The Stewardship of God's Mission

"Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and youre okay.
Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think Ill buy me a football team." - Money, by Pink Floyd, The Darkside of the Moon.

In a 2003 survey, it was shown that American born again Christians give 2.59% of their income to the church. The survey went on to say that if members of historically Christian congregations in the U.S. had given at the 10% level in 2003, there would have been an additional $156 billion available for the mission of the Church. Rather than reach their potential, church member spending was similar to that of Americans in general, such as the following:[1]

• Domestic box-office receipts were $9.4 billion [in 2004]. "Though the year's revenues were up, higher admission prices mean movie attendance was off about 1.7.percent..."
• In 2003 American consumers spent $53.6 billion buying jewelry and watches, a 5.1% increase over previous year. "Two years ago, the jewelry industry totaled the figures and found that women had bought $12.1 billion worth of these baubles [diamonds] for themselves in 1999 - a 41 percent increase from the previous year." In 1999 sales through jewelry stores were $23.9 billion.
• In 1999 expected restaurant sales were estimated to advance 4.6% to $354 billion. 1999 fast food restaurant sales were at $110 billion.
• The 2001 Easter holiday sales were expected to be $2.8 billion. Easter candy sales alone were expected to exceed $1.8 billion in 2000.
• In July [2003], exactly 150 years ago, the potato chip was first made by a chef named George Crum in Saratoga Springs, New York. The potato chip is now a $6 billion industry.
• The salty snack business is now a $22 billion industry in the United States. Estimated annual sales of snacks in the United States in 2002: Potato chips:$5.9 billion; Tortilla chips:$4.5 billion; Pretzels: $1.3 billion; Corn snacks: $861 million.
• "U.S. Consumers spent more than $24.3 billion on candy in 2002, a 1.6% increase over 2001, according to figures based on the U.S. Department of Commerce 2002 Confectionary Report and issued by the National Confectioners Association.
• On average, consumers made $84.34 worth of candy purchases last year [2002], up 0.3% versus the previous year, reported Candy Business."
• "Though the highly competitive $64 billion soft drink industry [2003] is dominated by regular soda, sales of diet are surging and some industry analysts say low-cal eventually could take the lead."
• In 2000 Americans spent $13 billion a year on chocolate in all its forms.
• In 2000 annual U.S. vending machine sales were $36 billion.U.S. gumball sales were at $500 million in 2000. In 1998 greeting card sales were $7.1 billion. Of the total sales, 8%, or $570 million, were for religious cards.
• "Research firm IDC reports that total domestic hardware and software sales for interactive games totaled $8.2 billion in 2000-vs. $7.75 billion in U.S. movie box-office receipts. IDC expects sales of game hardware and software to hit $11.4 billion in 2001"
• In 2000 American toy sales reached $23 billion.
• In 1999 the sales of single family second homes came to 377,000.
• By 2000 spending on the lawn and garden industry equaled $85 billion. Of that, $6.3
  billion was spent on lawn and garden accessories like sundials, fountains and sculptures.
• In 2001, home automation had a $600 million market. It is expected to increase to an $8 billion industry in the next four years.
• In 1999, 9 million Americans exceeded $100,000 in household income. A new trend
  among affluent households is to hire household managers at $25,000 to $100,000 a
  year to run their large homes.
• By 1993 adventure travel became an $8 billion a year business. It comprises 20% of the $40 billion U.S. leisure-travel industry.
• Space Adventures, which helped broker Dennis Tito's $20 million spaceflight, has several more potential customers for tens of millions each. The company has already booked 100 reservations for a $98,000 suborbital space flight aboard an, as yet, unbuilt space jet.
• In 2001, Americans spent $38 billion on state lotteries.

The purpose of these statistics is not to say that these things are bad and that we shouldn't have fun. However, when Jesus says, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21), it is easy to see the heart of our culture. And given the above statistic about the amount of tithe going into the Church, it is also easy to see that we as Christians have our treasure, and therefore our hearts, in other places than the mission of God. By and large we do not seek after His kingdom and His righteousness, trusting Him to give us the rest. If we are going to call ourselves followers of Christ, then we must be honest with ourselves and ask the question, “Where does our treasure lie?”

Oftentimes we treat the issue of tithing like the second cousin that nobody wants to admit is a part of the family. We cringe when money is mentioned, especially when we bring someone who doesn’t know Jesus to church and it happens to be on the one day (or one of many days) the pastor is talking about giving. Who hasn’t thought of the red faced preacher wearing a white suit with a deep southern accent, wiping the sweat off of his forehead and smiling a big gold-toothed smile as he exhorts you with tears in his eyes to give to the Sunday School building fund? We reject these kinds of images because we or someone we know has been burned to some degree or another, and therefore they stink of insincerity and represent to us the stereotypical abuse of church authority. And while we are right to reject insincere hucksters (though we should not assume there is one behind every tree), we cannot allow this straw man to distort our understanding of what the Bible really says about giving.

