Introduction
Some people might wonder why the discussion of the tithe comes near the end of the book. Partially it is to resist the temptation to reduce the broad and comprehensive stewardship to the tithe. This reduction has more to do with human misunderstanding of biblical teachings on stewardship and tithing. This overall study has intentionally directed the focus toward the idea of stewardship as “whole life discipleship” with God being the owner of everything. The tithe, however, is not to be minimized or mistakenly labeled as “legalism” or only as an outdated Old Testament teaching. Tithing of money and other goods as a discipline of Christian living teaches much about stewardship in general.
Bible Study
1. In Genesis 14:18–20, what did Abram offer Melchizedek? Why?
2. In Genesis 14:21–23, Abram had the opportunity to get rich quickly. Did he? Why or why not?
3. According to Leviticus 27:30, a tithe was required only on a portion of what was produced. True False
4. In Numbers 18:21–29, the people gave all their tithes to the Levites and so the Levites did not have to tithe at all. True False Why?
5. In Deuteronomy 14:28–29, what was to occur every three years?
6. According to Matthew 23:23, what did Jesus have to say about tithing?
7. Can one be generous only when they possess a lot? (See 2 Cor 8:1–2.)
8. The foundation for giving is first in making a commitment to do what? (See 2 Cor 8:5.)
9. The greatest example of the gracious, voluntary spirit of generosity is ________________.
What did this person do? (See 2 Cor 8:8–9.)
Old Testament:
The Tithe as Obligation and Teacher
Before the Law: As Abram's Offering
In the battle of the kings (recorded in Genesis 14:5–16), Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions were carried off by four kings led by Kedorlaomer who opposed five other kings, including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram and his men go to the rescue. He recovers all the goods taken by King Kedorlaomer and his allies, including the rescue of Lot and his possessions, along with the women and the other people.
Then along comes the priest of God, Melchizedek, the king of Salem. He blesses Abram. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything (Gen 14:20) in response to Melchizedek's blessing. Melchizedek blesses Abram in the name of “God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth” (14:19). Abram gives the tenth, the tithe, to Melchizedek in the name of the God who called him, who claimed him, and who delivered his enemies into his hands. Abram refuses the goods offered him by the king of Sodom. He does so in recognition that his ultimate faith is in God, and that this God provides for all his needs. In no way can the human king of Sodom claim that he made Abram rich. God alone owns everything! God alone makes Abram rich.
After the Law: The Covenant
Another significant development in our understanding comes in the giving of the Law. Leviticus 27:34 states that “these are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.” Among these commands “[a] tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees …. The entire tithe of the herd and flock … will be holy to the Lord” (Lev 27:30, 32).
The covenant God makes on Mount Sinai evidences the creation of a people. The people's obedience and covenant keeping marks them as God's “treasured possession”—a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod 19:5–6). So the tithe reminds Israel that God owns them and the world. It reminds them also of their vocation to be holy witnesses and priests of Yahweh. Specifically, Numbers and Deuteronomy appear to identify three categories of tithes.
• First, the general tithe given to the Levites (Num 18:21–29). Since the Levites did not share in the inheritance as did the other tribes, the tithe of all the people was their inheritance for the work they performed in the Tent of Meeting. The Levites also tithed from the accumulation of the tithes the people offered them.
• Second, the tithe associated with a meal eaten before the Lord at the chosen place of worship (Deut 14:23a). This teaching on the tithe is part of the second giving of the Law just prior to Israel's entry into Canaan, the land of promise. Why was this teaching on the tithe so crucial? “So that [they] may learn to revere the Lord [their] God always” (Deut 14:23b). The tithe is not just obligation but teacher. The tithe teaches about God and one's relationship with God.
• Finally, every third year “bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns” (Deut 14:28). Not only does this tithe support the Levites, but it also extends to the compassionate care of those who are poor: the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in those particular towns (Deut 14:29). The tithe reminds God's people of God's care for those on the margins, even those who resided among them as strangers.
