Somewhere around the third or fourth grade, you and I learned to do math word problems. And they would say things like, "If you had $1,000 and you gave away $100, how much would you have left?" And we all learned $900.
In other words, we started with $1,000. After giving away $100, we only have $900. Where I come from, $900 is less than $1,000. Are you with me so far?
The problem with that is, although it's mathematically true, when you deal with the subject of generosity and giving, it sets up a mythology in your head, and you make one of the biggest mistakes with money you can ever make.
Because you fall prey to the idea-and I did it too, because I'm a math nerd-that when I give money away, I end up with less. Because that's what we were all taught. And, again, it's mathematically true in that particular moment. It's not true over the scope of your life. And it's not true for those of us who walk with Jesus and love Him.
It's not true because giving is the lifeblood of the believer. Generosity is necessary for the lifeblood of the believer, for our hearts to beat, and it changes our lives. It transforms us. The misunderstanding is that by giving, I end up with less.
But the net result is that by giving, I end up with more. No, it's not necessary. Yes, it's more joy. Yes, it's more blessings. Yes. But most of the time-and I'll walk you through this-not in some mystical prosperity kind of way, but most of the time you do end up with more money. And here's how that works. Let me help you with that. I'm gonna walk you through a bunch of this because it's very, very practical.
Hold Money With an Open Hand
The clenched fist is the international sign of anger. You can travel the world, and anywhere in the world you clench your fist, they get it. I'm from the redneck end of Tennessee. You clench your fist, you better swing it.
Anywhere in the world we get an open hand, we know what that means. Even a dog understands this. It's an indication of our spirit. Closed . . . open.
Closed: The money won't get away, but no more can get in. Open: Some of it might leave, but more can come in. Simple concept, but it's an indication of our spirit, and it affects the mathematics, says the math nerd. It affects the mathematics.
I need a little bit of help this morning. Let me scarf up a couple of guys because I've got to have some bodies up here to help me. I promise I'm not gonna make fun of you or do anything mean to you or anything, but would you help me, sir? And, sir, would you help me? Thanks. Y'all come up here with me right quick. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.
Okay, so, I want to set this up for a minute. I didn't grow up in church. I didn't know anything about the Bible, and so it took me a little while to get this stuff down.
What's your name, sir? Dustin, good to meet you. What's your name, sir? Ron, good to meet you, sir. Thank you. Ron is gonna represent you and I, okay? You and I work really hard, and we save up $1,000. Do you know how hard it is to get $1,000 in today's current tax code? Take-home pay, right? And we fed the kids and we still got $1,000. Is that hard?
So Ron represents you and me. We have saved up $1,000 finally. Now, Ron, this is $1,000. This is my most expensive visual aid. My wife says I can come home but not without the visual aid. Got it? Okay. Hold on to that.
So, Ron-or you and I-have $1,000. And what we would do is we would go to Dustin's bank. You're not a banker, are you? Good. Okay. Because, you know, you don't want to make fun of the wrong people. I mean, I'm not making fun, but it would be bad.
So, Dustin's gonna be our banker. He owns the bank or he runs the bank. He's the branch manager of the bank, and you and I go down, and we make a deposit into the bank. Now, Ron, I know it's been fun holding my money, but it's your money for this, so you can make a deposit in Dustin's bank.
Now, so he made a deposit in Dustin's bank. Now, watch that banker, y'all, because you know how that is, right? I mean, y'all read the news, right? So keep an eye on him for me. Dustin, hold on to that. So now Dustin's got my money. He's got Ron's money in his bank.
Now, Ron, are you married? And is that your wife sitting right down there? Beautiful lady. You did well. You out-punted your coverage, didn't you? Yeah, me too, man. That's a good man.
Now, I got to help you ladies with something. I've been married 30-plus years. Let me help you with this. Men do not understand china. We do not understand expensive plates that we never eat on. Men do not grasp this. And we really don't understand $2,500 cabinets to put the plates in that we're not going to eat on. It's just we don't get it, but if you've been married a little while, you don't necessarily have to get it, but you just got to get it. You know what I'm saying?
