given. We are stewards, but we are acting like a bunch of glutenous wasters. We put so much money into things that are not needs. We have purchased so much “Jesus junk”. I’m talking about all the little knick knacks that you can purchase at the Christian store. Everything from TestaMints to t-shirts. Sure, that stuff is creative, it’s thoughtful, and it might even have its rightful place in our Christian sub culture; but for the most part it is just junk.

As we’ve stated before, God doesn’t need anymore advertisements; he needs ambassadors. He doesn’t need posters, He needs people that advertise his work through actions. Helping those who are hungry is one of the ways of doing that.

Everyone knows that the red cross, and heifer international brings aid to desolate people, but do the poor know that the Church does as well? The Church wasn’t meant to be a hospital just for Spiritual care; it was meant to be a hospital for physical, emotional, and mental care as well. I don’t know why we have handed that torch over? I don’t know if we think it’s too expensive, or too demanding? In essence, we didn’t hand over an opportunity to feed people, we’ve handed over an opportunity to witness. God gave us the call to take care of those in need so that they can see God in their needs through us. Zechariah 8:13 says:

“And it shall come to pass
That just as you were a curse among the nations,
O house of Judah and house of Israel,
So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing.”

The opportunity to be a blessing to others is not an opportunity to show off ourselves, God saved us and blessed us so that our actions would glorify His name. I know people need to find a place that has good doctrine and fellowship, but i’m kind of intrigued at the idea that churches put their address on the back as if that’s the road to salvation. I know, i know, it’s there for a good purpose, but it’s just funny to me how it shows in a slight way that a purpose of witnessing is to bring more people to “Our” church. It was funny to see that when i moved into our new house, i received a couple letters from churches stating, “come visit our bla bla bla church. . . we are a friendly people . . . bla bla bla.” Cold calls, mailing lists, and email marketing is what i learned to run a business in college, so that type of outreach kind of ruffles my feathers.

In closing, i wrote a poem called, “Why is God so Selfish“. It has a deeper meaning than just to say that God is selfish, so i would recommend you read it. But for now, here’s an excerpt:

“Why should I give to God’s missionary
When my own city is cold and hungry?
Why should I find God by going to church
As if God wanted me, but didn’t search?”

Love is an invisible source, but always has tangible retributions. Sure the gospel message is a huge benefit package initially of God’s love. But what if we advertised God through our own giving and our service? Of course we can’t do away with the gospel message and just rely on our good works to save others. So what if we start organizing and providing proper health care along with preaching the gospel message?

The Problem
47 million Americans are without health insurance. This means that they are not getting proper care, and that means many more in the world are doing even worse. What makes matters even worse is that people are turning to government to cover their medical needs instead of turning to the Church. The government is not an efficient resource to organize proper care for individuals. It is not even the biblical responsibility of government to perform this duty either.

God left the church in charge of the care for the sick and indigent. Outside of miraculously healing the sick, our resources should go towards providing proper health care through our money or services. People cry every day about the government not doing enough for them, when they don’t even know that it is the Church’s fault. We think that we are getting away from our responsibility, but i guarantee God does not overlook our neglection. Why should government spend time dealing with health care issues when their responsibility should be devoted to other issues?

The more responsibility you leave in the hands of Government the more it will cost you. Read the account of Israel trying to replace the provision of God with the provision of an earthly king in 1 Samuel 8:14-15

“And [the king] will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants.”

Government will cost you more than what it’s worth. Sure, the church will no longer pay directly for the health care of individuals, but our taxes will pay for it. The opportunity that we lose to be a testimony is an even greater cost. We cannot neglect the health of human beings and still call ourselves a loving body. It is hypocritical.

Jesus did send invitations out addressing sinners, but he also addressed those who were sick and weary. He said, “come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest.” God allows sickness, and struggle in our lives to remind us to come back to Him. Jesus created many witness opportunities by calling the sick and weary. The Church’s negligence reminds people to go to the government, instead of God for their care.

We are so concerned with improving our entertainment programs, worship experiences, and facilities. What do you think the world sees? They see a self serving Church. Why would the unsaved want to come to a God who has representatives that serve themselves? Sure, we give to missionaries outside of our walls, but in their eyes we are still serving our own agenda. But what if they saw representatives that were more concerned with the health of others than their own?