After the Exile: Sign of Faithfulness to the Covenant
Malachi records activities in Judah after the exiles return from Babylonian captivity. Hope abounded in anticipation of the exiles' return. Yet the thoroughness of the cleansing within the exile did not materialize as expected. Malachi condemns the people and their leaders for their self-centeredness and slack approach to genuine worship. Rather than being faithful people of God, they were called “robbers.” A sign of their spiritual depravity came in the form of their inability to name their sin. God's requirement for their forgiveness and restoration lies in the right giving of tithes and offerings. To do any less is robbing God, that is, taking as their own what rightfully belongs to another. A curse rested over the whole nation. God's command given in Malachi regarding the tithe comes from the sense of obligation as God's treasured possession (Mal 3:17) The covenant obligation comes with abundant covenant blessing and privilege:
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this … and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (Malachi 3:10)
New Testament:
Tithe as Minimum—and Beyond the Tithe
The Tithe as Minimum
“We are not under the Law. We are not bound to give a tithe any longer!” Many persons sincerely believe this. What they say is important. Yet they do not say enough. Jesus did not give us any big lesson on tithing; neither did Paul for that matter. But what guidance do they give with respect to giving as stewardship?
The gospel of Matthew desired to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law. Matthew is a teaching gospel that highlights Jesus as teacher. During his last controversies with the Jewish leaders during the week leading to his crucifixion, Jesus appears to support the notion of tithing. Matthew 23:23 has Jesus saying, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth [a tithe] of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. 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.”
Jesus does not do away with the tithe here, but rather links it with broader concerns that truly would earmark the tithe as proper worship of God. The tithe must emerge from a lifestyle of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that he comes to fulfill the law and the prophets (Matt 5:17). Jesus warns that those who break one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:19). Verse 20 states that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20). If in Matthew 23:23 the Pharisees and teachers of the law gave a tithe, then certainly those under the New Covenant should not do less than the tenth.
Journal: If I am giving the tithe, how do I feel in doing so? [If you are not now doing so, what reasons) do you give for this? Be honest. Share with a friend. Pray now about your present level of giving.]
Beyond the Tithe:
Now What About the Ninety Percent?
There is great joy in giving. In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul bases the spirit of giving in the concrete example of Jesus Christ (8:8–9; also see Phil 2:3–11). It is reasonable to assume that Paul's Jewish background would strongly influence his teachings. Paul, like Jesus, probably did not negate the tithe, but certainly goes beyond it. The tithe becomes the floor or the minimum level of giving upon which a new spirit of generosity takes flight. One writer cites a danger in a particular (nonbiblical) view of the tithe that must be kept in mind:
The tithe can … become an idol to set upon a pedestal to admire. It is often a dangerously tempting resting place …. Much of the Christian community thinks of tithing as a high and lofty perch that only a few fanatical radicals have reached after years of struggle …. [W]e now [are] awakened to the need to move and deal with the 90 percent left over. [14. Don McClaren, “The Tithe As Teacher: An Energizing Force.” (New York: The Office of Stewardship, The Episcopal Church Center, November 1980. Reproduced in Winter 1982. Made available by Ministry of Money, Inc.).]
The tithe as teacher, as a reminder of God's ownership and our status as stewards, points us to view God's ownership of the remaining 90% also.
Journal: If God owns the 90%, too, how do I believe I should handle it?
Journal: How much of the 90% is already obligated with other kinds of expenditures? What changes are called for in my life in order to free up some of the 90% for other givings?
Paul identifies the notion of proportional giving: “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7). In such giving “[God] will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Cor 9:10). In every human relationship one desires to fulfill all the obligations such relationships entail. Justice and righteousness in political, social, and economic arenas become the context for our bountiful giving (see 2 Cor 9:11–12). Such giving takes in the individual and the corporate obligations to give generously and joyously. Therefore, stewardship requires the tithe—and beyond! It is money, but more than money. Such giving becomes the joyful submission of our lives before God in a constant spirit of giving. Why might it be that giving is not a joy for so many people? This kind of giving is not marked by the spirit of generosity. In our modern societies, especially in western nations (but certainly not limited to them), a persistent risk attends our pursuit of wealth and the acquisition of material goods. That risk will be labeled as materialism or consumerism.
