By Bill Fiess
Recently, a friend from Zambia (a young student studying to be a pastor) asked me about tithing. In the Zambian churches, tithing is considered by many to be a condition for keeping your salvation. He stated (in an email):
Some do question someone’s salvation if they can’t give the tithe. I can say it is a common teaching here. Others say if you don’t tithe, then your life will not progress, and many tell those who don’t give to be robbers for they rob God. This has discouraged a lot of Christians who can’t give the tithe, and some have ended up stopping going to church. One of the reasons preachers preach tithing is to enrich themselves, buy extravagant things in church, or build outstanding church buildings.
In my reply to him, I said that tithing [giving 10 percent of your income] is hardly mentionedi and is never commanded in the NT. So we should certainly not make it a big deal.
WHAT DID JESUS SAY?
However, Jesus Christ does have much to say about money and financial giving. For example, the words translated “riches” (ploutos) and “wealth” (mamōnas) are found twenty-three times in the words of Jesus. Furthermore, Jesus makes very powerful statements about financial giving. For example,
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).
“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:32–34).
Even from these two short statements, we can make some significant observations:
- Sacrificial giving brings eternal reward.
- The more I give, the more my reward will be.
Further, Jesus makes it very clear that all of my money and resources belong to God. He says, “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” (Luke 16:12).
WHO REALLY OWNS MY MONEY?
In the parable about money recorded in Luke 16:1-12, the rich man is God the Father, and what is your own in verse 12 refers to eternal reward. So, I am just a steward of what God has given me in this life. All I have belongs to God.
An example of a man who lived out this teaching is German-born George Müller, a nineteenth-century pioneering philanthropist who relied solely on faith and the provision of donors to fund the orphanages he built in Bristol, England. Also, on a purely faith basis, he founded 117 Biblically focused day schools across England. Over the course of nearly sixty-three years, beginning with the operation of his first home for orphans in Bristol, Müller recorded that unmistakable answers to prayers allowed him to take in nearly 10,000 orphaned children, educate 120,000 in the day schools, and distribute over 300,000 Bibles – all without asking anyone for money.
Müller literally followed Jesus’ command to “sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matt 19:21). He started out with just a few shillings and never owned property, a house, or significant belongings. Müller was able to house, feed, clothe, and educate orphans through God’s abundant supply to those who trust and depend on divine provision. His life gloriously modeled Jesus’ teachings on radical generosity and trust in God.ii
What, therefore, does this mean about how I should be using my money and how I should be giving to my local church? Paul said, “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Gal 6:6–8).
To summarize, we can say…
- I should be giving to support those who are teaching the Word of God in my local assembly (though an amount is not specified).
- I will be eternally rewarded for this type of giving in proportion to how sacrificially I give.
Another passage amplifies this last principle: “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:6–7).
IT’S ULTIMATELY UP TO ME
So, Jesus leaves the choice up to me. How much of my income do I want to give? He will reward me accordingly at His Judgment Seat.
In the twentieth century, the inventor R.G. Letourneau became a multi-millionaire. But he chose to give 90 percent of his income to the work of Christ and use 10 percent for his family’s needs.iii
He understood (and practiced) what Jesus Christ had taught about sacrificial giving and eternal reward. He knew that everything he owned belonged to God and that ultimately, he would be eternally compensated for his sharing.
Recently, one of my friends made a huge sacrifice to help a prisoner who was being released and needed help getting started. He had become a believer in Jesus Christ while in prison. One year later, this sacrifice has brought great dividends. The transformed life of this ex-prisoner is eternally influencing many people.
What about you, believer? Are you acting on the basis that everything you own is the Lord’s and that you are eternally accountable for how you use it? The churches in Zambia employ wrong motivations to move their members to give. But the Biblical “big deal” is clear: Sacrificial giving brings eternal reward.
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Bill Fiess teaches mathematics at Southwest Virginia Community College.
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i Only four times in Hebrews chapter 7.
ii See “Giving it all away: seven Christians live out radical generosity” (stewardship.org.uk).
iii See article on R. G. Letourneau in Wikipedia.