The bigger issue is the disconnect many of us have with a local church body. Our consumer culture takes us from church to church in search of our favorite preacher or worship leader, while less and less people are actually sinking their roots into a church home, committing to the work, warts and all. Behind this is an inherent self righteousness that says "I need to find the perfect church," without recognizing the fact that if such a place did exist, our arrival on the scene would demote it from that status. Without such roots we have no vested interest in giving our money, because at the end of the day many people see the church as a place where they can get their needs met, not where their own gifts and resources can be used for God.

In addition, our consumer culture breeds unhealthy spending habits, where anything is available if we are willing to pay later. As a result the average American has 13 payment cards (credit cards, debit cards, store cards), and carries an average of $5,800 in credit card debt from month to month. Even those who have good spending habits may have a large chunk of what has come to be acceptable debt (school, cars, mortages, groceries). The truth is, people are so trapped under an avalanche of debt that they often feel there is no way to give to the church.

At the same time, churches simply drop the ball when it comes to shepherding their people in financial matters. While a few might do a good job of teaching their members about doctrine, even less offer a holistic approach to the spiritual life that might include some kind of financial ministry or instruction on Christian stewardship. The result is an immature congregation that might know how to explain the four spiritual laws, but have blown it in the area of taking care of God’s money. People are paying off debt instead of sending out missionaries, or making bad spending choices instead of feeding the poor.

It is in the midst of these three challenges: an aversion to meaningful church membership, unhealthy spending and debt, and poor shepherding in financial matters, that almost every church in America finds itself. Here we must understand the biblical vision of God’s mission that provides the lens through which Christians are to view giving. The Church is first and foremost about the mission of Jesus Christ. As individuals graciously purchased by the Savior, we are a part of that mission, and thus everything we do must run through this grid. At the same time, we must affirm that God doesn’t “need” our money, but gives us the privilege of partaking in His mission. Therefore we give of our gifts and resources not out of compulsion, but as an act of worship to God, as we say to Him, “You are our treasure, Your ways are our desires, and everything we have belongs to You.” Below is a helpful biblical grid through which we can view our giving.

We give…

To Christ. He is the recipient of our worship. Matthew 26:6-13; Revelation 5:11-14

Like Christ. He is the model in that He gave Himself up completely for our sins. 2 Corinthians 8:9; 9:7; Ephesians 1:3; Philippians 2:5-8

As members of His Body and Kingdom. Christ’s body, the Church, benefits. 2 Corinthians 8:4; Ephesians 4:16; 1 Peter 2:4-5; Revelation 1:6

According to the measure given to us. Christ has made us stewards. Matthew 25:14-30; 2 Corinthians 8:3a; Deuteronomy 8:7-8

With liberality. Christ will meet all of our needs. 2 Corinthians 8:3b; Matthew 6:30-33; Job 31:24; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:18

In private. For an audience of One. Matthew 6:1-4.

If this is foreign soil for you, the following steps might be helpful: Step one is to be involved in a church that is first and foremost about the gospel. Sink your roots in, work your 50 hours, participate in the life of the body, get equipped, and serve to make it the best church it can be. Don't be the consumer that moans about how this or that isn't being done as if he just received an undercooked hamburger at McDonald's. Set your hands to the work and take responsibility for your church. Step two, look at your checkbook and take an honest inventory of your spending habits and determine in light of scripture where your treasure really does lie. Ask yourself, "What am I dying for?" We are all giving our lives to something...it is simply a matter of what that something is. This simply means a reordering of priorities to begin "seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33) instead of your own. Step three, start tithing to your local church as a spiritual discipline. It is a discipline because it simply isn't natural for us to trust God with our lives, and money is the biggest indicator of that. But as with all disciplines, as we practice them, we get stronger in them. This might mean placing some significant areas of your life under God's authority. But we must realize that the God who created the world and everything in it, the God who delivered Israel from the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the same God we trust with our possessions.

I have just outlined three steps that can be taken to reorder our priorities, but in reality there is something that comes first. Set your eyes on Christ and find your joy in Him alone. It is only when we find our joy in the unconditional love and acceptance of God through Christ that we are able to hold our possessions with an open hand, for it is here that we realize that we are His treasure, and that our own treasures are His as well.

[1] All statistics from Empty Tomb, Inc. http://www.emptytomb.org/lifestylestat.html