If you go to the New Testament to develop a biblical basis for Christian giving, you could never come up with what is commonly taught and practiced in the majority of churches today. Having spent eight years in Bible college and seminary, I can tell you I did not take one class or even hear one lesson on the theology of giving. So, like most pastors, my theology of giving carried over from what I had been taught in my church and I accepted it without question – a 10% tithe goes to the church.

It wasn’t until recent years when I decided to do an exhaustive, comprehensive study to support the doctrine of New Testament tithing that I realized from a biblical standpoint, I didn’t have a theological leg to stand on. So, allow me to share with you a very brief overview of what the Bible actually teaches on tithing and giving. I suspect you might be as surprised by what I learned as I was.

Tithing in the New Testament

First, it is important to know that nowhere in the New Testament is their even one verse stating that Christians are to tithe – not one verse. The word tithing is only mentioned on three occasions in the entire New Testament and all three are merely historical references to the practice.

(1) First, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they should be tithing (Matthew 23:23). Still being under the Old Testament Law and citizens of Israel, the Pharisees should have been doing so.

(2) The second reference is when the Pharisee is arrogantly bragging in his prayer about how he has kept all the law, including tithing (Luke 18:9-14).

(3) The third reference is an historical note that Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:5-10) from his spoils of war. Many try to claim that believers are obligated to tithe because the concept of tithing preceded the law based on Abraham’s tithe. But keep in mind Abraham’s tithe was a one-time “payment,” made of his own freewill from excess booty gained in war (Genesis 14:20). We have no indication that he ever did it again nor that his gift was intended to be normative for others, much less repeated on a weekly basis.

Keep in mind that almost all the New Testament was written by practicing Jews (Matthew, Mark, John, Paul, Peter and James) who certainly knew well the Old Covenant law on tithing, but none of them ever mentions tithing as a basis for Christian giving even when they were talking expressly about giving. Could we not rightly assume that if the Old Testament tithes were intended to be applied to us today, the New Testament authors would have said so at least once in all their writing to us about giving?

 Tithing in the Old Testament

Old Testament tithing, simply stated, was a tax that the Jews had to pay to underwrite their theocratic nation whose King was God. There were three taxes/tithes they were required to pay.

Tax #1: Every year Jews were required to pay 10% of all their crops, livestock and whatever else they had (Leviticus 27:30-33, Deuteronomy 14:22-29) – what was called the Levites’ Tithe. Because Israel was a theocracy, the Levites and priests were the government officials that needed to be supported by the citizens of Israel. If you remember, the tribe of Levi received no land as an inheritance. They were only given cities in all the other tribes. The tribes as such were required to support them through this first 10% tax.

Tax #2: This second tax was collected to underwrite the cost of all the festivals and religious ceremonies that were required by Jewish law for Israel to observe (Deuteronomy 14:22-27). This helped underwrite all the national events that Israel celebrated.

Tax #3: This third tax was payable every third year to provide a welfare safety net for the poor in Israel (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).

The Jewish tax system was a flat tax of 23.33%. However, there were still other “taxes” due, like the temple tax (Matthew 17:24). The Jews were also not permitted to harvest their fields to the edges, leaving the corners unharvested as an additional welfare tax to help feed the poor (Leviticus 19:9).  The annualized tax a Jew would be required to pay might total about 25%.

So, the Old Testament tithes were the taxation system used to underwrite Israel’s national expenses.

Giving in the New Testament

Let me say again, these Jewish taxes were never once applied to non-Jewish believers in the New Testament – never once.

In the early church, as you may recall, the Jews were trying to insist that the new Gentile converts needed to also obey the Jewish laws in order to become Christians? The Jerusalem Council determined that the Gentile Christians were only obligated to obey the following:

“…for it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements. You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well” (Acts 15:28-29).

Here the Jewish Christians had their chance to impose on the Gentile Christians the Jewish tax law, but it was not included in the list to the Gentile believers.

So, if tithing isn’t the basis for our Christian giving, what is it? You may be surprised to know that it is the same for us today as it was for the Old Testament Israelite – freewill offerings. The Jews had taxes to pay and we have taxes to pay. The Jews made freewill offerings and we make freewill offerings. Freewill offerings, contrary to taxes, have always been voluntary and in whatever amount the giver chooses. Freewill offerings are motivated out of grace and love. Taxes are motivated out of law and duty.

A major section of New Testament teaching on giving is found in II Corinthians 8-9 where Paul gives us a compelling example and crystal clear teaching on what New Testament giving should look like. He first shares about the giving of the Macedonian church that is currently in the midst of an incredible economic crisis:

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.

We must not miss the one striking fact in this passage. Paul tells us how all this out-of-control giving happened – they gave themselves first to the Lord. Once they gave themselves first to the Lord, giving away everything left in their almost empty moneybags was easy.

Paul goes on to set the giving basis for believers in II Corinthians 9:7. He directs us, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Do you notice what is missing in Paul’s giving directive? There is no formula or percentage for how much we ought to give. The amount of our giving is decided upon after carefully searching our hearts. Giving is a matter of the heart, not a matter of the wallet. If God gets our hearts, He will get our wallets. (Read Matthew 6:21.) Our giving decisions are to be internally motivated, not externally motivated.

I recently heard a pastor state quite emphatically that according to Malachi 3:8-10, if you are not tithing, you are living under a curse. How awful! Is this the kind of teaching on giving that creates a culture of open-handed, generous giving like we see in the Macedonian church? Are we saved by grace, but still required to give by law? I would suggest that this idea is completely dismissed by what Paul says about our giving – not grudgingly or under compulsion. Giving to avoid a curse might generate a relieved giver, but not a cheerful one.

Conclusion

Let me be perfectly clear here. Freedom from the law of Old Testament taxation is not freedom to give less. It is freedom to give in the ways and the amounts that properly reflect our deep, abiding love and gratitude for our Father and His Kingdom. It should reflect our desire to give to Him with the same sacrificial abandon that He gave to us when He sent His son to rescue us from Hell. We are now free to make sacrificial, love offerings to Him, not just pay a bill we are told we owe Him.

So, go and be free from the law and let the law of love direct you in the size and amount of your freewill offerings to your Father. And in so doing both God and you will love watching you turn into a truly cheerful giver!

Download PDF: Tithes and Offerings

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved.

E.G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training and mentoring ministry for professional advisors and ministry leaders to equip them to effectively serve believers who have accumulated surplus, material possessions. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.”

If you are like me, whenever you hear the word “needy” you always think of people who are materially poor and lacking in even the most basic necessities of life – often desperately lacking.  And this perception would certainly be true. These people are indeed needy and require help to even survive.

