THE CHURCH AND MONEY
THE CHURCH AND MONEY THE CHURCH AND MONEY
Leonard Mullens
“But as ye abound in everything, in faith, and ut-terance, and knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also” (2 Corinthians 8:7). The Lord’s church is engaged in performing the greatest task under heaven. To fulfill this mission, the getting and the spending of money is necessary. The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian brethren, refers to giving as a grace (2 Corinthians 8:7). He taught that Christians ought to abound in this grace of giving. Money is an absolute requisite in the world today. Our economic system calls for its use as a medium of exchange. It is only to be expected, then, that !in a discussion of the church and its work, money should receive our attention. The proper making and spending of money is a matter that digs deep into the heart of our religion. In getting money, we must take into account the will of God, and engage in those occupations that are of real benefit to humanity. The Christian will not pursue a business or a calling that harms and hinders mankind. A true disciple of Christ will realize that God is his partner in the financial affairs of life. Because of this, a Christian will know that God demands righteousness in the making and gathering of money. He will not lie, deceive, misrepresent, or practice fraud to gain one penny. Strict honesty will be his guide in every dealing that he has with others. Every dollar that the real Christian makes will be a clean dollar. The matter of giving money must start with getting money. Sin never pays; it cannot pay, and though a man could make a million dollars by telling one falsehood, he must not do so, even though he should give all that money to preach the gospel! Before we can give, we must get. Our getting as well as our giving must be patterned after the will of our God.
Now the church is made up of individuals. Each one is to “lay by in store.” It becomes necessary for us to study this matter of Christian giving from the standpoint of the individual church member. What the church receives to spend in doing the work of Christ will be contributed by individuals. This is God’s will for us. The Lord has not instructed us to have raffles, drawings, dinners, pie suppers, and rummage sales to raise money for his work. Through his great love for us God has appealed to our love for him. Jehovah expects us to love him enough to give of our means simply, cheerfully, and as he has taught us in his word.
Let me tell you about a man I know, and perhaps you will recognize him too. His name is Henry Brown. He farms on the high plains of Texas. Henry Brown is a good farmer, hard-working and thrifty. As he closed his books for last year, he found himself with $25,000 in the bank, with all his obligations met and Oris debts paid. Now, the question comes: “Whose money is that in the bank?” Henry says, “It is mine.” At first, we agree with him, but let us think again. It is true that he can go down to the teller’s window, present a little piece of paper with his name signed to it, and walk out with $25,000. But we want to go deeper inuo this matter. Whose farm has Henr^ been working? Mr. Brown says, “It is my farm.” We go to the county seat and check his title, and sure enough, Henry Brown has a farm. A few years ago, he bought it and by hard work and good management, Brown has paid off his mortgage. Yes, Henry Brown has a farm, and on Sunday afternoons when the sun is shining, Henry will walk over his land. He knows every acre and just how the water drains and what acres usually produce the best. As he walks about, he says, “This is my farm,” and we agree. Yes, Henry Brown has a farm.
But, is it his farm? Listen, and Jehovah God will speak! “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalms 24:1). When did God give up his title to this land to Henry Brown? Once the Indians roamed over this same land and hunted the nimble footed deer over its broad acres. It was God’s then. The white settlers came and drove the red man to the west; the plow replaced the bow and arrow, but it was still God’s land. Once this land was part of a land grant and for settling on it, the title passed into the hands of a man whose name is now forgotten. It was sold and resold until Henry Brown purchased it some years age. All the time the land belonged to God, for “the earth is the Lord’s.” Henry Brown is just a tenant of God!
How about the fruit that the land produces? To whom does that belong? Mr. Brown says, “That is mine.” Yet it is not so, for “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” Who put the fertility in the soil? Who sent the sunshine and the rain? Who put the power of reproduction into the seeds that are planted ? Who gave Henry Brown his physical strength and his mental judgment that the crop might be produced? God is the source of it all! If Brown is a Christian, he will bow his head in reverence and say, “I made a mistake. Everything belongs to God.” Thus the conclusion is before us. God is the supreme owner, and Brown 'is only a trustee of God; an agent of the Almighty. Henry Brown is but a steward of God!