Chapter Five
The Culture of Materialism: Challenge to Christian Stewardship
There are two ways to get enough: One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.
—G. K. Chesterton
Introduction
Stewardship embraces all dimensions of human life. A real challenge, however, to faithful stewardship is one's view of and relationship to money and wealth or, simply, to material “things.” We began this book with a discussion of the challenges of materialism. Materialism is a way of life that becomes a competing vision of the good life. Chapter 1 attempted to see again the broad sweep of God's vision of what constitutes the good life. In this last chapter the focus on materialism is more prescriptive than simply descriptive. He asks two questions. First, how can we hear scripture afresh in order to help us name the sin of materialism? Second, how we can hear scripture afresh in order to serve as God's word for transforming our lives—and hence our desires.
Whether in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Latin America, or the West Indies, Christians make decisions about money, wealth, and possessions. Across the global expanse, people occupy different cultures with different ways of producing and distributing the goods that are part of that society. Different cultures also can occupy the same nation. Some countries are significantly more wealthy than others. Other countries barely make ends meet; they barely subsist. Death comes from starvation, from nearly nonexistent preventative health care, and from violent politics and inhuman economics. Western nations on the whole tend to live at a higher level of subsistence. Capitalism is a highly efficient economic system, often associated with modern western societies. Those who live in capitalist economies may complain about what they do not have or the high price they pay for some products. They still think differently about the future of human possibilities.
In this last chapter, a brief description of the problem is given. The bulk of the chapter will examine or allude to several biblical texts regarding Old and New Testament teachings about money and wealth.
Bible Study
1. In Isaiah 58:6–9, what happens in a “true fast”?
2. According to Matthew 6:19–24, Jesus refers to two “treasures” and two “masters.” What are they?
3. In Luke 12:13–21, Jesus issues a warning for storing up things for oneself but not being rich toward God (v 21). What is the result of such an attitude toward life?
4. What priorities does Jesus give for daily life in Matthew 6:25–33?
5. In 1 Timothy 6:10, what can happen to persons who “love” money?
Brief Statement of Problem
It is a perversion for people to want to enjoy money, but merely to make use of God. Such people do not spend money for the sake of God, but worship God for the sake of money.
—Augustine
Think for a moment. What significant aspects of your life are free of concerns about human well-being and flourishing? Food, clothing, and shelter are basics for proper human existence. All persons appear to share this concern. Moral confusion comes in how people often differ in what constitutes “enough” in respect to food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Also what kind of food? What style clothing? What price housing? What model transportation? Depending on one's accustomed and desired status in life, what is viewed as luxury items for some are “needs” for others.
Of course, human life cannot be reduced only to basic human needs. People also need what cannot be purchased or sold. Honor and respect are two important things, for example.
Journal: What are some other things I believe are necessary to human life and well-being that cannot be bought and sold?
In many societies, however, every dimension of life appears to be determined or influenced greatly by money, or through the dynamics of the market. Money often becomes the carrier of value; it determines the inherent worth of something. The desire for money tends to reflect the complex interactions occurring within a society. For example, the basic questions of modern economics come into play for persons at all levels of society: What will be produced? For whom? How much? How?
In these interactions the value of something is often equated with its cost. What is right and good is sometimes determined by an impersonal market that tallies peoples' individual desires and directs their labors to satisfying such demands without serious moral evaluation. Market societies are well known for the efficiency with which they respond to the basic economic questions. Yet they do require watching. They require watching for many persons can, for example, be deceived into thinking and acting as if every desire that can be marketed is a legitimate one; or that all needs appear exempt from any concerns about scarcity; or that the future capacity for acquiring more and more appears unbounded—thanks to the genius of technology.
The whole scene is more complex than described here. Wuthnow's examples in chapter 1 illustrate this fact. But remember that as stewards in all of life we are reminded that our desire to be faithful stewards will not go unchallenged by the “powers of this world.” Materialism or consumerism is a real challenge or threat to whole life discipleship. Let us turn to some scriptural and theological reflections that can enlighten and provide moral guidance for us.