However, there is a different kind of needy that we rarely recognize. I am not referring to the needy who have a material shortfall, I am referring to the needy who have a material surplus. Those who have a shortfall need to receive, but equally critical those who have a surplus need to give. Both are equally needy in different ways. What is so divinely beautiful is that these two groups of needy people actually need each other to successfully make it through life.

I’m not sure we particularly like the idea of being referred to as needy, but one verse points out just how needy we are when surrounded by our material trappings.  Jesus exposes the Laodicean believers in Revelation 3:17, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Solomon said it this way in Ecclesiastes 5:13, “There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.” This sounds pretty needy to me!

Giving produces three life-changing results that will rescue us from our “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” needy state. Let’s consider these three life-transforming giving outcomes that make up the acronym S.I.R.

1. Giving SOFTENS Our Heart

A very troubling verse for the affluent needy is I John 3:17 which says, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” John is calling into question how the love of God can abide in us if we see needs and do not respond.

I can share that I was a master at closing my heart when I saw a need, whether it be a bum on the street or an orphan in a foreign country. I could justify and rationalize why doing nothing was really the best thing for the person in need. But what I eventually came to realize was that every time I would say, “No” to a need I saw, my heart grew a little harder and it became a little easier the next time to say, “No” again. Ultimately, it became quite easy to say, “No” all the time.

It was then that I realized that I needed to give, more than the beggar needed to receive. That was a life-transforming moment for me. I saw myself as more needy than he was. I finally decided for my own self-enlightened best interest to never again say,  “No” when I saw someone in need. And in saying, “Yes” each time I saw a need, I found myself becoming less poor because of my giving. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:32 that we are to be,“…tenderhearted…”. Peter adds in I Peter 3:8, “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” God wants us to be tenderhearted and giving definitely softens our heart.

If we want to avoid the hard heart of the prosperous needy, we need to give. Each time we gladly give we find ourselves in a less and less needy place after each gift.

 2. Giving INOCULATES Our Heart

All of us in America have been infected to one extent or another with the dreaded disease of affluenza. No one can live in this materialistic culture and not contract it. The symptoms are very common – often so common that many who have the disease do not even realize they have it because everyone else around them has the exact same symptoms, so their condition appears to be normal. Not to be extreme, but it is rather like living in a leper colony, where the grossness of the disease is not really noticed because everyone in the colony is dying with the same disease. Affluenza has become the norm, not the exception.

Affluenza is like Malaria in that once you contract it, you will never be entirely free of it. But there are things you can do to minimize its symptoms. Corrie ten Boom understood the grip that this disease has on us when she said, “I’ve learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me!” One of the most common symptoms of affluenza is tightfistedness. The only known antidote to affluenza is giving. And the more we give the more fully we will recover from the self-consuming symptoms of the disease.

Those of us who have affluenza are needy people. And we desperately need to give so this disease does not turn us into shriveled up, emaciated people who are in a desperately needy place and often don’t even know it.

The story of Ebenezar Scrooge is a classic example of a man who was eaten up with affluenza, but was completely oblivious to it. Then, one Christmas Eve he saw just how wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked he was. That night he both saw his need and discovered the cure. The next morning he began his giving. And that began his healing. And in a very short time he had risen out of his abject poverty and began recovering from his affluenza and eventually became a truly rich man.

Giving will inoculate your heart from affluenza.

3. Giving REFRESHES Our Heart

One of the great spiritual paradoxes is how when we give, we actually benefit as much and sometimes even more than the recipient of our giving. This truth is scattered all through the Bible. Consider Proverbs 22:9 that says, “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.” There is also Proverbs 11:25 that says, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

Jesus even adds that the giving produces greater blessing to the giver than to the receiver. He says, “It is more blessed to give than it is to receive” (Acts 20:35). Just as giving blesses the receiver, it exponentially blesses the giver. Go figure! As we attempt to meet someone else’s need, we find ourselves simultaneously meeting our own need. Their need is met in the receiving and our need is met in the giving!

Recently, I was on my way to an appointment when a car tried to turn left right in front of me. I swerved to avoid it, but the lady plowed right into the side of my car. I immediately prayed and asked God to not let this be just another frustrating delay and irritating inconvenience, but to do something with it that would honor Him. I accepted that God obviously wanted us to “bump” into each other that day.

The lady was driving without insurance; was an emotional basket case; pleaded with me to not have her put in jail because she had small children at home and promised she would pay every penny of the damage to my car. I reassured her that she would not be going to jail and even though she didn’t have insurance I did and everything would be okay. The officer arrived and did give her a ticket for driving without insurance. The wrecker had arrived to tow my car away.

I called my wife to tell her that I was in an accident, but was fine. As I was talking to her, I was deeply impressed by the Lord to give the lady some money. I normally only carry a couple of $5 bills around with me to give to needy people who I run across, but on this day, wouldn’t you know it, I had a $50 bill in my wallet. I pulled out the bill, walked over to the lady and told her I wanted to give it to her – because she was going to have a lot of additional expenses from this wreck. She went from weeping to sobbing and refused to take it. I then said, “Please take it, God asked me to give it to you. He wants you to have it.” She finally accepted it. I got into the cab of the wrecker and rode off with my damaged car in tow, missing my appointment and happy as a lark!

I am not sure there is anything I could have done with that $50 bill that would have been more fun and more of a blessing. I was thoroughly refreshed by my little act of giving. I came away from that calamity less needy than I was before it happened. Maybe the accident was for my benefit.

If you don’t want to remain a perpetually needy person with a surplus, start giving and watch your giving (1.) Soften, (2.) Inoculate and (3.) Refresh your heart. Give, so you won’t be needy anymore. Now, in your giving you will become “rich in good works” (I Timothy 6:18).

Download PDF: A Different Kind of Needy

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved.

E.G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training and mentoring ministry for professional advisors and ministry leaders to equip them to effectively serve believers who have accumulated surplus, material possessions. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.”

Asking the question, “How much is enough” seems almost un-American, doesn’t it? Whatever our current salary or income, we want more. However much we have invested, we want it to grow to become more. No matter how big our business, we want to make it bigger. “More” is woven into the very fabric of  the American psyche.

The multimillionaire, John D. Rockefeller, was once asked the question, “How much money is enough?” He answered quite transparently, “Just a little bit more.” In other words, “I will never have enough.” Might this be our conscious or unconscious mindset as well?

Let me ask you a probing question, “Is this ‘never enough’ mindset a spiritually healthy place for a believer to dwell?”  I have given this question a good bit of thought and my answer is, “It depends.” Let me explain the three issues it  depends on.

