Christian Living
You and your Finances:
For New Testament Christians ONLY
At a Coffee Bar Bible Study, a young man who was attending tossed a
$20 bill on the table between us. He said something like "I haven't been
sowing anywhere lately" and that my ministry was as valid as any.
Something to that effect.
A woman in Tennessee had been setting her tithe checks aside, no
longer feeling led to give the money to the church she'd been attending.
Her husband suggested she mail the checks to my ministry. I received
$900 worth of checks from her soon after, every penny of which I was
quickly able to sow elsewhere.
THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIP!
These situations have made me realize that in the nearly 700 messages
I've broadcast since 1999, I've only addressed the subject of "giving"
or "tithing" ONCE! Shame on me, for there's such a blessing in store
for those who comprehend it - and MOST of us, frankly, don't. The
truth of the matter is, most ministers feel very ill-equipped to handle
the subject of Biblical finances. Personally, my own reluctance
probably stems from not wanting to be lumped in with anyone's
concept of money-grubbing ministers.
Fact is, you MUST know the truth about giving, regardless of how
people react to the message. Let he who has eyes to see read what the
Spirit is saying.
GOD WANTS YOU!
For starters, God doesn't want our money; He wants us. And since our
hearts are so inextricably tied to our wallets, we MUST learn His
Kingdom principles regarding finances.
The giving of finances is about the closest any of us will ever come to
a human sacrifice. Ever wonder why it's so hard to give to a ministry
and so easy to give to other, meaningless, matters? Satan will do
everything within his considerable power to keep our money steadily
draining out of our possessions. His well-planned deceptions are the
reason it's so hard for us to sow finances as we should.
How easy it is to part with our hard-earned cash on an excursion through
a shopping center or to impress another person with our generosity, but
when it comes to sowing into the Kingdom, well ... that's quite another
matter, isn't it?
STEWARDSHIP: THE OPERATIVE WORD
It's tough to contribute to an invisible cause! To many of us, being a good
steward of what God has provided us with is best defined as finding a
good deal on something we really didn't need anyway. I recall a "Blondie"
cartoon where Blondie proudly told Dagwoood she had saved them $200
one day. "How?" he asked, excitedly. "I bought this pretty $400 mink for
half off," she exclaimed.
Yes, we give willingly, cheerfully supporting the "ministries" of drive-
thru restaurants, check-out counter gadgets and vending machines.
In America, the average kid spends about $40 per trip to the mall.
Their parents, about $80. And our closets and attics are filled with old
and broken junk. In contrast, Jesus said, "Lay up for yourselves
treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy...," Matthew
6:19, 20.
The apostle Paul wrote: "...for even when I was in Thessalonica, you
sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking
for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. I
have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now
that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a
fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God"
(Philippians 4:16-18).
Ask yourself: "Is anything at all being credited to my heavenly account?"
To have fallen into the "I'm under grace" trap and, therefore, are
under no obligation to give, is to have fallen into deception that hurts
each of us, personally, as much as anybody in God's Kingdom. now that
we're free from the bondages of legalism, we are now free to give as
we feel led, freeing up even more resources to help others in need.
WHERE THE HEART IS, THERE OUR TREASURE IS
The word "tithe" actually means "one-tenth." According to The Barna
Group, the average amount of money donated to churches in 2004 was
$895 per donor - hardly a 10% tithe. When inflation is factored in,
that is actually less than the amount that churches received in the late
1990s. Barna states, "From 1999 through 2004, cumulative annual
giving to churches increased by $89 per donor, representing an 11%
rise since before the turn of the millennium. After factoring in inflation,
however, churches are actually getting about 2% less than the current
value of the money contributed in 1999."
God doesn't need ANY portion of our money any more than He needed
the fruit on the tree in the Garden of Eden. The issue is this: recognized
rights. Five-hundred years before the Mosaic Law, Abraham was
tithing; Jacob, 250 years before the Law. Once the tithe was
implemented, God's people were bound under the Law. Under the NEW
Covenant, however, we should willingly give ALL that we can - 100%
of everything we have - to build God's Kingdom as His co-laborers.