Biblical/Theological Understandings of Money and Wealth
Old Testament
When one considers that Yahweh's calling of Abraham and of Israel was one of both gift and responsibility, it is logical that the notion of absolute ownership did not make much sense. In Abraham's call, Yahweh blesses him with the promise of numberless descendants, and in him comes the responsibility to be a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen 12:1–3).
The exodus, the central event shaping Israel's identity, indicates the movement of God's people along the way directed by Yahweh's presence to a place, a land of promise, flowing with “milk and honey.” The covenant at Sinai described in the book of Exodus highlights the significant social responsibilities attached to people and their properties (see particularly Exod 21:28–22:15). God limits any human claims to absolute ownership. These texts in Exodus suggest Yahweh's own accountability to the poor, the aliens, and others existing on the margins of society.
Moreover, an interesting section of the Holiness Code (Lev 17–26) are the specific instructions on what is known as “The Year of Jubilee.” The provisions of the Year of Jubilee required no sowing and reaping in the fiftieth year (25:11), the forgiveness of debts, barring of interest or profit in aiding your kin (25:35ff), and the return or redistribution of ancestral property (especially land) with appropriate and just compensation due to the person required to return the property.
What reason is given for these provisions? The Lord is the true and absolute owner of the land: “… [F]or the land is [the Lord's], with me you are but aliens and tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land” (vv 23–24, NRSV).
The Year of Jubilee guided the household of Israel in how they dealt with property transactions involving especially the sale or purchase of land among themselves, or between themselves and aliens. This text strongly supports the important notion that every family should have its own plot of land. This understanding gives value not only to the level of consumption among God's people, but also to the level of productive assets in the form of land. While most scholars debate whether Israel ever realized the Year of Jubilee, the crucial point is that their religious understanding of what it means to be the faithful people of God required just such a radical social vision. That is, Israel, in the long run, could not engage in unbridled consumption of goods. They would one day have to give an account. Also implicit in Israel's life with God was the belief that every family might produce its own livelihood—hence, the possession of land.
Furthermore, a quick survey of the prophets, especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and so forth, reveals them calling God's people back to covenant faithfulness. They were straightforward in their claim to speak on God's behalf for the benefit of the poor, the widow, the alien, and the stranger, who were abused for the purpose of sinful gain by those who were rich and powerful.
Fiery words of judgment came from the prophets in the name of Yahweh condemning the hypocrisy of these people's worship practices. That is, as they worshiped Yahweh they oppressed the poor and weak among them in everyday relationships.
Before moving to the New Testament, listen to the challenging implications that Walter Brueggemann draws from a reading of Isaiah 58:6–7, regarding the kind of true fast God requires.
Journal: In the context of Isaiah 58:1–12, what do verses 6–9 say to me?
According to Brueggemann, Isaiah 58:6–9 requires a fast that undoes hunger, homelessness, and nakedness:
Share your bread … either you must get more bread to share or you must share what there is and eat less, lowering your standard of living.
Bring into your house … either you must get a bigger house, a mansion with more rooms, or share what room there is, resulting in less living space and more restricted freedom.
Cover them … expose yourself to your own kin …. This sounds like, “Take some of your clothes and cover them, leaving you partly uncovered, exposed, and vulnerable.” [15. Walter Brueggemann, Using God's Resources Wisely: Isaiah and Urban Possibility. (Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993), 67.]
Journal: How do I respond to Brueggemann's interpretation of Isaiah 58:6–9?
Would this conflict too much with my present standard of living?