1. Restraining Our Greed

Reading Luke 12:15, I noticed something I had never seen before. Jesus says, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” What caught my attention for the first time was the phrase “every form of greed.”  Jesus is informing us that there are multiple manifestations of greed.

The word greed literally means “wanting more” or “eager for gain.” Greed is as open-ended as Rockefeller’s answer. With greed, enough will never be enough.  Greed always wants more.  It is not limited to just material things either. Consider this list of various forms of greed.

1. More money
2. More power/control
3. More pleasure
4. More leisure
5. More food
6. More fame

Greed can be like drinking salt water.  The more you drink, the more thirsty you become. It never satisfies.

Greed has two illegitimate children that you have likely met at some point in your life.  Their names are Envy and Covet. Envy makes us unhappy because we don’t have what others have. Envy drives us to “keep up with the Joneses.” It is what makes us discontent until we can get the same things others have. We cannot rejoice when others get something because we don’t have it too.

Covet is the more sinister of the two.  It actually wants to take from another person what he has. In other words, my gain will be at your loss. Ahab coveted Naboth’s vineyard (I Kings 21). He didn’t want a vineyard like Naboth’s (Envy).  He wanted Naboth’s vineyard (Covet). In Exodus 20 we are told not to covet our neighbor’s house or his wife. It is not that we want a house or a wife like our neighbor (Envy). It is that we want his very house or his very wife (Covet). David coveted Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba (II Samuel 11).  He didn’t just want a woman like Bathsheba (Envy). He wanted Bathsheba (Covet).

One of the most effective ways to restrain greed and its illegitimate spawn is to set very clear finish lines and make them known to others so they can hold you accountable. Some finish lines to consider might be capping your lifestyle consumption or your net worth. Once you meet or exceed the finish lines these additional resources will be used for other purposes. I’ll explain later.

2. Learning to be Content

Greed and contentment are total opposites. A greedy person will never be content and a content person will never be greedy. So while we learn to restrain our greed, we need to simultaneously learn to be content. The New Testament gives us three areas where we need to be content:

1.  Content with your current possessions:  (Hebrews 13:5, “be content with what you have.”)
2.  Content with your current provisions:  (I Timothy 6:6, “If we have food and covering with  these we will be content.”)
3.  Content with your current paycheck:  (Luke 3:14, “be content with your wages.”)

If we get a handle on these three areas of our lives, we will experience a level of financial, spiritual and emotional contentment and freedom beyond anything we have ever known before.  Keep in mind there is a huge difference between being financially independent and being financially free.  You can be financially independent and not be financially free. Likewise, you can be financially free without being financially independent. I know some very wealthy people who are clearly financially independent, but they are anything but financially free.  They are “slaves” to their possessions.  I also know people who do not have “two nickels to rub together” and they are anything but financially independent. Yet, they are entirely financially free.

Our goal is to be financially free. We may never realize financial independence in our lifetime.  But let me ask you, what would be wrong with living a hand to mouth existence if it is God’s hand to your mouth? The most effective way to truly become financially free is to restrain greed and learn contentment.

3. Deploying Our Surplus

What if God continues to bless your hard work and careful management of His resources with more than you need? What should you do with what exceeds your enough is enough limit? The answer should be obvious… give it away – all of it.

If you fail to set any finish lines, you will not know what is surplus and if you don’t know what is surplus, you won’t be inclined to deploy it.

I have talked to more than one financially independent person who has expressed a concern that he/she might need all they have later in life and so they were unwilling to deploy their “surplus” because there was a chance, however remote, it might be needed later. John Calvin responded to this concern long before America was even founded.

What makes us more close-handed than we ought to be is when we look too carefully, and too far forward, in contemplating the dangers that may occur—when we are excessively cautious and careful—when we calculate too narrowly what we will require during our whole life, or, in fine, how much we lose when the smallest portion is taken away. The man that depends upon the blessing of the Lord has his mind set free from these trammels and has, at the same time, his hands opened for beneficence.

Obviously, as Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

For those of us who are driven and gifted to make money, it would be a real loss to stop making it.  But once we cross our personal finish lines, our drive and our giftedness to make more can now be focused on getting more to the Kingdom and not just having more for ourselves.

My friend Randy Alcorn says it this way, “God prospers us not to raise our standard of living, but to raise our standard of giving.” This should be our goal: “live conservatively so we can give liberally.” Giving is no doubt one way in which Christians ought to be “liberals.”

So, the question, “Is this ‘never enough’ mindset a spiritually healthy place for a believer to dwell?” It depends. If our “never enough” attitude is focused on advancing our own personal kingdoms, then the answer is, “No, this is not a good place for a believer to dwell.”  If our “never enough” attitude is focused on advancing and funding the Kingdom of God, then the answer is, “Yes, this is a very good place for a believer to dwell.”

So, how much is enough for you? Are you ready to (1.) restrain your greed, (2.) learn to be content and (3.) deploy your surplus? If so, then get ready for some exciting and radical changes in how you think and how you live!

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved.

Download PDF: How Much is Enough

E.G. “Jay” Link, is the
President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training and mentoring
ministry for professional advisors and ministry leaders to equip them to
effectively serve believers who have accumulated surplus, material possessions.
He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty
Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life
Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to
the Heart of the Matter.”

Nowhere in Scripture is this contrast more clearly articulated than in chapter six of Paul’s first letter to Timothy. Look at some of the key excerpts from this chapter:

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God…  Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed (I Timothy 6: 9-11, 17-19 nasb).

The same material possessions that can produce a profoundly destructive, temporal and eternal outcome can also produce abundant blessings in both this life and the next. Which outcome we  experience is determined solely by our attitude towards them. According to Paul, if we see material possessions as an end in themselves, they will consume us (i.e. “burn and destroy”). To the contrary, if we see them merely as a means to an end – a way to bless others – they will actually greatly enhance our life (i.e. “cook and warm”).

Look at the severe words that Paul uses to warn us about what accompanies a life focused on material things – what I call the Terrible Ten.

1. temptation (v. 9)
2. snare (v. 9)
3. foolish and harmful desires [lusts] (v. 9)
4. ruin (v. 9)
5. destruction (v. 9)
6. root of all sorts of evil (v. 10)
7. wandering from the faith (v. 10)
8. many griefs (v. 10)
9. conceited (v. 17)
10. fix hope on riches [instead of God] (v. 17)

Paul is warning us with his Terrible Ten that riches improperly pursued and possessed will cause the pursuer to immediately and ultimately lose more than he gains. Alexander Pope seems
to echo Paul’s warning when he says, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Paul is pulling no punches as he describes the destructive side of materialism that we either fail to recognize or simply choose to ignore. The fact is that the larger one builds his fire of possessions, the more dangerous the fire becomes. Remember that Paul had been rich himself.  He had personal knowledge of what he was saying here.