Do you know Henry Brown? You say, “I don’t think I do. The name is familiar, but I do not know the man.” Go home and look in the mirror! See Henry Brown there before you? The name could as well be George Jones, John Smith, or Walter Wilson, for the principle remains the same. You may change the name; you may change the face; you may change the occupation, but still the truth remains. Every man is a steward of God, a trustee of the Lord! As Christians we realize the absolute ownership of our God. This is true for three reasons.
First, God is the owner of all because he is the Creator of all. The Bible begins with these majestic, moving words, “In the beginning God created the 'heaven and the earth.” Then he created man in his own image and after his likeness (Genesis 1:26). Jehovah 'is therefore the rightful owner of all men as well as the earth, We recall that “the earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Our God is the author of all material wealth. Man could not make a thin dime without him; he could not produce one bite of bread. Because of creation, all belongs to God.
In the second place, the true Christian realizes that God has a claim upon him because of Jehovah’s continued care and blessings day by day. Our Father up-holds all things by the word of his might. Through his power, the planets go on their appointed rounds; the sun shines, the rain falls, and the earth produces for man’s benefit. All that we possess comes from God. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning”, (James 1:17). Without God, we would not be; without him, we could not exist.
Third, the true Christian realizes that he belongs to God because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. There is a special way in which the redeemed belong to God. Man is lost in sin without Christ, but God has made possible redemption through the blood of Jesus! “Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).
Since Christ has paid the price to redeem us, the Lord’s ownership of the Christian is not just a fanciful whim of some preacher, nor the mere theory of some religious fanatic. This principle is the truth of God’s Word! “For ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20). Since the Christian belongs to God, it follows that all a Christian possesses belongs to God. When we shall have realized this, the matter of giving has resolved itself. In theory, all Christians accept the teaching that God owns all, ourselves included. The matter sounds easy, but beloved, there are some impli-cations here that we do not accept, as far as our practice of life is concerned. The Christian does not really own anything. He is himself the blood-bought slave of the Lord; the willing, eager slave of God. As a theory, there is nothing more beautiful, but how about the practice of this kind of stewardship in our lives? Is this impractical? Does the Lord really mean what he says? Do we actually belong to God, body and spirit? It is here that we must come face to face with the grace of giving. Once we have accepted the principle that we are but stewards, and give ourselves to the service of God, then the giving of what we possess has been solved. Paul declared that the liberality of the Macedonians was made possible because they “first gave their own selves to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:5). We must do the same thing in this twentieth century!
Why should we give to God of our material possessions? The primary reason has already been set down —we belong to God, body and soul. Paul exhorts us in this connection, “to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service” (Romans 12:1). Now the thoughtful heart is the thankful heart. Such a heart can but return a liberal portion to the Lord’s work and service. Not only does God grant us all the physical blessings of this present life, but he also has bestowed upon us the spiritual blessings that we enjoy in Christ. Surely when we consider the great abundance of gifts that God so lavishly grants to us daily, we shall be constrained to give more and more of ourselves, as well as of our bounty, to his service.
We give to our God because it is an act of worship to him. God wants us to worship him, not only with our lives, but with that and through that which we ac-quire in our lives. What I am cannot be separated from what I have—these two always go along together, in getting money or property. I must use my time, my talent, my brain, my heart, my strength. What I give to God is but a portion of myself turned into money. For example, suppose that I work for $100 a week. It takes my time, my energy, my power to produce the work that brings me money. That money is myself. It is my brain and my brawn transformed into silver. At the end of a week I go to the pay window, get a week of myself, put myself in my pocket, and take myself home with me. Out of this money earned or property acquired, I give to God. Actually I am giving a part of myself in so doing.