After all, we're citizens in this Kingdom, too. To build it is only
to build into what is now ours anyway. We must become intimately
joined to the Kingdom enough for that to ring true to each of us.
To those who teach a mandatory 10% tithe AFTER the cross, sorry,
there's no Scriptural evidence that the "storehouse" many are telling
their congregations to tithe into is an expensive, usually-empty building,
property, equipment, musical instruments, or salaries (64% of western
church workers are administrative and janitorial). No, the storehouse
is the Kingdom of God. But there's so little teaching on the Kingdom.
The Word of Faith movement has been the cause of many a
shipwrecked faith as people developed a "give to get" mentality. Name-
it-and-claim-it-blab-it-and-grab-it theology certainly has elements of
truth within it, but too few ever asked the 'why' questions ... like, why
weren't the preachers in the $500 suits and the fancy Italian shoes
teaching this stuff in 3rd world nations?
It won't play in Peoria, that's why.
Jesus didn't do it, folks. Neither did Paul. Think of how stressless
ministry would be without all that building-related "stuff" anyway ...
and how much more effective we'd be in Kingdom work if we weren't
running those "spiritual corporations." Fact is, WE are The Church, the
people of God - NOT the edifices and institutions of man.
Ephesians 4:28 tells us: "He who has been stealing must steal no
longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that
he may have something to give to those in need."
Something to give? The thief must work SO THAT he will be able to
give? YES! And if that's expected of the thief, it must certainly apply to
the rest of us, eh? That's the Kingdom principle of giving: work so
you'll have MORE TO GIVE! Work so you'll have something to sow
because, in sowing, you advance the Kingdom! In sowing, God can
give you MORE to sow.
SERVING SOMETHING BIGGER THAN SELF
According to a CNN/Money.com report (Jan 25, 2006), Americans are
among the world's most cash-strapped people, based upon the latest
semi-annual survey from ACNielsen. Nearly a quarter (22 percent) of
Americans have no money left once they've paid for their essential
living expenses and spent their discretionary dollars. That puts the
United States at the top of a list of 42 countries for saving futility.
Among developed countries, Americans are the most cash-strapped
people. The United States is neck and neck with Portugal. In fact, this
score revealed that we're saving the lowest amount of money that we've
saved in 72 years! Stashing money in the bank just isn't happening like
it once did. For those who do, the bank has three bedrooms and a couple
of baths.
The "making-a-living" mindset is a perversion of truth. It's based upon
self and encourages humanistic, "all-about-me" thinking. If all we're
waking up for each morning is to get back to the grindstone so we can
make money so we can buy more stuff so we can impress people we
don't know or don't like, getting ourselves into debt requiring that we
work even more, even harder... folks, this is a merry-go-round we
MUST get off of right away!
God is our Provider. He's the King, it's His Kingdom and He desires to
care for His people who submit to His dominion. Look at the example of
King Solomon and how impressed the Queen of Sheba was when she saw
how well he cared for his subjects. Remember how well God cared for
His children as they fled through the desert? Manna in the morning, quail
at night, 40 years of shoes that didn't wear out, water out of rocks. King
Jesus did the same. When He was teaching thousands, He also served a
lunch of loaves and fishes. His heart was filled with compassion for
those in need. He wants us to trust Him to meet our needs as well.
Problem? We're too affluent. It's easier for a camel to pass through the
eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God
(Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25). Satan wants to "bless" us
with all kinds of worldly stuff, just as he attempted to "bless" Jesus in
the wilderness. Be careful not to fall into his traps. He knows that giving
is a spiritual principle of God's Kingdom. "For God so loved the world
that He GAVE...," John 3:16. God's a giver and so should His children
be. Satan desires to make it more and more difficult, even unreasonable,
to give.
Saints, make a note: we can NOT satisfy a spiritual need by using natural
means. We cannot SPEND ourselves into feeling joyful, not for more
than a moment. All the supposed "needs" that we have to accumulate
more of this world's treasures, all of which "moth and rust destroy," are
a perversion of the Scriptural truth that we should store our treasures in
Heaven. We can't take it with us, but we CAN send some treasures on
ahead, as they say.