Maybe it was the awareness of this dark side of riches that caused Agur to request of the Lord, “Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal and profane the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8b-9). He is saying, “I don’t want to handle something that is as physically and spiritually dangerous as material riches.”

I have never been rich by American standards, but I will openly confess that I have seen signs of all of these Terrible Ten in my own life. And I suspect that if you are completely honest with
yourself, you have seen one or more of these Terrible Ten rearing their ugly heads in your life as well. It is almost impossible to live in such a materialistic culture and not be singed to some extent from the destructive flames of materialism.

Paul states that this out-of-control pursuit of riches is extremely dangerous. He instructs us how to avoid its destructive consequences with one simple word – flee (v. 11). This is not a fire that we are going to be able to control.  It is not a fire that is safe to be around. It is not a fire that will cook and warm. When you see your house on fire, don’t wait around to see if it goes out, don’t gather up your most precious possessions, don’t call for advice on what to do – just flee!

Many of us have already accumulated (to one degree or another) an abundance of material possessions, so how exactly are we to flee? Thankfully, Paul tells us exactly how to overcome the deadly fires of riches and how to turn its certain death into abundant life that will be both an immediate and an eternal blessing to all. Here is what he tells us about how to safely and successfully handle this raging fire without getting burned up by it. He instructs us to put on “fireproof gloves” when handling it. He tells Timothy: Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed (6:18-19).

His “fireproof gloves” are the gloves of giving. If we handle material things with the fireproof gloves of generosity, we will never be burned by them. Rather, we can use them as a source of help, comfort and blessing to others.

What a glorious way to end Paul’s sobering teaching on material riches!  This destructive fire of riches can actually be redirected into a good, healthy and productive purpose. And it is accomplished by sharing our riches with others! Now our material prosperity will bring life and joy to both the giver as well as the receiver.  The fire will no longer burn and destroy; instead it can now cook and warm, not only for us, but also for all those with whom we share.

Do you know how to put out a blazing campfire?  You break up the fire by spreading out the logs. And by so doing the whole fire cools down and rather quickly dies out.  Likewise, when you start spreading out the “logs” of your material possessions by giving them to others, the consuming fire of materialism is cooled and is brought under control, no longer scorching all who come near. The more “fuel” you share with others, the cooler the flame of materialism within you.

Possibly my favorite two words that Paul uses in all his writings are his last two words on this topic – life indeed. Who wouldn’t want life indeed? And as is the case with so much of the spiritual life, it is a counter-intuitive reality that life indeed is found not in what we get, it is found in what we give.

Lord, open our hearts, fit us with fireproof gloves and compel us to spread around the material blessings You have entrusted to us, so that we may store up for ourselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that we may take hold of that which is life indeed. Amen.

Download PDF: A Blazing Fire

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved

E.G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training and mentoring ministry for professional advisors and ministry leaders to equip them to effectively serve believers who have accumulated surplus, material possessions. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.”

Solomon says it this way in Proverbs 23:7, “For as (a man) thinks within himself, so he is.”  In other words, you are what you think about.  Paul is much more direct in Romans 8:5-6 when he declares, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace…”  And because of this he adds a strong exhortation in Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above and not things on earth.”

With all this said, we see that the real spiritual battle is in the mind.  The fact is by the time our sin manifests itself in actions, it is already too late – the battle is already over.  We have lost before we actually even committed the sin. Jesus shared this profound spiritual reality in Matthew 5 when He tells us that sin does not begin with the act of murder, but rather with the mere thoughts of anger.  He also adds that sin does not begin when one commits the act of adultery, but rather when one lusts over the woman in his mind.

There is an old gospel song entitled, Old Man’s Rubble which poetically expressed where the spiritual conflict really rages.  It says, “Deep within you there’s a spiritual battle.  There’s a voice of the darkness and a voice of the light.  And just by listening, you’ve made your decision.  ‘Cause the voice you hear is going to win the fight.”

So, with the sobering reality that the front line of the battle is in our mind, not our behavior, we must carefully assess how we are managing what we think about.  We must recognize that what is on our mind is the most accurate indicator of our real, spiritual health.  So, let’s evaluate what kind of mind we might have.

A Carnal Mind
Paul describes the unconverted, carnal mind in Philippians 3:18-19, “For many walk …that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”  One of the primary characteristics of the unbeliever is that his mind is set on earthly things.  This word “set” carries with it the idea of being “intent on or fixed.”  Their singular focus is on earthly things.

Any unregenerate mind left to its own unrestrained devices will focus on the here and now – what is immediately present.  And sadly our world is filled with masses of carnal minds that are set on earthly things and are constantly enticing us to join them in their fixation on earthly things.

A Conflicted Mind
It is with this conflicted mind that we may see shadows of ourselves.  Sadly many churches, as Alistair Begg expresses, are filled with what he calls “unconverted believers.”  They profess Christ, but are not changed.  They have the talk of a believer, but their mind and actions are that of an unbeliever.  This is not a new phenomenon.

Do you remember when Jesus was informing His disciples of His pending death and Peter (in his typical impetuous fashion) objected to such a possibility?  In Mark 8:33 Jesus makes a striking statement to him. Jesus orders, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”  Peter, devoted as he was to Jesus, still struggled with a conflicted mind.  His
mind was flip-flopping between earthly things and heavenly things.  And Jesus called him out when it had “flopped” on earthly things.

James describes an unconverted believer in 1:8 as, “being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”  The conflicted mind waivers back and forth from a carnal mind to a converted mind, making him “unstable in all his ways.”  On Sunday morning his mind is on spiritual things and by Sunday afternoon it is back on earthly things.  He reads the Word and his mind is on spiritual things.  He then reads the newspaper and it is back on earthly things.  Back and forth.  Up and down.  In and out.

I fear that for far too many of us, this may be descriptive of our common state of mind – continually waffling between heavenly thoughts and earthly thoughts – “a double minded man, unstable in all his ways.”  Hence, Paul’s exhortation to “set your mind on things above and not on earthly things.”

You might ask how can we possibly live in a material world and not find ourselves thinking about earthly things?  It is not whether you are thinking about earthly things or not, it is rather how you are thinking about these earthly things that is so important.  Do you think about earthly things within the context of heaven and eternity or simply within the context of yourself, your own pleasure and merely the here and now?  We need to be continually in a heavenly state of mind even while we are in the midst of earthly things.