The Solution
I can go on a rant all day about what’s wrong, but it would be more profitable to provide solutions. So here are 2 solutions to solve the health care dilemma:

1. Start a Health Care Fund

Initiate a program or start a fund in your church that pays annual health care costs to a set of individuals. All this will take a plan before this is approved by anyone. Here’s a few simple steps to follow.

• Evaluate a process to find those in need
• Assess the cost of paying for health care
• Brainstorm ideas of how you can fund this operation
• Finally, go to your pastors or elders and propose the ideas to them

It may be simpler to start this in your small group first, and work your way up, but you might as well present it to your church leaders. Some things to remember is that you might not have the funds to pay for everyone that comes and asks for help, but the important thing to remember is that they see your love in action.

2. Adopt a person in need

Even if you can’t get this ministry approved by your Church, nothing is stopping you from doing something about it. Also, nothing is stopping you from spreading this idea around. Here’s how you can do that

• Write about it in a blog
• Share about it in your small group
• Share about it with your friends
• Tell how you have been blessed through this
• Tell how the one you helped had been blessed by this
• Write a story about it in the church bulletin or website

Chances are, if the Church starts seeing others get on board with this idea or if they start seeing souls saved and hearts touched; then your democratic influence will change their minds also. Even if your idea never does get anyone on board, still do it. It’s worth eternal consequences.

No doubt the greatest needs are spiritual, but there’s no doubt that God left the care of the needy in our hands. What if the needy saw a Church, who cared and showed it through their actions? Would the invisible Church once again become visible?

Can a city on a hill be hidden?

Some recent thoughts about the availability and efficiency of the Church have prompted me to write a series titled, “The Invisible Church”. Make no mistake, I said “invisible” NOT “invincible”. This series has been prompted by my thoughts about how billions around the world are homeless, starving, or without proper health care. I would even love to write a book on this subject, because there is just so much to say.

We’ve made ourselves visible through our elaborate sanctuaries, energetic conferences, social alliances, political influence, catchy billboards, pop music groups, energetic websites, tag line t-shirts, bible verse tattoos, entertainment events, radio and TV broadcasts, Christian concert and cruises, and engraved jewelry; but our efforts have brought anything but tangible results. The above ways of “reaching out” have very little to do with actually reaching out. Advertising is not reaching out. Making sure our church sign is lite up at night is not reaching out. We have to be in the mindset that putting money towards any of these things could be considered an overhead cost, because they do almost nothing in performing the actual work of Jesus Christ.

Ok, Ok, so you get my point. I understand those things are not wrong. Well let’s look at this practically. I do not put a sign up at my house with spotlights saying, “i am a Christian”, just so everyone can know, that God is here, just in case you didn’t know. Ok, analogies are not perfect, but i want to show that actually reaching out is in contrast to advertising God. We should give them help when they need it. Give them food if we have extra. Mow their lawn if they are incapacitated. A house next door doesn’t show that there are any neighbors, just like a church building does not tangibly prove that there is a loving God. This is why you can have millions of dollars in real estate, top-notch church programs, energetic worship team, and thousands in attendance, but still fail miserably.

We have said enough about Jesus, written enough about Jesus, sang enough about Jesus, it’s about time we just be Jesus. The world doesn’t need anymore words, or pictorial reminders. They need real tangible help. The repetitiveness of Jesus name in public is not going to stop world hunger, cover the homeless, and bring back proper health care.

We pour so much money into displaying our God and our Church that we could easily pay for all the commercial spots available during the Superbowl! Are we afraid that people don’t know that we are here? Does God need a greater display than the heavens? Does He need a greater display than what nature gives us? Will our t-shirts, billboards, tattoos and jewelry make the Church tangible in any way? Will our humanistic efforts to display God make God more real to us or others?

People are over gorged with our Christian sub-culture. We are so accustomed to displaying Jesus, instead of being Jesus. Jesus laid simple principles of this in his teaching. He said,

“for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

This is the first part of a series on this blog about the invisible Church. In the next couple of posts, our stewardship methods will be on trial; and hunger, poverty, and health care will be on the witness stand. My final question to you is, “Can a city on a hill be hidden?”