A Rehearing of the New Testament: Prescription for Materialism
In chapter 1 we saw that the culture of materialism has become that which defines the existence—of both Christians and non-Christians. Materialism thrusts us into the realms of competing visions of the good life. All the previous chapters have unfolded the good life as pictured biblically and theologically. We now end with a call to meet the challenges that materialism hurls at the Christian. It is a continuing call to faithfulness to the vision of the good life that God ushers in through his Son, Jesus Christ. In a culture of materialism, what often happens is an acute case of poor vision or poor hearing. Both hearing and vision go hand in hand. Faithful hearing or obedience leads to better vision. We can see the world where we live in a more truthful way. A rehearing, therefore, of the New Testament will guide us as we attempt to live faithfully in the world the Spirit enables us to see. Such a rehearing of scripture is inescapable for our attempt at addressing materialism. Our very souls rest in the balance. “Jesus, what do you say to us?”
The Synoptic Gospels
Matthew's account of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount has Jesus instructing the church on money and wealth. The instructions on treasure in Matthew 6:19–21 follow the teachings on acts of piety, namely, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Jesus does not teach against money per se. Rather he teaches against the passionate attachment to it: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21).
The heart is the controlling center of one's life; it is the place of decision-making, moral reflection, and the seat of the will. The moral condition of the heart then determines the nature and intensity of one's pursuit of treasure. The perspective on money in Jesus' teaching is primarily guided by the nature of the Kingdom of God.
The accumulation of money and things, or treasure, indicates the orientation of the whole self toward the pursuit and accumulation of treasures. The church understands Jesus as teaching the temporal character and insecurity of earthly wealth because it is always subject to a decrease in value through corrosion and other uncontrollable factors. According to Luke's Gospel (12:13–21), Jesus, when asked to intervene in a sibling dispute over the family inheritance, did not accept the invitation to compel the one brother to divide the inheritance with the other. Jesus instead warned them both to stand guard against all kinds of greed. Jesus teaches that one's life is not to be equated with one's personal inventory of possessions. The parable Jesus tells of the rich man indicates that the mere ownership of abundant possessions does not guarantee that one will experience ultimate satisfaction in life.
Journal: What are some things that people desire today? What do I desire?
The parable suggests that the impulse to acquire more and to create more and better for the sole purpose of ensuring a future of leisure and relaxation is deceptive. It is deceptive not so much because leisure is evil in itself. It is not. It is deceptive in the ungodly assumption that such leisure can be purchased without any consideration to just how one's life ultimately depends on God's faithfulness. Notice that the storing up of earthly treasures benefits the individual—a preoccupation with the individual self with having “things”. Hence, the claim that all one has is absolutely one's own because it is the product of personal labors and craftiness. “You fool,” God says (Luke 12:20). So the text maintains that insisting on such a claim of absolute ownership renders one's existence finally subject to divine judgment. The reason for this is that such an existence is defined fundamentally by what one has or can have in this life rather than by who one is called to be in relation to God. The more permanent and virtuous treasure, therefore, is to be found only in a life subject to the demands of the Kingdom of God.
Journal: What would I like to possess within the next 3–5 years? [If married or contemplating marriage, do this exercise with your mate.]
In Matthew 19:16–22, Jesus appears to illumine this understanding still more. In conversing with the rich young man Jesus does not condemn wealth in general. He identifies the core of the rich young man's problem not in what he possesses, but rather in what he lacks. What the man lacks makes him imperfect. What he lacks, however, cannot be purchased by what he has in abundance—his money. Jesus teaches that he can only gain what he lacks by losing what he has. For what he has plenty of—money—possesses all of him so completely that he really believes he possesses it. This belief is the ultimate deception! Jesus says to him therefore: “Go, sell your possessions, but give it away to the poor; and then and only then will you be rich indeed, for you will have treasure in heaven” (Matt 19:21, author's paraphrase). This divestment or surrender is Jesus' precondition to inviting the rich young man to follow him in discipleship. For this rich young man even to attempt to follow Jesus without first being set free of his many possessions would only assure that he will more consistently follow what he more clearly sees—in this case, his many riches. In this text then, money impairs not only his ability to see Jesus (as Jesus really is), and hence himself, but also his capacity to hear and receive the Good News of the kingdom. The rich young man rejects Jesus' precondition of salvation, and walks dejectedly away. The most tragic thing is that Jesus watches him go, and makes no concessions to him for his unwillingness to be dispossessed of his possessions.