Under the law of Moses. God would not have his people appear in his courts for worship empty- handed (Psalms 96:8). Even during the time of the patriarchs, offerings were presented to God. Giving is not an invention of man. It is the will of God. Of the first congregation in Jerusalem, we read: “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The word “fellowship” certainly includes the giving and the distributing of money, even though the meaning may be a broader one than that. The Emphatic Diaglott renders the word as “contribution” rather than as fellowship.” The Jerusalem church, under the direct supervision of the apostles, was taught to give. This “grace” is an act of worship, just as the singing, the praying, and the communion in the Lord’s Supper. When we give, it is an act of worship to our great God. Yes, the giver is in the gift.
We give to the service of God because we love our God. Since he has taught us to give through his word, we respond to him. “For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3). A man’s purse will follow his heart. If we truly love our God, we will give as we have been prospered. We will give sacrificially to promote the work that our God wants accomplished on earth. It is our duty, our obligation, our responsibility, and our sweet privilege to give of our material means to serve our God.
How much shall I give to God? Let us be sure that we ask this question with “much” in our minds. If this question is asked with “little” in our hearts instead of much, we will be disappointed in the answer that God’s Word gives. There are definite suggestions in the will of God that answer this inquiry.
While Israel was under the old law, God required the tithe and also special offerings from his people (Leviticus 27:30-34; Numbers 18:21-32; Nehemiah 10:37-39). Even before the giving of the law from Sinai, devout patriarchs gave a tenth to God. Abraham and Jacob are examples of the ancients who did so give. (Genesis 14:20; Genesis 28:20-22). From time immemorial, the heathen people had also given the tithe to dumb idols. That is a practice which they still follow today. It is unthinkable that a heathen would give more to a piece of wood or stone or metal than the children of God give to their King who dwells on high!
Immediately we are told: “We are not under the law of Moses; we are under Christ. We are under grace, and not under the law.” And how true is this! Shall we use the grace of Christ as an excuse for our own selfishness? Surely we would not in that way cheapen the religion for which Jesus died! Since we are under Christ, we come to the New Testament to discover how God would have us give today. The grateful, trusting, loving heart of a Christian, rejoicing over the blessings enjoyed in Christ now, will find standards for his giving that may well lead him to go beyond a tenth! True Christian love is always extravagant and we will give in love to the Master’s cause, remembering well what Jesus suffered for us. Such true and devoted love will never try to figure out how little to give and still be saved; but consecrated love will want to know how far to go and how much to give in serving the Lord. Real love for God never wants to get by with an average performance, but this love desires above all things to do its best. True love labors to give in a sacrificial way. The poor widow who cast her two mites into the treasury is the classical ex-ample for this sacrificial kind of giving. As Jesus watched, the Master saw the rich cast in much out of their great abundance, but the widow gave all that she had, even her very living! (Luke 21) ; of her the Lord spoke after this fashion: “This poor widow hath cast in more than they all” (Luke 21:3). It was not more from the standpoint of amount, but it was more because of the spirit behind the gift. The Lord was pleased with her sacrifice. Let us notice from what she gave, even her very living, as well as what she gave. Our giving needs to enter also into the realm of true sacrifice. Then and only then will it be the kind of giving that partakes of the divine nature of our Redeemer! To give out of our surplus; to give out of what we have left over after all our desires are satisfied, is not the kind of giving that involves any sacrificing. How many of us have ever really sacrificed for the Master’s cause? A love that balks at sacrifice had better examine how 'it loves. In the church at Jerusalem there were members who practiced such sacrificial giving. Of them we read: “Neither was there any of them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands and houses sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:84, 35). We need to drink of this Christ-like spirit today and give as love would prompt us to do.
Paul gives us a very practical guide for our giving. In one verse, practical suggestions for us as stewards of God are laid down. “Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:2). Let us strive to take these suggestions and make them the habit of our lives.
We are to give regularly to God’s service. “Upon the first day of the week” is the admonition to give. God gives to us in a regular way, so let us return to him with that same regularity. We are to share our income with the Lord as we receive that income. On Sunday, let me give as God has prospered me. The needs of the church go on week after week and our regular weekly contributions supply these needs as they continually arise. Such regular giving also keeps before our hearts the gifts of God that are coming to us all the time, just as the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week continues to remind us of the death of our Lord on the cross for our sins.