 A Converted Mind
Our goal must be to allow the Holy Spirit to take such total control of our mind that regardless of what we are in the midst of, He is controlling our thoughts.  Paul expresses this objective in II Corinthians 10:5 when he says, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”  Every single thought captive.

Paul lists for us what we should be filling our minds with on a daily basis in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell (take an inventory) on these things.”

A young granddaughter sitting on her grandfather’s lap asked curiously, “Grandpa, do you think I could live my entire life and not have a bad thought?”  Her grandfather replied, “No, honey, I don’t think anybody could do that.”  She then asked, “How about a year?  Could I go for a year and not have a bad thought?”  Her grandfather again shook his head, “No, honey, not even for a year.” Persistently, she inquired, “How about a day?  Could I go for a day?”  Again her grandfather answered sadly, “No, honey, I don’t even think you could go for a day without a bad thought.”  Not giving up, the little girl pressed, “How about a minute?  Could I go for one minute without a bad thought?”  Her grandfather smiled and nodded approvingly, “Yes, sweetheart, you could go for one minute without having a bad thought.”  “Then, grandpa,” she answered, “that is how I want to live my life – one minute at a time.”  Maybe that is how all of us should start living our lives – one minute at a time.

I love Isaiah 26:3, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you” (esv).  The word “stayed” means something that is fixed in place or immovable.  We want to have our minds immovably fixed on Him – regardless of our immediate earthly environment or our current life circumstances.

How can we successfully maintain a completely converted mind?  The words of the great old hymn by Helen Lemmel remind us, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Look full in His wonderful face.  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.  In the light of His glory and grace.”  May we all keep our eyes and our minds fixed firmly on Him (Hebrews 12:2).

Download PDF: What’s on Your Mind?

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved.

E.G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training and mentoring ministry for professional advisors and ministry leaders to equip them to effectively serve believers who have accumulated surplus, material possessions. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.”

A gentleman recently asked me a thought-provoking question.  He asked, “Do you think testamentary giving is really giving?”  The answer to this question at first blush might seem quite obvious. But upon further contemplation, I’m not so sure it is all that obvious.  Think with me about this.  With lifetime giving you are voluntarily separating yourself from your possessions.  With testamentary giving you are involuntarily being separated from your possessions when you can no longer keep them.

With the former your possessions are leaving you. With the later you are leaving your possessions. The first is voluntary, the last is involuntary.  With one you are giving.  With the other you are leaving. Viewed this way, there emerges a huge difference between these two.  It has been my experience over the years that most people who have made plans to leave something behind for the kingdom after they eternally relocate could certainly make most, if not all, those gifts while they are still alive.  This being the case, an important question must be asked. Why don’t people do all the giving they can while they are still here?  I believe there are three reasons why people might opt for testamentary leaving instead of lifetime giving.

Reason #1: Uninformed
I am amazed how often believers work with unbelieving advisors (attorneys, money managers, insurance agents, accountants, etc.). For advisors with a secular world view the idea of giving is seldom a central part of their planning considerations.  (In many cases, they may actually be opposed to the idea of giving because their incomes would go down if you did.)  If you bring up giving, it is very easy to drop a testamentary gift into your plan since it requires no real strategic planning or sacrifice to give it.  We might say, “I’d also like to leave a little something for God in our plan.”  Simple. Easy. No need to carefully plan how to maximize my lifetime giving.  No need to stretch my faith in any way, because after all, I am not really giving anything away – which leads to the second reason why people might choose testamentary leaving instead of lifetime giving.

Reason #2: Uncertain
Uncertainty breeds fear and fear is one of the great paralyzers to lifetime giving.  There is often a spoken or unspoken fear that if I really get generous in my lifetime giving I might inadvertently give too much away and then run short of funds to live on later in life.  I have never known of anyone who gave themselves into poverty.  In fact, I don’t even believe that is possible.  But fear, driven by our fallen, lack-of-faith nature, kicks in reducing or altogether stopping our ability to joyfully and generously give while we are still “on this side of the grass.”  Testamentary leaving as opposed to lifetime giving, often can be a practical manifestation of fear – a lack of trust in God to provide for us in the future.

Reason #3: Unengaged
If believers don’t have a “fire in their belly” about something eternal; if they are not passionate about seeing God work in people’s lives; if they are not personally, spiritually and emotionally engaged in doing something with their lives and resources that will matter forever; then there will be little perceived difference between lifetime giving and testamentary leaving.  With either giving or leaving one may think, “Whenever I do give, I am sure I will do some good, somewhere, for someone in some way, at some time.”  In these cases, both giving and leaving can be devoid of any urgency or passion.  When it comes to your giving, would you be able to say with Jeremiah in Lamentations 1:13, “From on high He sent fire into my bones.”  If you are unengaged in Kingdom work, giving or leaving can feel about the same.

Even the unbeliever Andrew Carnegie had a goal to give everything he had away while he was still alive.  He even made the bold statement, “He who dies rich, dies disgraced.”  His problem was that he was so rich he could not give it away faster than his financial empire was making it, so in spite of all his efforts, he still died rich – disgraced.  Tom Monaghan, the founder of Dominos Pizza, is a compelling, contemporary example of a man who is trying to give it all away before he relocates.  His personal testimony of a millionaire’s vow of poverty is a compelling story regardless of our own personal financial situation.  So, should we choose to upgrade our testamentary leaving to lifetime giving, how do we decide how much lifetime giving we should be doing?  Here is a three step process to ratchet up your lifetime giving and experience more fun, more joy and more Kingdom impact during your lifetime than you ever dreamed possible.

Step #1: Imagine
…what you could do for the Kingdom while you are still here on earth.  Helen Keller recognized, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something.” And so can you.  If you don’t know where God is at work in the world today, start looking.  You will not have trouble finding Him working all over the world in amazing and supernatural ways.  Choose the work and the places He is working that most excite and motivate you.  Discover what unfunded opportunities are there that you could help continue or expand.  Imagine who or what could be changed for eternity if you were to give now.  Ask, “Is God calling me to help fund this Kingdom opportunity?”  Just imagine.  You could be part of something big, something eternal, right now!

Step #2: Plan
…for maximum Kingdom impact with all you have.  Most people have little idea how much lifetime giving capacity they really have.  Sit down with your advisors and charge them with the task of presenting you a plan on how to maximize your Kingdom giving and impact before you relocate to your permanent home with the Lord.  Start with determining what you have in the way of surplus income and assets.  These are immediately available for lifetime giving.  Then ask the Lord if He might even like you to reduce your lifestyle consumption so as to increase your lifetime giving.  This can be a scary question to ask because I think we all might be afraid our Lord might say, “Yes, I want you to reduce your lifestyle for My Kingdom’s sake.”  By developing this kind of a strategic giving plan, you will be absolutely amazed at how much you will be able to deploy of your income and resources, if lifetime Kingdom impact become the top priority in your planning.