Resist busy-ness. In our frenzied fervor to earn more, we're spending
less and less of today's gift of God (The Present) on that which matters.
And where others are concerned, "love" is spelled T-I-M-E. but we
have so little available.
GIVE TILL IT HELPS!
I once heard a preacher tell the congregation to "give till it hurts." Boy,
was I ever motivated...NOT!
Nothing to give away? Search the cushions of your couch. When I was
crippled up, suffering from a debilitating, supposedly incurable spinal
disease, I walked to church and plunked eighteen cents into the plate.
Unemployed for 7 months, I took street people home with me and
shared my can of beans and Mac 'n cheese. Why? Because I understood
God's Kingdom economy. Learn what I'm teaching you now! You WILL
be blessed!
Satisfaction GUARANTEED...or your tithe back!
Since those days, I haven't looked back, friends, as God has not only
blessed me with physical healing but also with material blessings and
even honor and favor with many others in the six years since. I once
read about a man who gave away 90% of his income. The remaining
ten percent was enough on which to live quite well. That's my goal, too.
I observed that a wealthy Christian man I worked for gave away money
to Christian causes seemingly as fast as he was earning it. I was there
when he gave everything he had in his wallet to a young lady who
rolled her car the day after she became a Christian. She had no insurance
and had missed a great deal of work. I have learned that one simply
cannot out-give God.
Sowing into the Kingdom does NOT mean paving a church parking lot or
buying a new gargoyle for the cathedral. It means sowing into people's
lives - the people Jesus died for (that includes everyone). It means
helping those less fortunate, especially widows and orphans. It means
sowing seed in fertile fields that bear fruit; a place where lives are
being transformed. We are mere stewards of what we've been given. If
we are wise with what we have, we will be blessed with more, I've
found.
We are certainly under no obligation to give ONLY to our church if the
Spirit leads us to give elsewhere in the Kingdom...a woman who needs
help, another ministry, whatever. My wife and I give to several other
organizations ourselves as well as to our own Church. I contend that the
early Church gave to causes, whether those included the traveling
Christian minister of that day, the widows and orphans among them, or
needs they feel led to tend to such as natural disasters or someone
whose company closed and they can't make rent.
TRY THIS AT HOME!
Here's an experiment: Give everyone in your family or Church $10 or
so from your accumulated offerings. Direct each of them to give that
money away as the Spirit leads between now and the next time you meet
and return with any testimonies. I guarantee, you'll have a lively discussion!
It's called "meeting them were they're at." As the CNN/Money article
revealed, we're all strapped for cash. A missionary to Italy described to
me how he grew his church there after nearly a year of unsuccessful
attempts. They planted purses from Goodwill all over the neighborhood
one night. Each purse contained an invitation to his services. The church
grew as a result. He said, "An Italian man told me that Italians will
ALWAYS pick up a purse." Different bait for different fish.
We live a seed-time to harvest existence, folks. Are you planting?
Remember, as you go about "making a giving" each day, Jesus said,
"Give and it will be given unto you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap,"
(Luke 6:38).
How will the blessings come? You may be allowed to keep your job.You
may be awarded an inheritance.You may get more hours at work.You may
get a pay raise. You may never miss work (unless you WANT to). You
will be given more to give IF God sees you as a channel of blessing.
Be content with your wages, Jesus taught. And Trust in God for He knows
your needs well in advance. Give to others in every way you can. Practice
self-control (for example, wait 24-hrs before making any purchase on an
item over "X" amount).
Make your bread-winning efforts a means of making a GIVING, not
merely a living.
READ 'EM & REAP!
Prov 4:20-22 John 8:31-32; 1 Cor 9:13-19; 2 Cor 9:6-15; III John 3:5-8
Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
A servant of God
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I enjoyed this piece because very little is written about finances. Zenith is a product of the tenth.So let us continue to give. Amen.
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