And so Ron's wife says, "Honey, we need a china cabinet for the china. Go down to the bank and get our money out." So Ron goes down to the bank, and he goes up to the teller and fills out the deposit slip and says, "I want my money out of here."
And the teller gets that deer-in-the-headlights look and says, "Oh, no. You're that Ron."
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No, but Dustin wants to see you in his office."
Now, Dustin would never really do this. He's on the front row in church. He's a good guy, okay? So this is an example. Please don't pick on him later because he didn't know I was gonna do this to him.
So Ron goes into Dustin's office, and Dustin says, "Oh, no. You're here."
"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?" he said.
"Well, I . . . I got to tell you. We needed . . . my wife and I needed some stuff."
How many y'all ever needed some stuff? I needed a new car. I needed some new clothes. I needed to go on a cruise. My jet ski needed a sister. How many y'all ever needed? I like stuff. My name is Dave, and I like stuff. Hi, Dave. Y'all are my support group.
Dustin says, "So we took some of your money, and we went on a cruise."
"Do what! You took my money and you went on a cruise? Do what!"
Now, I don't know about y'all, but as soon as I figure out this character stole my money, as hard as it is to get $1,000, I mean, I'd lose my religion right there. In Tennessee, we call that having a duck fit: "I want my money. I want my money now. What do you mean you stole my money? You needed a cruise? Well, I'm gonna choke you."
How would you feel if you trusted your money to someone to manage it for you, and they mishandled it? How would you feel? That's how I would feel.
Now let's change their names for a minute. Ron, you're gonna get a promotion. Ready? Ron doesn't actually represent you and me. I tricked you. Ron's position represents God. Dustin's position doesn't represent a banker. His position represents you and me.
God owns it all. You and I are managers. How we doing? Ouch.
"I got a single mom, Dave. She needs you to pay her light bill."
"Uh, God, I just bought a coat. I don't have any extra."
"Well, did you ask Me about that?"
"Uh, no."
"Whose money is it?"
"Uh, Yours."
Y'all ever have these conversations? We're supposed to be managers.
Now, the good news is, He does want us to take care of our own family, and He does want you to have some nice things. He's not against nice things. I mean, if we, being evil, know how to give our kids good gifts, how much more so our Father in heaven?
But we have to manage the money like it's not ours because it's not ours. This is deep, y'all.
Give these two gentlemen a round of applause. Thank you, gentlemen. Very well done.
The Psalmist says, "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof." God owns it all. And if you start all of your money discussions with that, it changes your perception of everything. It changes your perception of debt. It changes your perception of budgeting. It changes your perception of everything.
Now, in the Christian world, we call this stewardship. Stewardship-steward, steward, steward, steward, steward, steward-which is not actually a Christian word, but it's a North American Christian term now. It's actually an old English feudal term. Think of Braveheart, the movie. How many of you saw Braveheart? Okay. That's kind of the feudal economic system that was in place when King James' translators did the first English version of the Bible that we all very much work from in one way or another.
So they said, "Be a good steward. Be a good steward. Be a good steward."
Now, here's how the feudal English feudal economic system worked. There's a guy in the castle. He's the lord of the realm. A realm is about a three-county area. The guy in the next biggest house in the realm doesn't own anything, but manages all the business affairs of the realm for the lord of the castle, the owner.
The guy in that, he manages the crop rotations. He manages the labor and the peasant and the slave labor. He manages the banking affairs, the mercantile affairs and the marketplace affairs. He manages the business of that realm for the owner of the realm, the lord.
That guy's title, by the way, is steward. Steward does not mean fundraiser. Stewardship does not mean we're gonna build a building. A steward is a manager. In today's modern vernacular, it would be an asset manager. You and I are asset managers for God. So when you have a stewardship ministry, it's about teaching people to be asset managers for God. It's not about fundraising.