Journal: Do I believe Jesus calls me to give up all I have today? In what way? If not, then how do I understand Matthew 19:16–22?
Jesus further affirms in Matthew 6 the inability of anyone to serve two masters faithfully. He says, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (v 24, KJV). Mammon refers to wealth. Here the text implies the great potential of wealth to serve as one's master, but a master by way of default. When persons reject the obligation to commit to the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, they are open to serving another god. Wealth places its owner in the precarious position of loving the wealth and hating the God who graciously gives it, the God who calls us to a life of faithfulness in God's kingdom.
Yet, Matthew's Jewish audience knows full well that to love wealth and to hate God is sin because it breaks the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and the commandment just like it—“love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37–40, NRSV).
The church community thus understood Jesus as directing our energies and passions first to the pursuit of the kingdom of God and God's righteousness. Jesus also provides us assurance of his divine knowledge of our daily need for clothes, food, drink, and shelter. Jesus views God's knowledge of human needs as an antidote for the daily anxieties that threaten to hinder one's resolve to live faithfully, first and foremost, as citizens of God's kingdom (Matt 6:25–33). Perhaps a reputed comment by former boxing champion Joe Louis speaks volumes for all of us about the anxiety often experienced in daily life: “I don't like money actually, but it quiets my nerves.”
Journal: In a prayer, confess the anxieties you have about daily living as you experience it.
From Paul and his Interpreters
Paul's letters represent some of the earliest of the New Testament writings. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul encourages the church at Corinth to display generosity for the benefit of the Christians at Jerusalem. Paul commends Corinth to the Christians of the churches of Macedonia as worthy examples of the generosity of God's grace.
Paul uses the earnestness of the Macedonian churches in order to test the genuineness of the love of the Corinthian church. Why does Paul commend the Macedonians? Paul notes that their generosity toward others did not emerge from their abundance. A “spirit of abundant joy” attended their generous giving. Their giving, however, came not out of abundance, but overflowed from extreme poverty.
They gave voluntarily to the saints in Jerusalem, according to their capacity to give, and, as Paul further boasts, even beyond their capacity. Hence, Paul sees giving to others as a function of a willing and loving heart, which is itself a product of their first giving themselves to the Lord (2 Cor 8:5). Paul supports his observation of the Macedonians' generosity by how he understands the generosity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ who was rich chose voluntarily to become poor, so that by his poverty we might become rich. Paul therefore advises the Corinthian church to complete—according to their means—their assistance to the Jerusalem church that they had already begun. Paul commends such giving not only for what it contributes to the life of the recipient, but for what it contributes to the life of the giver: seed for sowing will be multiplied, a harvest of righteousness will be increased, and an overflow of bountiful thanksgiving will abound to God (2 Cor 9:10–12).
Paul asserts, further, that giving is not designed to make the giver poor or the receiver rich. Paul does not sanction poverty either as a virtue or as a prerequisite to inheriting the Kingdom. Neither does he identify riches and wealth as the indisputable sign of God's grace. Paul comments in this letter that he does not wish for the Christians at Corinth to experience undue pressure in order to provide needed relief for the Jerusalem Christians.
Paul does mean that a fair balance must be struck between the present abundance of the Corinthians and the present need of the Jerusalem Christians. Paul implies in this apostolic letter a prior understanding about the kind of community they were called to be. Paul assumes, in agreement with Jesus' teachings, that one's ownership of wealth or property is not considered as absolute, especially in the face of great need within the covenant community of Jesus Christ.
The community is called to be vigilant and faithful in its sensitivity toward the legitimate needs of brothers and sisters who do not have. The purpose for this again is not the redistribution of wealth. Instead it denotes that within the community of faith there is an understanding of the mutual responsibility of all for all.
As the Corinthians gave, the resources of the Jerusalem Christians increased to a level consistent with their need. This need, by the way, can only be determined through individual and community discussion. Also, the needy Jerusalem Christians were not without resources. Whatever they did possess in abundance (obviously Paul is not talking here about material resources, for they had none) they, too, incurred a mutual obligation to supply such for the need of the well-off Corinthian Christians.