Step #3: Trust
…God to take care of you while you focus on taking care of others.  This is where the “rubber meets the road.” Are you willing to trust God to take care of you so you can stop worrying about whether you have enough to take care of yourself?  When we can answer “Yes” to this question, we will now be free to focus on making sure others have enough.  Faith (trust) and fear are mutually exclusive.  One clear indicator that we are lacking in faith is when we become fearful about not having adequate provisions in the future.  Do you believe that God is powerful enough, wise enough and loving enough to take care of you without your help?  If God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the field will He not all the more take care of you? (Read Matthew 6:25-34.)  When you can finally and fully trust God for your care and provision, you will never again need to worry about giving too much away during your lifetime.

Do you remember the story of the widow of Zarephath and Elijah?  With her last bit of provisions she fed Elijah.  And as a result God kept her bowl of flour and her jar of oil perpetually full. (Read I
Kings 17:8-16.)  “Our God’s hand is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear” (Isaiah 59:1).  Think about it.  If we are willing to trust God for our eternity, surely we can trust Him for the short time we have left here on this earth.  If we will focus our energies on maximizing our lifetime, Kingdom giving, we will find to our delight that the rest of our lives will actually prove to be the best years of our lives!

Download PDF: Giving or Leaving

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved.

E.G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training and mentoring ministry for professional advisors and ministry leaders to equip them to effectively serve believers who have accumulated surplus, material possessions. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.” 

Let me ask you what I expect will be quite a thought provoking question.  A question you have likely never even pondered. However, it is one we should all be asking ourselves.  Here’s the question, “Has God’s abundant provision in your life become a bridge or a barrier to your ability to trust Him more fully in your life?”

You would think after having experienced such abundant, material provision from our loving Father for all these years, these abundant provisions would build for us a wide and easily traveled bridge – allowing us to confidently trust God in the future based upon what we have experienced in the past.  However, this does not seem to be what happens. These abundant provisions appear, to the contrary, to create a barrier that limits our ability to trust Him more fully. I have seen this in my own life and the lives of many others.  The more we possess the more likely we are to trust Him less. In other words, the more He provides, the less we trust Him to provide. Odd phenomenon, isn’t it?

I was once visiting with a young man who was struggling financially and he responded to my counsel by saying, “Jay, if I was making the kind of money you were making, I could trust God a lot more.”  I responded right back to him and said, “Doug, if I was making the kind of money you are making, I could trust God a lot more.” Doug had come to believe the false notion that his trust in the Lord would increase as God’s provision to him increased. In other words, he thought God’s additional provision to him would serve as a bridge enabling him to develop even greater trust and faith in God.  As logical as this thinking might seem, when provisions start exceeding our most basic needs, they most often end up becoming a barrier –  preventing us from trusting God more, not a bridge – enabling us to trust Him more.

This is exactly what Jesus was getting at when He made the very shocking statement to His disciples in Luke 18:24-25, ‘How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’

Those with a surplus put their faith in their surplus, so they have no need to put their faith in the Provider of the surplus. Solomon confessed, “He who trusts in his riches will fall…” (Proverbs 11:28). When we trust in the provisions of God instead of the God of provisions, we will fall short of living by faith.

I have been on many short term mission trips over the years and the one thing that continues to amaze me is the depth of faith these third world believers’ possess in the midst of what most of us would consider to be intolerable poverty. How can these impoverished believers be so entirely trusting of the One who has delivered so little material provision to them?  The answer is painfully obvious.  They have no material possessions to get in the way of trusting Him totally. For us the question is, “Are we going to trust in our stuff or are we going to trust in the One who has provided the stuff?” For them, the question is a good bit simpler. It is merely, “Are we going to trust in God or not?”

Do You Believe?
Let me ask you, “Do you believe God can and will continue to provide for all your needs in the future as He has in the past?”  I am quite sure all of us would intellectually respond with, “Yes, of course, I do.” David confirms this idea in Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”  Amen.  We all believe God can and will provide! Don’t we? Or, do we?

For many of us there seems to be a significant disconnect between what we intellectually believe about God’s ability to provide and our everyday attitudes about what He has already provided to us.

Let me take this line of thinking one step further with another question. If everything that God has currently provided to you so far were to disappear overnight, would your faith and trust in Him continue unshaken? Would you be confident that God would provide for you in the future as He has in the past?  We may at some point in the future find ourselves living on less than we are now, but are we certain that He will never leave us “begging for bread?”

If all our material trappings (and I use this word “trappings” intentionally) were to be stripped away for whatever reason, might it reveal to us that these “trappings” have indeed become a barrier to fully trusting in Jehovah Jireh (God our Provider).

Jesus makes this point in Matthew 6:31-34 when He says, ‘Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…’

To paraphrase, “Do not worry about tomorrow and what might happen if the stock market crashes, or if the economy collapses, or if you lose your job or your business or maybe even if you lose it all.” Jesus says, “Seek Me first and I’ll provide for you.”

Let Us Pray
How many of us would be willing to pray, “Lord, take away anything and everything in my life that is even the slightest barrier between You and me, including all that You have provided to me if necessary. If I have You alone, I have all I need.” That could be a dangerous prayer to utter, couldn’t it?

I was leading a discussion on this subject recently and a gentleman in the audience appeared quite troubled by the conversation. He raised his hand and asked quite hesitantly, “What if God told me to give everything away…?”  I looked him right in the eyes and said, “If you were certain God was telling you to give everything away and you did it, you would be the happiest man on this planet!” A “poor” man who is totally obedient and trusting in God is richer than the richest man on earth who isn’t.

Hebrews 12:1 exhorts us, “…let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Jesus told us if our hand, our foot or our eye causes us to stumble, we should cut them off and throw them into the fire. (Matthew 18:8-9).  Likewise, if what God has provided to us is preventing us from fully trusting in Him, should we not likewise be compelled to lay them aside – to part with whatever we possess that is entangling us?

So, are your provisions a bridge or a barrier to fully trusting in Jehovah Jireh? Let’s not forget, we came into this world with nothing and we will all leave that same way (Job 1:21). May we all, in the time between our arrival on and departure from this earth, be careful not to unconsciously allow what we possess to become the object of our security, our trust and our hope. May we instead trust in the One who has so graciously provided it all to us to manage while we are here.

Download PDF: A Bridge or a Barrier?

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved.

E. G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training, and mentoring ministry serving churches, ministries and professional advisors, to equip them to effectively call those they serve to live the transformed lives of Kingdom stewards. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.” 

