Money Matters Part One

 Today we are going to chat about money and finances. How we use, steward and view money is vitally important if we care about our vision here at ANCC:

To make Jesus known to everyone, everywhere.

Money’s Morality

For too long we have sad that money is evil. It is not.  Money is amoral. In other words it has no morality attached to it, it has not mind of its own, it cannot decide how it is earned, where it is going to go and what it is going to be used for.

The morality that money has comes from us. We are the ones who give it its purpose.

Too often money is seen as being the purpose of people, the gaining of it. Money brings happiness after all, right? Not so. Money gives options to a person, and options create a sense of well being. In and of itself money will not make you happy.

1 Timothy 6:10: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Some use this as a proof text that having money is wrong. Let’s look at this in context:

1 Timothy 6:6-10: But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 

Let’s pause there for a second. Paul is telling Timothy that as long as our needs are met we can be content for ourselves. The basic needs are all we actually need! Remember Jesus told us:

Matthew 6: 33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

We need to settle this in our hearts when we discuss money today: We don’t seek money for money’s sake. We seek the Kingdom for the Kingdom’s cause.

Let’s continue with 1 Timothy 6: 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Notice there: those who want to get rich fall into temptation… for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

Obviously, not all people who are wealthy are evil. Anymore that all poor people are virtuous. If money is our life goal we’re in trouble.

We do need enough though to be able to live, save and give.

Googling Giving

Before I continue let me address something else.

There is a of stuff on the internet that says tithing is defunct.

They will claim that as believers we don’t have to tithe and skip over some of the verses about giving in the NT.

Sadly, around the world, but particularly in the USA and some parts of the African continent, financial abuse and corruption is a reality.

To give and then discover that someone at the top of the ladder is just getting rich makes the giving to God through the church an issue.

How many times have you heard it say by non-believers, “the church just wants your money!”That’s not true, but it carries weight because of the abuse that has occurred.

Giving at ANCC

Let me point out some things about giving to God via giving to All Nations.

• I have no idea who gives what here. If I enquire from the Finance Officer I may want to know if someone is giving regularly, but not the amount.

• Financial decisions and spending commitments are made by the Leadership Team, made up of the pastors and lay people.

• The Leadership Team is advised by the Finance Officer who tracks spending and helps set budgets.

• The second Sunday of the month all income is restricted to missions work and not part of our general income.

• We are part of a national UK Charity, Elim, and are therefore subject to charitable law. So how we spend what comes in is subject to scrutiny.

• The pastors here are on a salary scale. So if the offerings increase 100 fold our salaries do not.

• Each year we have an Annual Thanksgiving Meeting and publish our accounts for you. We’re transparent. You need not wait until an annual meeting to ask us about giving.

• What I am saying is that you can give with confidence.

Today I am going to share with you how to get more money….. to give it away.

So let’s look at some money principles based on the Bible:

The Tithe:

This subject raises its head every now and again and can be divisive in the Church (hence the stuff on Google).

There are two types of tithe recorded in the Bible.  

Firstly, the relationship tithe:

People who say we no longer have to tithe miss the point of the pre-law tithe. It was a heart issue borne out of relationship with God. It was never a bribe. It was never commanded. It was commended!

Abram tithed to Melchizedek:

Genesis 14: 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything

Did Abram have to give to Melchizedek (whom many commentators believe to be at least a ‘type’ of Christ or Jesus Himself)? No. The blessing of God proceeded the tithe. The tithe was not required but it was given. 

Abram gave a voluntary tenth to Melchizedek. Some would say that this is an isolated incident and no pattern for today. In Hebrews 7 we are told that Jesus is priest in the permanent order of Melchizedek; a priesthood that is above that of Aaron’s. I haven’t got time to unpack this but simply to say this: Jesus is worthy of our gifts and tithes out of gratitude for our salvation, not to earn it. He is in a higher priestly line than the tithe given under the law.

It showed where Abram’s heart was. It showed that He was going to put God first. It was a tribute.

Read the later verses and we discover something else: 

Genesis 14: 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

Notice this: man wasn’t to get credit for wealth or blessing Abram. You cannot manipulate God and man cannot get credit for what God is doing.  

Abram tithed out of gratitude and relationship.

Jacob alter also does a relationship tithe at Bethel.