Each citizen of the kingdom who is prospered is taught to give. “Let each one of you lay by him in store” is the command. The Lord desires for all his children who are prospered to give to his service. The rich, the poor, the young and the old are to contribute as they are prospered through his goodness. Our boys and girls who are led by our example to spend dollars for candy and gum ought to be taught to give more than pennies to the Lord’s vineyard!
We are to give as the Lord has prospered us. “As he may prosper” are the words of the apostle. Let us give to God as he has given to us. In the measure in which we receive from God we are to give to him. Yet we receive in a bushel basket and give in a thimble! Let us give as we get. Under the gospel of Christ, God has set no bottom figure at which we must begin. Nor has he set a top figure where we must as individuals halt in our giving. Often many people in the church today talk about their giving to the Lord as though the amount they give is entirely a matter left up to their own judgment. But this is not true. The New Testament has told us how much to give and that is as God has prospered us. The more we are prospered, the more we give; the less we are prospered /the less we give. How could any rule of life be any fairer than that one? We live in flush days compared to the days that were just before us. But are we actually giving as the Lord has prospered us? Statis-tics show us that the average church member of today gives only a little more that 2% of his income to the church to which he belongs, while during the lean depression days, the average church member gave more than 5% of his income. This is not caused by a poverty of the purse, but by a poverty of love in the heart! Brethren, even though we are giving today larger and therefore more impressive sums of money to the church, are we really giving as we have been prospered by the Lord ?
How shall I decide how much to give to the Lord’s service? Three brief suggestions are in order here. First, let us recall that under the law the Jews gave a tenth, and then made some free-will offerings above that amount as needed. We are under the grace of God, with a better convenant and better promises; we have a greater Mediator than Moses, and a greater High Priest than that in the Jewish priesthood. Shall we respond to that which is great by giving that which is small?
Let me sincerely pray to God in reference to the portion of my income that I am to give to him. Let me consider that I do not actually give a portion of that which is mine, but a portion of that which is all his own. I am only a trustee. Guided by the revealed will of God, let me prayerfully consider this great privilege of giving. Then let me set aside that portion to God which will express the measure of my love for him. My own nature will incline me to selfishness, and lead me to pamper myself. For this reason I must go to God in earnest prayer to decide how much I am to give.
Last, let me remember the precious promise of the gracious Christ who said, “Seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) He was speaking of material blessings when this promise was made. Let us realize that God has first claim and right to all we have and possess. He has promised to care for us when we respond to his commands. To doubt his word would be sinful and presuming on our part. Let us really believe that God will provide for us when we do his will.
It will help us to give more liberally to consider the purposes for our giving. What is to be done with the monies we contribute to the Lord’s service? It goes without saying that God does not need our silver and gold to provide for himself. He is the supreme owner of all things that exist. Our gracious God not only blesses us personally when we give, but he also blesses and uses our contributions for the good of humanity and ourselves. How good is God to us! The money given is to be used to aid the needy and the unfortunate of this earth. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith.” (Galatians 6:10) The Lord has placed the poor and hungry, the widows and the orphans, before us. It is our privilege to care for them in his name and for his sake. Our Master Christ considers such loving service rendered to these poor and afflicted people of earth as done in service to himself (Matthew 25:40). To meet the needs of the poor we give to the Lord’s church. The money we give is to be used to preach the gospel and to spread the word of God at home and abroad. Our Lord has granted to every Christian the high and holy privilege of sharing in the spread of the knowledge of Christ. We must spread that blessed word today as did the early church in the first century. (Matthew 28:19-20). Included in the spread of the gospel of Christ will be whatever is needed to get the truth before those whose hearts hunger for it. It will be necessary to build houses for worship, for study, and for teaching; it will be necessary to send out and support gospel preachers to every corner of the globe. Money will be needed to pay for broadcasting or televising the gospel as deemed needful. The printed page needs to be more extensively used than in the past. All this calls for money. In preaching the gospel in days past we have been sadly deficient, but this was due to a deficit of love in the heart and not to a deficit of cash in the pocketbook! Let us give to carry out the mission that God has outlined for his people, his church.