One of the most radical giving passages in the entire New Testament is found in Luke 21:1-4.  You most likely have already heard the story about the “widow’s mite.” Most people completely miss how profound this story and Jesus’ teaching on it is.  In fact, in His all too brief two sentence observation, He, as He did on many occasions on many different subjects, turns the Old Testament teaching on giving “on its ear.”

Here is the brief story. “Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (esv)

A person could all too easily read right through this story, be warmed by the sweetness of it and move on. But we dare not overlook the fact that in Jesus’ assessment, He reverses our commonly understood definitions of what makes big giving big and what makes small giving small. He changes the entire paradigm by identifying the widow as the big giver and the wealthy as the small givers – this poor widow has put in more than all of them

To fully appreciate the extreme contrast in Jesus’ comparison here, we need to understand that these two small copper coins this poor widow gave was the equivalent of 1/64^th of a common laborer’s daily wage.  Assuming a minimum wage for an eight hour day, her gift amounted to a measly ninety cents in today’s dollars. Contrast this with the huge sums of money that Jesus observed the rich dropping into the offering box.  Their giving may have even been bags of gold – surplus gold.  And that is his point.  Even the significant amounts of money the rich were parting with in their offerings would have absolutely no immediate or long term impact on their lives whatsoever. They were giving what they did not need and what they would not miss.  In their giving they were making no personal sacrifice at all.  The widow, on the other hand, would likely feel the impact of her gift by dinner time that very day.

Let me also note the percentage of giving Jesus endorsing here before we move on. You can check my math, but I believe it is 100%, not just some arbitrary or perfunctory 10% tithe. He is praising and promoting 100% giving. That alone is “off the charts,” extreme teaching.

A Modern Day Comparison
In order to better understand what Jesus is actually saying here, let me give you a modern day comparison to illustrate the extent of just how radical this redefining of what big giving is. Let’s say there are two members of your church.  The first member is a poor, elderly widow who receives $12,000 a year in Social Security and who gives out of her meager annual income $500 a year to the church. The second member is a successful businessman who is giving $50,000 a year to the church from his $350,000 annual income?

Comparison #1
If you compare the total dollar amount the two are giving, who is the big giver and who is the small giver?  Pretty obvious, the businessman is the big giver and the widow is the small giver. The businessman is giving 100 times more than the widow.

Comparison #2
If you compare their giving as a percentage of their income, you will see that the widow is giving a very modest 4% of her income – (an unacceptable amount in many churches’ theology). The businessman on the other hand is giving a very healthy 14% of his income.  If you compare the percentages of income the two are giving, the businessman is again the big giver and the widow is the small giver. The businessman is giving 3.5 times more.

Comparison #3
However, Jesus ignores our two “normal” methods of measuring the liberality of our giving and instead institutes a brand new giving measurement never before used.  Simply stated, here is Jesus’ new definition for measuring generous giving: Your degree of generosity is not measured by how much you give, it is measured by how much you have left over after you give. This is such a profound truth you cannot hear this statement just once and fully absorb it, so let me give it to you again. Your degree of generosity is not measured by how much you give, it is measured by how much you have left over after you give.

Using Jesus’ new definition to measure who is the bigger giver, we are not to compare their total giving (comparison #1) or even their percentage of giving (comparison #2), we are to compare how much the widow and the businessman have left over after they have made their respective gifts (comparison #3).

The widow has a meager $11,500 left over to live on for the entire year (less than $1,000 a month), while the businessman must “struggle” to make ends meet on his remaining $300,000 salary ($25,000 a month). The message is unmistakably clear here. Jesus is telling us that the widow who gave only $500 is a much bigger giver than the businessman who liberally gave $50,000.

Jesus throws us an incredible curve in his comparison in Luke 21 by identifying the poor widow, not the rich, as the bigger giver. 

The Most Generous Person I Have Ever Personally Known
I have worked with some pretty affluent families over the past 30 years and I have helped them make some pretty massive gifts to the Kingdom. However, when I think about the most generous person I have ever known, none of these serious and committed Christians reach the top of my list.

That top position goes to a ten-year-old boy named Jimmy Mitchell who was a member of my church back when I was preaching as a young man over 30 years ago. Let me tell you his story. One Sunday before church, I was standing up at the pulpit getting my sermon notes ready and Jimmy came running into the auditorium of our very small country church in rural Kentucky. He ran up to me with a one dollar bill in his hand and said, “Jay, look what I’ve got.” I said, “Jimmy, that’s great. Where did you get it?” He told me that after he mowed his yard, he decided to go ahead and mow old Mrs. Brown’s yard next door because she wasn’t able to get around very well. He excitedly exclaimed, “After I finished, she came out and gave me this dollar.”

He then paused and gave me a reflective look and said, “You know, Jay, I’d like to give some of this dollar to the Lord.” Touched by his comment, I replied, “Jimmy, I know the Lord would be so pleased that you would want to share some of that dollar with Him. How much do you think you would like to give Him?”

Even after over three decades now, I still remember his penetrating words like it was yesterday. He looked down at the dollar and then questioningly looked up at me and asked, “Do you think He would mind if I kept a dime?”

His words still ring in my mind to this day, “Do you think He would mind if I kept a dime?” Jimmy knew whose dollar it was and he was just hoping to enjoy some small benefit from it having passed through his hands on its way back to its rightful Owner for His use and purposes.

Even after thirty years, Jimmy Mitchell still remains the most generous giver I have ever personally known. Not because of the total amount of the gift – a meager 90 cents, or even the amazing percentage of his giving – 90%.  But because of the amount he had left over after he made the gift – one thin dime.

I have never given this sacrificially and extravagantly at any time in my life, have you? Can you imagine what the Kingdom of God would look like today if it were full of believers who thought and acted like Jimmy Mitchell?

Your degree of generosity is not measured by how much you give, it is measured by how much you have left over after you give. This new definition of what makes a person a big giver should challenge all of us to reassess our current level of giving to determine if we should still be thinking of ourselves as big givers.

It may just be that based upon Jesus’ revolutionary, new definition of what it means to be a big giver, some of us who may have previously thought of ourselves as big givers aren’t all that big of givers after all and many of us who likely have never thought of ourselves as big givers indeed really are!

Download PDF: Big Giver/Small Giver: Someone Reversed the Definitions

© 2011 Stewardship Ministries | All Rights Reserved.

E. G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training, and mentoring ministry serving churches, ministries and professional advisors, to equip them to effectively call those they serve to live the transformed lives of Kingdom stewards. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.”  Mr. Link may be contacted by email at jlink@StewardshipMinistries.org.