Journal: What do I possess, material or otherwise, that could supply the needs of others? Am I aware of anyone in particular right now?
In addition, Paul believes without doubt that God supplies all our needs. So Paul has learned in his own life's journeys not to be anxious about anything, since the secret of being well-fed or hungry, of having or not having, lies in a divinely-imparted “restfulness” or “contentedness” in his circumstances (Phil 4:11–12). I hasten to say at this point that Paul is not being so otherworldly that he is resigned to certain inequities in this present life. Rather, I believe one must understand this statement in light of all Paul's teachings on the mutual responsibilities that Christians have to enrich the lives of others in the body of Christ—the church.
Journal: Does being “contented” in my circumstances mean that I should not be concerned about bettering my position in life?
In the pastoral letter of 1 Timothy, the writer reminds the reader that in birth we brought nothing into the world; when we die we can take nothing out of it. Certainly creative people throughout history have tried to take things out with them as they depart, but the burden of proof remains with them to prove conclusively to us that they have succeeded. As of this writing, no such conclusive proof that they are actually currently enjoying their prized possessions has surfaced.
The writer goes on to suggest that if we have food and clothing, we will be content (6:8). The writer does not seem preoccupied with these questions of status and wealth, although differences existed among peoples' positions in life.
Journal:
1 Timothy 6:8
Desire or already possess: food. Alternative means of satisfying need:
Desire or already possess: suit. Alternative means of satisfying need:
Desire or already possess: shoes. Alternative means of satisfying need:
Desire or already possess: home/shelter. Alternative means of satisfying need:
Desire or already possess: automobile. Alternative means of satisfying need:
Desire or already possess: electronic equipment. Alternative means of satisfying need:
Neither Paul nor I argue, here, against money or abundant possessions. A strong and vigorous warning, however, is offered to those whose passion is to become rich. Paul clearly implies that even the poor who embrace such a desire fall under the same condemnation. This warning hits at the engine driving our pursuits and desires for more and more, better and better. Those who want to be rich include those who already have yet want more and more—or excessively more than what is sufficient. The rich, according to Paul, also include the poor who only live to want more and more. They both open themselves up to temptations destined to trap them in senseless and harmful desires.
When one loves money one stands on the brink of ruin and destruction. Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, reminds all that “love of money is a root of all kinds of evil [murders, disputes, conflicts, for example—see James 4:1–2] and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (1 Timothy 6:10, NRSV). The writer of Hebrews issues a similar warning against the love of money, indicating however that God's promised presence is the remedy for anxious accumulation and greed (Heb 13:5–6).
Journal: (1 Timothy 6:10) Can you give some real life examples of Christians who seemed to have been trapped in the love of things? What did this lead them to do?
The writer of 1 Timothy, furthermore, uses strong language, the language of prophetic proclamation, when he urges the reader to “command [those in the present age who are rich] not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (6:17, NRSV).
A Final Caution: The Institutional Church and Materialism
We have said much about the challenges facing the members of the body of Christ in a materialistic culture as they desire to embody good stewardship. A last word of warning is to the institutional church itself. The institutional church refers here to buildings, structures, economic practices of local congregations or an association of congregations, and methods and processes of decision making. The comments here are intended to acknowledge the confusing messages that some churches give when they stress their role as God's stewards, while contradicting this in the material life of their own congregations. There is some precedent for guarded concern in this area.
Journal: Identify some ways the institutional church might be viewed as unfaithful stewards?
Philip Wogaman, a United Methodist pastor and ethicist, identifies one of the paradoxes in monastic life that permitted in practice what it disallowed by confession. In the area of “monastic economics,” Wogaman notes,
Committed by the Benedictine Rule … to utter poverty, individual monks nevertheless were a part of monastic communities that in many instances became very wealthy. The wealth came partly from endowments or bequests from those anxious thereby to ensure their own salvation and partly in the form of gifts brought by novices …. Over time, many of the monasteries accumulated vast holdings of land and wealth. Individual monks would die, but the monastic communities continued to exist. In time, monasteries found themselves leading economic actors on that worldly stage their monks had sworn to renounce. [16. J. Philip Wogaman, Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction (Louisville, Ky: Westminster /John Knox Press, 1993), 67.]
