Whose Money Are We Giving?
by Rev. Jim Behrendt, senior pastor, Eden Church, Muncie, Indiana
Recently we had a pastor from Liberia visit our church. Liberia is a nation that was ravaged by a civil war from which it has yet to recover. I asked the pastor what he enjoyed most about visiting the United States. His answer caught me by surprise. He said, “Hot water whenever I want and as much of it as I want.” I assumed he would say something about the number of cars on the road, the homes we live in, the beauty of the churches or the abundance of food in the grocery stores. Instead, for him the most amazing thing about America was that he could take a hot shower whenever he wanted. It was a stark reminder to me that wealth is a matter of perspective.
The same can be said about stewardship. In far too many churches stewardship simply means “our church wants more money.” Sure, most pastors during Stewardship Month include sermons on giving of your time and talents, but for most people in the pews stewardship eventually boils down to money. And who can blame people for thinking this way? After all, when are most stewardship sermons preached? In most churches it’s when the annual pledge drive comes around or when revenues are falling behind budget.
Personally, I happen to believe that stewardship isn’t about my money, my time or my talents. Stewardship is about something much more basic — and much more profound. Stewardship is an issue of ownership. In the Bible a steward was a servant who oversaw or managed the master’s assets. The steward didn’t own the assets. He simply managed them. In today’s terms we would probably call them financial managers. Financial managers don’t own the assets they oversee. Instead, they have a duty to manage them in accordance with the desires of the owner. When it comes to stewardship, then, the question we ought to ask ourselves is whose money is it that I’m putting in the plate? Whose time am I offering to spend? Whose talents am I offering to use? The Scriptures would say that the answer to each question is that it is God’s — it is God’s money I am putting in the offering plate and it is God’s time I am using in His service, and it is God’s talents I am called to use. After all, according to the Scriptures everything we have belongs to God, including ourselves.
The constant and unending arguments Christians engage in about tithing — is tithing mandatory, should we tithe off our gross or net income, is tithing a minimum or maximum level, etc. — seem to be based on the assumption that it’s only the money we place in the offering plate that belongs to God. If we begin, however, with the biblical understanding that everything (including ourselves) belongs to God, then the question shifts from “How much should I give?” to “Lord, what would you have me do with what you have entrusted me with?” It’s all a matter of perspective.