Notice with me how Americans spend their incomes. The figures for 1952 are not available as yet, but here are the statistics for 1951. The total personal income amounted to the sum of $254,075,000,000. Personal taxes and savings amounted to some $46,103,000,000. This left some $207,972,000,000 for personal consump-tion expenditures. Of this amount, $61,000,000,000 was spent for food and some $20,278,000,000 for clothing and shoes. The amount of money spent for tobacco and smoking supplies was $4,703,000,000, and some $8,450,000,000 was used to purchase alcoholic beve-rages. The motion picture industry received about $1,166,000,000 in admissions, while $1,373,000,000 was spent for magazines, newspapers, and sheet music. For the promotion of private education and research, some $1,847,000,000 was used. Compared to these figures is the total amount of money given to all religious bodies in America, which was $1,206,000,000. When we consider these figures, is it wrong to say that America’s god is its own belly? But you say, “That is the nation as a whole. As members of the church, we do much better than that.” Let us consider just one item as an example to see how we spend our money in the church. The Americana Encyclopedia tells us that we have some 1,500,000 members of the church in our land today. Let us suppose that just one-half of these are smokers. Let us say that this one-half will consume a package of cigarettes a day at 21c a package. This gives us a grand total of $57,487,500.00 spent in a year’s time for tobacco alone. Now this matter of tobacco is being used as an example only. Others may spend their money for that which is no more profitable or useful. This mon ey spent for tobacco amounts to some $1,105,539.00 each week in the year. If we should use that money to support gospel preachers at $100 a week for each preacher so supported, that would mean that 11,055 preachers could begin at once to proclaim the gospel of Christ. That is a number of preachers considerably larger than the entire number of gospel preachers in full-time work among the churches of Christ today. If this seems to you to be an exaggerated, over-drawn picture, then let us cut down the number of smokers by one-rrrrrr, and still there would be enough money to support more than 7,000 preachers at $100 a week in full-time gospel preaching! Beloved, this is only an example of what we do with our money. Are we playing at this great work of God? Are we really sacrificial givers?
It would be well for us to compare ourselves with some of those religious peoples among us who give to support their systems of religion. According to statistics of giving issued for the year 1952 by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States, the Free Methodists gave $195 per member last year to the support of their work. How many of the congregations in the church of our Lord will average that much per church member? This would mean that a congregation of five hundred members would contribute some $97,500.00. Second in the list of some forty-seven denominations comes the Seventh Day Adventists with some $158.00 per member given for 1952. A congregation among us with 1,000 members that gave as well would have a budget of $158,000 a year to spend in the Lord’s work. Consider brethren, that the average smoker, and I repeat that this is used as an example only, will spend some $76.00 a year for tobacco. Does the average church member give that much to preach the gospel to others? This 'is certainly a very serious matter and when we consider how we do waste our financial resources, most all of us, we ought to be filled with the fear of God! An artist was once commissioned to paint a picture of a decaying church. To the astonishment of many, instead of placing on the canvas an old, tottering ruin, the artist painted a beautiful building of modern grandeur. Within the building was stacked the contribution plates for the offerings of the fashionable worshippers. And here it was that the artist set forth his conception of a dying church, for all over the collection plates he had painted a huge cobweb!
Brethren, the Lord is asking you and me a question. “What will you do for me? What will you give to my service?” The answer to acceptable giving can be found and solved only by giving ourselves to the Lord first. This is why God pleads for our hearts, for he knows that when he has our hearts, he has ourselves and all that pertains to us. We talk much of the consecrated life, but how far are we from 'it in the Lord’s church today!
“Money talks”, they say and that is true. Money talks in this life and money will speak at the judgment bar of God. What will our money say as we stand before our God? You can guarantee that the money which you hold in your trust in this life will speak well at the end of time only by giving yourself to God!