Martin Marty, a noted church historian, describes Protestant Christianity in North America since 1800 with this observation regarding the influence of wealth on the church and some of its institutions:
In this generation [since 1800] … the Protestant critique of worldliness was muted in fashionable churches. The immensely wealthy entrepreneurs and corporate leaders—the Rockefellers and Drews, the Fisks and McCormicks and Vanderbilts, were church members and generous donors. Many of them endowed seminaries, colleges, universities, charities. Under their influence and tutelage … it became difficult for clergy or lay prophets to call into question the ruthless acquisition of wealth, even ill-gotten gain. [17. Martin Marty, “North America,” a chapter in The Oxford History of Christianity, edited by John McManners (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 424.]
There is a great disparity of wealth between groups of peoples, but also among various institutions. Within the United States itself, wealthy or well-to-do suburban churches, for example, seem to possess resources in abundance to do nearly anything they will to do. We should celebrate the generosity of the membership.
Journal: Would I consider my church as a materially rich congregation?
Why or why not?
Yet there are some churches in our urban centers, impoverished rural areas, and Native American reservations that mirror the material and economic deprivation of its members. The call to stewardship, however, is just as crucial, perhaps more so, in these places than it is in many of our churches ministering out of their material abundance. Paul's exhortation to the Corinthian church to fulfill its commitment to aid the poorer Jerusalem church presents a continuing moral challenge to contemporary churches. [See 2 Cor 8–9.]
Journal: Has your congregation ever discussed or even decided to move out of a poorer neighborhood to a richer one in the suburbs? What are some of the reasons given for such a move? Did you agree? Why?
Journal: What do I see as my church's responsibility to poorer congregations in our church body? To poorer congregations in other parts of the world?
This is not a blanket condemnation of wealthy churches. It is an expression of scripture's warning to those—including institutional churches—who are rich in this world's goods. The church can be seduced by its wealth in fulfilling Christ's mission in the world. It depends more on its abundant possessions than on the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. To whom much has been given, much will be required. Sin is real in our world. Sin is real in the human heart and in the institutions formed by them. Institutional churches and bodies cannot exist without giving an account of their institutional stewardship toward people living in all kinds of material and spiritual conditions.
The church—the community of stewards—must be ever vigilant that its communal life and practices always reflect a radical discipleship in all of life. We must be careful that good sociology not contradict sound theology.
Journal: If I live in a poor neighborhood now, what do I think about churches that appear to possess so much? If I could write a letter to the nearest church like this, what would I say to them?
As you might well see from this discussion, Jesus, Paul, and other New Testament writers do not categorically condemn wealth and money. They do offer scathing denunciations of the selfish pursuit of riches and the accumulation of wealth. They warn against the deceptiveness of riches, the uncertainty of riches, and the tendency of riches to orient the self away from the praise and glory of God towards a way of life that promises ruin and destruction.
Materialism can kill us—spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and physically. Yet whole life discipleship becomes God's great gift of grace, and the path that empowers our sight and enhances our hearing.
Invocation
We end at the beginning. Whole life discipleship begins with the proper worship of God as revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord. So let the praise and worship of the Lord begin and continue each day of your life. Life indeed is an exciting adventure of faith for all believers! I pray that you have already acknowledged God as the “owner of the house” and the developer of the plan, as well as acknowledged your status before God as faithful steward. This is why discussion ends with an invocation rather than a benediction. Our lives are still in process, still headed toward God's promised conclusion—God's glorious future. Our future depends on our beginning and the faithfulness of our lives. As stewards, let us pray this prayer as a simple reminder to us that stewardship is whole life discipleship within a world filled with things to acquire:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
(Matthew 6:9–13, NIV)
[ The End ]