But we've co-opted that word, because as soon as the North American Christian hears the word "stewardship," and they put that Scripture up there, "Where there is no vision, the people perish," those of us sitting out there go, "Oh, no. We're gonna build a building." Don't we?
Types of Giving
* Tithe: 10% to the storehouse, starting at Baby Step 1
Because the word got co-opted and has been twisted. The word "stewardship" literally means to manage, and, from a giving perspective, it starts with the basic tithe-a tenth of your income to your local church.
A tithe is 10%. "When you finish paying a tithe of your income," it says in Deuteronomy 26, "give a tenth-a tithe of your increase." A tithe of your increase. What was your increase? That's the baseline for a believer, an evangelical believer that is in their local church. They give a tithe to their local church. That's where we start with the discussion of giving.
Why Should We Give?
* Two mistaken ideas about why we give
Now, I struggled with this because I didn't grow up in church, and I didn't understand all these words that we use in church. So I started going to church as an adult, and the pastor got up there, and he said, "You people need to give a tithe."
I said, "What's a tithe?" and he said, "A tenth."
"Tenth of what?"
"Your income."
"Where are you wanting me to give this?"
"To our church."
I went, "Right. That sounds like a great plan for you."
"No, that's not how it works, Dave."
"Yeah, I got it. Yeah, I got it."
I mean, it didn't take me but a minute to understand what the vernacular was-I'm getting ready to give 10% of my money to him, and that was his plan. I got the gift of cynicism, you all, okay? That's how I started.
1. God needs my money
And I had to work up and start to understand and grasp generosity and giving from that low bar, which is a pretty low bar. A squirrel can get over that bar, okay? And so the first way I did it was I said, "Why does God talk so much about giving all through Scripture?" And the first thing I thought-I'm so silly, and you would never do this, but I did it. I said, "God needs my money. That's why He wants me to give. Because God needs my money."
Now, that's really kind of funny if you think about it. This is the great I Am. He spoke galaxies into existence. And He needs your money? I'm sorry. That's a little humorous. God needs your money.
Listen, darling. If God wants your money, He'll take it, and there'll be a greasy spot where you were sitting. He doesn't need your money. He's already in control. He's not worried about it. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He owns the hills.
2. Church needs my money
Well, if God doesn't need my money, then maybe the reason God has it all through Scripture to give and give our tithe to our local churches is because the church needs our money. So I elevated my spiritual walk from that all the way up to I'm a good Christian boy scout. I promise to give my tithes to my local church, and I was becoming a young Pharisee-all about the rules. Find out what the rules are and keep the rules.
I'm the oldest child. I'm a rule-keeper. Give me the rules. I'll keep the rules. That's why God has us to give to our local church. We need to support the work of the local church-the widows and the orphans and the missionaries, and the important work of the kingdom of God needs to be supported by the local church, and it's up to me to take care of that. That's why God has us to give.
Then I sat in on the church board meeting. The annual budget was $7 million, which was more than my annual budget. So I quickly figured out God didn't have me giving money because the church needed my money.
He didn't have me giving money because He needed the money. So why does He have me giving money?
* Giving makes us more like Christ
Years ago, I was holier than I am now, and I did a lot better job getting up at 4:00 in the morning and reading the Bible or 5:00 in the morning and reading the Bible. I still do it, but I was holier then.
You know, when you're new in the faith, you've got to study. You've got to learn. And so I spent a bazillion early sunrises, and I'm still pretty disciplined, but a lot of you are a lot holier than me. I'll just tell you. But one morning many years ago about 5:30, I was sitting there reading the Bible.
My son, who's a grown man now, was 5 years old at the time. The sun is rising, and my 5-year-old starts coming down the stairs. He got up too early. Now, you know the 5-year-olds when they get up early. Their hair points in every direction, right? He's 5 years old. He's got no front teeth, right? He's got his Spiderman footie pajamas on, and the right knee's out because he's been sliding into home base, right? And he comes down the stairs dragging his blankie.