Genesis 28:20: Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God 22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

For Jacob when he encounters God and his heart changes about money. Now he is putting God first. He is a deceiver. He has stolen his brother’s birthright. It takes God another 20 years to deal with his default setting of deception (Gen 31:38). He had been a wheeler dealer, a deceiver, a capitalist! He knew how to make money and accumulate wealth. However, he has made a promise out of relationship - the Lord will be my God - to give a tenth.

True, he might be bargaining with God, but how many of us got things right when we first met Jesus? There was a process of growth in our relationship too. He takes another 20 years to get this right, but at least a change has begun.

I do not believe that Jesus overturned the relationship tithe. He castigates the Pharisees for not keeping the important points of the law:

Matthew 23:23: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

You should have practised the latter (justice, mercy and faithfulness) without neglecting the former (you give a tenth). One of the few things Jesus commended them for was the tithe.

Hollow giving doesn’t impress God. Giving for recognition doesn't impress God. 

Giving generously and sacrificially does when it is out a relationship with God:

Luke 21: As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Again I believe those are an example of relationship giving.

I tithe. I do so not to earn or gain my salvation. I do so because of my gratitude towards God for Salvation.

Billy Graham put it like this:

“The Bible says that it was Christ’s love for the church that caused Him to go to the cross. If Christ loved the church that much … I must love it too. I must pray for it, defend it, work in it, give my tithes to it, help advance it, promote holiness in it, and make it the functional, witnessing body our Lord meant it to be,” (Peace With God).

Actually our tithes are always given to God, never a man. They are to honour Him, not a man. They are an act of worship from a grateful heart.

Proverbs 3:9: Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops

Tithing was a feature of Hezekiah’s revival (2 Chronicles 31:5, 6, 12) and Nehemiah’s reforms (Nehemiah 10:37, 38; 13:5, 12).

Secondly, The legal tithe - law.

The other kind of tithe people talk about is enshrined in the Law.

The tithe was given to teach Israel to rely on God, to put Him first in their lives (Dueteronomy 14:23). 

It was compulsory but often we find the people lapsed and withheld this.

It took several forms and actually some have calculated that it ended up as 22% of total income!

The three general types of tithes were:

1. The Levitical, or sacred tithe (Num. 18: 21, 24).

2. The tithe of the feasts (Deuteronomy. 14:22-27).

3. The tithe for the poor (Deuteronomy. 14:28, 29).

There were also offerings in the OT (Leviticus 1-3; Malachi 3:8; and projects Exodus 35:4f; 1 Chronicles 29:1f)

It may be argued that the legal tithe is no longer required. I do not tithe because the OT Law demands it, I do it because I love Jesus. 

It’s Transactional vs Relational Giving

When we say the tithe is not required anymore we are confusing the relational and transactional aspect of giving. 

Transactional giving says, “If I do X, God must do Y in return, therefore I am blessed.” 

Relational giving says: “I am so grateful for what God has already done for me, I will sacrificially give to see others blessed.”

Christians do observe aspects of the OT Law (Ten Commandments; Observing the Sabbath - at church). We don’t keep these due to a legal requirement but out of a love relationship.

Wrapping Up Part One:

Today I have tried to give an overview of tithing and why you can give with confidence here at ANCC. Next week I shall focus on the generous heart. 

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[Blog Bonus]:

Here is a more detailed look into the use of the tithes and offerings in th OT.

1. Tithes of land and animals (Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14:22)

2. Firstborn - sons redeemed by sacrifice, animals sacrificed or killed (Exodus 13:12, 13)

3. Tithes to Levites who in turn tithed to high priest (Numbers 18:20f).

i. Tithes to be given to storehouse: place of food and seed (Malachi 3:10) or the central sanctuary (Deuteronomy 12:6, 11, 17).

ii. To withhold tithes was to rob God (Malachi 3:8)

4. Note that in Deuteronomy 14:23ff the givers were allowed to enjoy the tithes of the land themselves, while every 3 years (cf. Amos 4:4), the tithes would instead be used for the support of the Levites and the poor (14:28f, and 26:12).

5. Voluntary Giving- above and beyond the above

a. Burnt, grain and fellowship offerings of either bulls, sheep, goats, doves, pigeons according to their wealth (Leviticus 1-3).

b. Malachi 3:8 speaks of tithes AND offerings

c. While tithes supported OT ministry, voluntary gifts equipped places of worship (Exodus 35:4f; 1 Chronicles 29:1 f).