Several years ago, Millard Fuller of Habitat for Humanity addressed the National Press Club on public radio. He recalled a workshop at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with 200 pastors in attendance. The assembled pastors quickly pointed toward greed and selfishness as the reason the church never had enough money to assist others creatively.
Millard then asked this seemingly innocent question: “Is it possible for a person to build a house so large that it's sinful in the eyes of God? Raise your hand if you think so.”
All 200 pastors raised their hands.
"Okay," said Millard, “then can you tell me at exactly what size, the precise square footage, a certain house becomes sinful to occupy?”
Silence from the pastors. You could have heard a pin drop.
Finally, a small, quiet voice spoke up from the back of the room: “When it is bigger than mine” (Frank G. Honeycutt, Preaching to Skeptics and Seekers, www.PreachingToday.com).
There are a lot of funny ideas when it comes to financial stewardship and giving, not the least of which it is sinful to have too much. It’s a tactic some preachers use to guilt people into giving more, but guilt is a poor motivator.
Besides, the Bible uses grace to motivate people, not guilt. In other words, give because God has already blessed you, not because He’ll punish you if you keep too much.
It’s what we see in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15 is one of those mountain top passages in the Bible, describing the glorious future of every believer. Then you turn the page to 1 Corinthians 16, and Paul talks about taking up a collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem. It seems disjointed, but heavenly realities always inform earthly matters. In this case, the believer’s future, glorious, resurrection body motivates helping believers who are suffering today.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 16, 1 Corinthians 16, where the Bible addresses the mundane issue of giving after addressing the glorious future of every believer.
1 Corinthians 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do (ESV).
There was a famine in Judea (Acts 11:27-30), so Paul was collecting money from the Gentile churches he started to take care of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-27; Galatians 2:10). And evidently, Paul gave all his churches the same instructions for this collection, including the churches in Galatia, which is now Turkey.
They’re prudent instructions not only for this particular collection, but for all collections for any need at any time. Take a look.
1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come (ESV).
Wow! There’s a lot just in this verse. 1st, they were to set aside something on the first day of every week. That’s Sunday, the Lord’ Day. It’s the day believers began to meet every week for worship, because God raised Jesus from the dead on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). God also sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost on the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:15-16; Acts 2:1-4). As a result, believers in the First Century changed their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday, the last day of the week to the first day of the week.
So here, giving becomes a part of their regular, corporate worship every week. Now, this is as it should be, because worship is not real worship unless it costs you something. So, when you give…
GIVE AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP TO GOD.
Offer your money in response to all that God has done for you. Donate your offerings out of gratitude to a gracious God.
Gordon MacDonald talks about the time he and his wife, Gail, made a missions trip to West Africa. On the first Sunday of their visit, they joined a large crowd of desperately poor Christians for worship. As they neared the church, he noticed that almost every person was carrying something. Some hoisted cages of noisy chickens, others carried baskets of yams, and still others toted bags of eggs or bowls of cassava paste.
“Why are they bringing all that stuff?” Gordon asked one of their hosts.
“Watch!” she said.
Almost every person in that African congregation brought something: a chicken, a basket of yams, a bowl of cassava paste. Then, soon after the worship began, everyone stood and poured into the aisles, singing, clapping, even shouting. The people began moving forward, each in turn bringing whatever he or she had brought to a space in the front.
It was West African offering time. The chickens would help others get a tiny farm business started. The yams and the eggs could be sold in the marketplace to help the needy. The cassava paste would guarantee that someone who was hungry could eat.
Gordon says, “I was captivated. I'd never seen a joyful offering before. Obviously, my keep-money-under-the-radar policy would not have worked in that West African church” (Gordon MacDonald, “Transforming Scrooge,” Leadership Journal, Summer 2013; www.PreachingToday.com).
They celebrated giving as part of their worship.
2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “God loves a cheerful giver,” a hilarious giver. So give with hilarity! Give in joyful celebration of God’s goodness to you. Give as an act of worship. Then 2nd…
GIVE IN PROPORTION TO YOUR INCOME.
Donate what you can according to what you have. Contribute as God has prospered you (vs.2).
This allows everyone to give no matter what they have—“Each of you” can give according to verse 2. “Each of you” can participate in the celebration no matter how much or how little you have.
In fact, Jesus honored a poor widow, who put only two pennies in the collection. Many rich people were putting in large sums, but Jesus says of the poor widow, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-44).
Ablert Lexie was a shoe-shine man. For 30 years, Albert set up shop in Pittsburgh's Children Hospital and knocked the dirt off other people's shoes. He buffed, he polished, and he charged a mere $5 for his labor.
Often, a satisfied customer would leave a tip. Most gave an extra dollar, some gave two. Once, during the Christmas season, a doctor gave him $50 for shining one pair of shoes.
But big tips like that were few and far between. And people just don't care about the condition of their shoes like they used to. Albert is a relic left over from another era, a different world.
But when Albert shined his last shoe and put away his shoe-shine kit for good, he was not forgotten at the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. He left behind a legacy.
Since the day he shined his first pair of shoes there 30 years ago, Albert donated more than a third of his earnings to the Children's Hospital Free Care Fund, which helps parents who can't afford to pay for their sick children's medical costs. In addition, Albert also gave the hospital every tip he ever received. Every single tip.
But Albert is just a shoe-shine man. How much could there be to give? According to the hospital administration, he gave just over $200,000. It's a seemingly impossible number. 200 grand is what professional athletes give, not shoe-shine men. And yet that’s what a lowly shoeshine man gave (Associated Press, “Pennsylvania shoeshine man gives hospital $200G in tips,” 2-21-13; www.PreachingToday.com).