It was 5:30 in the morning. He's interrupting my Bible study. I said, "Son, you need to go back to bed. You're gonna be tired later. You're gonna be grouchy. Then you're gonna get a beating. You need to go back to bed."
"All right, daddy, I'll go back to bed, but can I sit with you just for a few minutes?"
"Why, sure."
And this little Spiderman guy climbs up in my lap, and before I knew it, tears are running down my face. And he said, "Daddy, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"
I said, "No, baby. You didn't do anything wrong."
I said, "I was just reading here, and I read it a whole bunch of times . . ."
See, I've got two daughters, and I love my daughters, and I got one boy. And he's sitting in my lap.
"And, son, I was just reading here that God gave His only Son."
I can't get my head around that to this day. He gave his only Son. Wow. And, you know, the Bible says in Genesis that you and I are made in God's image. And Isaiah says that God sat down and knitted you in your mother's womb. Pull that word "knit" out in the Hebrew. It looks more like the word "crochet."
When God was sitting there with a DNA double helix, and He was making you, and He stepped back, and He said, "That is good," in that DNA is His image when He made you, and He gave His only Son. God has us to give because He wants to make us to look more like His Son. He wants us to be Christlike. He wants to redeem us.
He has me give because His requirement for me to give is a gift to me that causes me to be transformed into a giver, which makes me more Christlike, more of a Christ follower, a Christian. Hard to be a Christ follower when you never give. Very hard. You can't say you're Christlike.
He laid down his life voluntarily. They didn't take it. He gave it. God created us in His own image. God has us tithe weekly because it reminds us who owns it. It reminds me that I'm in the banker's role, not the owner's role. When I give my tithe, it reminds me who's in charge and that I'm a manager. I'm not an owner. It's my financial AA meeting.
* Giving changes us for the better
I go once a week, and I give my tithe. It reminds me, because I need to be reminded. I can take ownership. This is my weak spot. That's why God makes me teach it every day. Y'all think it's because I'm in charge of the subject. No, it's because I'm like the guy that-I'm a wounded healer. I'm the guy that walks with a limp.
God has us tithe because it's a form of praise and worship. God loves a cheerful giver. The word "cheerful" in the Greek is the word "hileos"-where we get our word "hilarious." Next time you're giving, just break out in wild laughter.
God has us give because it's spiritual warfare. "I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes," He says. Now, some people get all freaked out about demons. I'm not freaked out about demons. I read the back of the book. We win. Woo!
Big Jesus, little devil. But there is a demon of water pumps on your car out there right now going dink, dink, dink, dink, dink. And when you tithe, God says He'll rebuke the devourer for your sakes.
Now, I don't know how you see this, but I see a big, bad, square-shouldered angel with a flaming sword going out there, dropping that sword through the hood and saying, "Come here, little devil. Get off that car. That's a tither."
I don't know how you see it. We'll get to heaven and then we can quit arguing about it, I guess. But that's how I see it. And giving's not about salvation. God doesn't love you more if you tithe. I don't love my kids less because they misbehave. I don't love the dumb one more than the smart ones.
You know, they misbehave. I don't like their behavior, but I still love them. They can't do anything to cause me to stop loving them. I want to kill them sometimes, but they can't cause me to stop loving them. I'm sorry. You're dead, but I still love you.
I mean, that's God, isn't it? We're in His image. And He's not mad at you about this. And He's not waiting to bless you. He's waiting to find somebody he can trust to be a good manager because you don't promote people in your company if they're bad managers. And you and I are made in God's image.
My wife is a runner. She's a health-food nut. Drives me crazy. Puts all this grotesque stuff in a juicer and a blender that should never be put together and creates this toxic nuclear drink-looks like something out of a monster movie. Steam is coming off of it, and she goes, "You want some?"
I'm like, "No."
She says, "It'll make you look like me."
"That's what scares me. Yeah, no."
"You'll be skinny like me."