One of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible is found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount when He discusses giving. Here is what He actually says: Matthew 6:1-4, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

A common misunderstanding of what Jesus is teaching here has led many believers to conclude that unless your giving is entirely anonymous, you will receive no reward from the Lord for your gifts.  I once heard a gentleman (who was sharing his giving testimony) acknowledge that by sharing what he did, he would now be losing his reward.  Some people have taken this misbelief about anonymous giving so seriously they only give cash to their church so as to make it impossible for anyone to trace their giving.

Is this what Jesus is teaching?  I think not.  In fact, I think we will have missed Jesus’ point entirely if that is what we conclude. It is good to remember that chapters 5-7 are one sermon. We must not ignore the rest of what Jesus says. Context is key here. I think there are three important lessons about giving we can draw from Jesus’ sermon.

He Teaches Us to Give

We must not overlook the obvious.  Jesus tells us “when you give” – He does not say if you give. Giving is an expected and commanded part of being a follower of Jesus. His teaching here begins with the assumption that every follower of Jesus will be giving. He then addresses the dangers and pitfalls you must avoid when you do your giving.

I fear many immature and “non-giving” believers (and there are a huge number of them) use this passage as a way to not give and keep their non-giving a secret. If ever confronted with what they are giving, they can hide behind this passage that their giving is a secret. I once asked a church body this question, “Do you think if the giving records of each member of the church were to be posted on the bulletin board, anyone would be embarrassed by the other members knowing what their giving was.  We never did it, of course, but it does point out how many believers will hide behind this teaching to cover up their lack of generosity.

He Teaches Us to Give Purely

The point that Jesus is really trying to make here is about our giving motives.  He says that we should never do our giving, “in order to be seen by them” and subsequently to be “praised by others.” In other words, we do not want to give because of what we might get from it – like others having elevated thoughts of us or making complimentary comments about us or us receiving some special treatment because of our giving. Jesus is saying that if your motive for giving is to draw attention to yourself and you accomplish that, you received the reward you wanted. It is not so important whether your giving is known by others, it is more important to know how and why your giving was made known to others.

If you study Jesus’ entire sermon, you will see the progression of His message. In the last half of chapter five (verses 21-48), He emphasizes inner moral righteousness, providing us six specific illustrations of murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge, and love.   In the first eighteen verses of this sixth chapter He emphasizes outward formal righteousness and gives us three representative illustrations of typical religious activities – that being giving, praying and fasting. These three activities are all connected in the flow of His message.

It is important to understand this because Jesus also teaches us to go into our closet (6:6, KJV) to pray and not to do it publically.  Isn’t it interesting that we stringently believe our giving ought to be the ultimate private act, yet, we do not apply the secrecy doctrine to prayer even though Jesus’ teaching on both of these practices are almost identical? He even adds one additional common religious practice of that day (one that might be good for us to revisit) when He tells us that your “fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (6:18).

Do you see the repetitiveness in each of these three illustrations? Do something with pure motives and do not seek to be seen and admired by others. Then God, who knows the true motives of your heart, will reward you in your giving, praying and fasting. Why do we put giving in a different category from the other two? Giving needs to be private, but we don’t hesitate to ask people to audibly pray and be heard by others?

Let me also add that if anonymous giving is the only proper way to give, how is it that not only was Jesus able to watch people giving their offerings in Luke 21:1-4, He was so close to the offering box that He could actually see the amount the widow gave. He praises the amount of her gift (making it public) using it as a lesson to challenge His disciples and countless millions of believers through the ages. So much for anonymous giving.  Jesus Himself blew her cover.  Did she lose her reward because of it? I think not.

Additionally, if giving was meant to be a secret, why are we told about the many believers who gave in Acts 2:45 and also Barnabas and others who gave recorded in Acts 4:32- 37? All this was public knowledge and even recorded by Luke for all future believers to know about.  You see, it is not about secrecy, it is about motive.  We should be motivated to give as an act of personal worship and not so we might be praised and honored by others for what we have given. If that is the motive, then that person has “received [his] reward.”

He Teaches Us to Give Purely to Glorify God and Motivate Others

Jesus’ sermon also teaches us what the proper motivation for our giving and good works should be. In 5:16 Jesus says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

If we keep our giving and good works under a bushel (5:15 – a secret) thinking this is what Jesus wants, how can we obey this part of His sermon?  We are told here to let our light (our giving and good works) “shine before others so they may see your good works…” Taken at face value it seems that Jesus is contradicting Himself.  We must understand that Jesus is addressing the giver’s motive (i.e. to “give glory to your Father who is in heaven”) and not who knows about the good gift. If in our giving and doing good we always seek to deflect the praise and glory for giving from ourselves (6:1-4) to God (5:16), acknowledging that, “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17), we are being obedient to both passages. If we readily seek to deflect the praise from our known giving to the Father, then we will always be safe from others ever thinking more highly of us than they should (Romans 12:3).

Let me also suggest a second healthy motivation for actually making your giving known. Hebrews 10:24 tells us, “…let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds…” I can think of no more compelling reason to make our giving known to others than in so doing to challenge other believers to step up their level of generosity and experience the joy and the blessing that comes from increased giving.

Just think how much poorer we would all be if the likes of J. C. Penny and R. G. Letourneau who both gave away 90% of their massive incomes during their lifetimes would have never let us know what they were doing.  Or, what about Stanley Tam (God Owns My Business) and Alan Barnhart who both have given their entire companies away to the Lord, choosing to live on modest salaries and annually funneling millions of dollars of company profits to Kingdom causes worldwide? What about all the Bible characters who fill the pages of Scripture who inspire and challenge us to greater levels of sacrificial giving? What if they would have all kept it a secret?  What a loss for us!

So Jesus’ message about giving is both clear and simple. 1. Give. 2. Give purely. 3. Give purely to glorify God and motivate others. Rather than concern yourself with who is aware of your giving, instead focus on who will be glorified by your giving and who you might inspire to join you in your giving adventures.  So, if your motives are pure – go ahead and let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. The more who are blessed and inspired by your giving, the better!

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E. G. “Jay” Link, is the President of Stewardship Ministries, a teaching, training, and mentoring ministry serving churches, ministries and professional advisors, to equip them to effectively call those they serve to live the transformed lives of Kingdom stewards. He is the author of three books, “Spiritual Thoughts on Material Things: Thirty Days of Food for Thought,” “To Whom Much is Given: Navigating the Ten Life Dilemmas Affluent Christians Face” and “Family Wealth Counseling: Getting to the Heart of the Matter.”  Mr. Link may be contacted by email at jlink@StewardshipMinistries.org.