And that’s what you can give, as well (even more) if you set aside what you can every week over a long period of time. For even small amounts, given faithfully, add up to a powerful legacy. So don’t miss out on the celebration! Give what you can as often as you can, and See what God does through you! Don’t wait until you get rich; start giving today. In fact, you may find it harder to give the more you make.
A man came to Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the Unites States Senate, with a concern about giving. He said: ‘I have a problem. I have been giving 10% for some time. It wasn't too bad when I was making $20,000 a year. I could afford to give the $2,000. But you see, now I am making $500,000, and there is just no way I can afford to give away $50,000 a year.”
Dr. Marshall reflected on this wealthy man's dilemma but gave no advice. He simply said: “Yes, sir. I see that you do have a problem. I think we ought to pray about it. Is that alright?”
The man agreed, so Dr. Marshall bowed his head and prayed with boldness and authority. “Dear Lord, this man has a problem, and I pray that you will help him. Lord, reduce his salary back to the place where he can afford to tithe” (Kevin G. Harney, Seismic Shifts, Zondervan, 2005, p. 200; www.PreachingToday.com).
Hopefully, you don’t need to ask God to reduce your salary. But even if He does, you can still get in on the celebration of giving. Just give as an act of worship. Give in proportion to your income. And #3…
GIVE WISELY.
Make prudent donations only where there is accountability. Offer your money in such a way that you know where its going.
1 Corinthians 16:3-4 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me (ESV).
Paul will not touch the collection himself. He’ll entrust it to people the Corinthian believers have accredited, i.e., to those the Corinthian believers have proved worthy. Paul is going overboard to assure these believers that their donations will be handled with integrity, that their money will go where they intend it to go.
And you should do the same. Don’t just give to anybody who asks. Give only to those you trust to handle your donation with integrity. Give only to those who are accountable to get your money where you intend it to go.
When you give to Faith Bible Church, I assure you that your donations are handled with the utmost integrity. We have a three-tiered system when it come to the collection: 1st, we have a financial secretary who collects and records your donations. 2nd, we have an elder team who approves spending your donations according to the budget that you, the congregation, have endorsed. And 3rd, we have a treasurer who dispenses that money at the direction of the elders and the congregation.
All these are people you have proved worthy by electing them to their positions. And not only that, with three entities handling the collection, there is plenty of accountability to ensure your donations go where you intend them to go.
On top of that, we post an updated, monthly financial report on the bulletin board, and you receive a semi-annual financial report in January and July every year.
And like the Apostle Paul, I never touch your donations. For example, if I want to use your donations to make a trip to Hawaii, I have to get permission from the elders, who have to get permission from you, who have to direct Steve, our treasurer, to write the check for that purpose. There is no opportunity, even if I was tempted, to mishandle the money you have entrusted to Faith Bible Church.
You see, we cannot be too careful when it comes to handling your donations, because financial mismanagement has led to the downfall of many ministries.
A few years ago (2019), 27-year-old Devon Silvey was out $6,500 after his plan to hide a wad of cash backfired. After he sold his car, he took the cash to his mother’s house for safekeeping. Rather than tell his mom about the money, Silvey hid it in an old Mickey Mouse tumbler. When he returned days later, Silvey discovered the mug missing. Silvey’s mother had put the mug and other clutter in a box and taken it to a Goodwill store.
“That mug had literally sat in our cabinet untouched for about 15 years,” the mother told Newsweek, adding that she felt like “the worst mom in the world.” Goodwill apparently then sold the mug without checking the contents. Silvey’s mother later asked whoever bought the mug to return the money (Krieg Barrie, “Accidental offering,” WORLD Dispatches/Quick Takes, 3-2-19, p. 16; www.PreachingToday.com).
Some people are careless when it comes to handling their money. Don’t you be careless when it comes to your giving.
When you give, give as an act of worship; give in proportion to your income; and give wisely.
In Run with the Horses, Eugene Peterson writes about seeing a family of birds teaching the young to fly. Three young swallows were perched on a dead branch that stretched out over a lake.
“One adult swallow got alongside the chicks and started shoving them out toward the end of the branch—pushing, pushing, pushing. The end one fell off. Somewhere between the branch and the water four feet below, the wings started working, and the fledgling was off on his own. Then the second one.
The third was not to be bullied. At the last possible moment his grip on the branch loosened just enough so that he swung downward, then tightened again, bulldog tenacious. The parent was without sentiment. He pecked at the desperately clinging talons until it was more painful for the poor chick to hang on than risk the insecurities of flying. The grip was released, and the inexperienced wings began pumping. The mature swallow knew what the chick did not—that it would fly—that there was no danger in making it do what it was perfectly designed to do.
“Birds have feet and can walk. Birds have talons and can grasp a branch securely. They can walk; they can cling. But flying is their characteristic action, and not until they fly are they living at their best, gracefully and beautifully (David B. Jackson in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching, Baker; www. PreachingToday.com).
Like God made birds for flying, He made people for giving. But some people desperately cling to their stuff, afraid to risk themselves on the untried wings of giving. If that’s you, just let go and flap those wings. Start giving a little every week until you soar and swoop in a life of grace the way God made you.
It’s like Winston Churchill once said: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give” (Winston Churchill, quoted in USA Today, 11-10-00, p.3B; www.PreachingToday.com). So go out there and, by God’s grace, make a life starting today.