"I know, I know. But I don't want to be a woman. I don't want to drink that. No."
I know I should drink more of them. I obviously need to do better, but it's nasty. She finishes a drink of that stuff-y'all have probably done this too. I've seen her do it 100 times-she sets it in the sink and turns on the faucet and walks away.
You ever done that with junk in a cup? Do you know if you just let that water run long enough, the clean water will displace the dirty water, and eventually, if you let it run-and she will let it run, she forgets and just walks off-eventually you will have clean water in there, and you've done nothing but have clean water displace the junk. It's called the displacement theory. In my world, anyway, that's what we call it.
According to all the studies, only 2.5% to 4.5% of evangelical Christians give a tithe at their church. Almost nobody tithes. So they ask me these questions like, "Do we tithe on the gross or on the net?" Doesn't matter. None of you are doing it.
I tithe on the gross. I could do a Bible study for you on either way. I can show you, bar none, what the Bible says either way-tithe on the gross or the net. I tithe on the big one so when I get up there, if I'm wrong, I'm still okay. So it's that simple for me. Y'all do whatever you want.
You just can't mess up giving. And so I'm tithing into my local church, and we're giving offerings and ministries and other things, and what ends up happening is it changes me, but here's the deal. Dallas Willard says in the book The Spirit of the Disciplines that Christians are called to enter the marketplace and take sections of the marketplace. We should go into the music business and own it. I went into the talk-radio world, and I own it.
I'm one of the top talk-radio shows in North America today, and I'm a Christian, and when I'm on that radio station, it means somebody else can't be. That's clean water going in that cup and displacing filth out of that cup.
And not because I'm clean, but I'm cleaner than some of them. That's all it is, okay? Because Jesus in me is clean. Y'all got that. I'm not bragging on me. But the idea being this: What if we thought about money in that way in our giving? In other words, what if the believers in North America got our financial act together, understood we're managing money for God, and it is not only our job to take care of our own household and enjoy some money, it's not only our job to take care of our future, it's not only our job to take care of these different elements of our lives, but it's our job to completely displace all the filth in the culture, and let's use a few billion dollars and do that immediately?
What if you and I started giving so much we made the government irrelevant?
I can vote for that party. Because it's our job. But we've got to take control of our money, and we've got to remember we don't own it.
"God, what'd you give me this money for?"
"I want you to enjoy some of it, son, because I love you."
"Thank you, Father."
"I want you to impact this hospital. I want this single mom to not have a light bill through the end of the year. Dave, I want this lady to have a car over here. Dave, I want this ministry over here that is transforming lives to be funded for the next year. I gave you the gift of managing assets for Me, and this is what I want you to do with it, and you've been faithful in the little things, so I am gonna give you more to manage."
That's who I want to be walking in. That's who I want to be when I grow up. We can change this culture, folks. But it starts with changing our brains. Because when you give, you don't end up with less. It changes who you are, and who you are is where your income comes from. It's not mystical. You become a generous person. Generous people are brought the good deals. Generous people are given the promotions. Generous-spirited people are who we all want to be around.
Nobody wants to be around Mr. Tightfist. Talented people don't want to work for Mrs. Tightfist. Everybody wants to be around Mr. and Mrs. Open Hand. Not because they're trying to scarf money off of them, but because we just enjoy being around a person who, no matter how important they are, will open the door for you. It's a generous spirit. This is where your income comes from and where your opportunities come from. Jesus wants to transform your heart in this area.
He already has transformed a lot of your hearts. A lot of you are doing a great job. I'm singing to the choir. I know that. But I've got to tell you, we've got work to do in this culture. We need to be displacing things with our salt and our light and the money that is not ours. We're just managers.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we thank You for this day. We thank You for these people. I ask, Father, that You clear this subject into their mind and that You pour Your Spirit on it, if I didn't do it right, Lord, that You fix it, and that You show them how important culturally this idea of ownership is and cause them to be joyful, generous managers of the things You've given them to manage. In Jesus' name, amen.
