Whatever we do, we should seek to do it all to the glory of God. This includes the details of our worship service, certainly, but it also includes other issues, like architecture and design. But a step behind that is the question of money, and raising money. Underneath all of it is the heart attitude of God’s people, wanting to do what God wants us to do, and doing it the way He wants us to do it.
When it comes to money, we have already noted that you should refrain from giving to the church if your financial affairs are not in order. If your brother has a beef with you—and such things are frequently financial—leave your gift unpresented until things are good between you and your brother. If God doesn’t want it, then why give it?
But there are other financial aspects to all of this. Do not give convulsively, in the emotional heat of a building campaign. Labor instead to become a tither, one who consistently gives ten percent of your increase to the Lord’s work, as He leads you. You might think that a group of non-tithers would have more money available to give in a spasm of giving, but this is not the way it works. In a God-honoring campaign, disciplined givers can do a lot more by giving a little more than usual, than undisciplined givers can do by giving what they think is a lot.
We want the church sanctuary to be a center of grace, a center of giving, a place from which blessings flow. The building is an emblem of the people themselves, and we want to be a people who pay tribute to God. That is what the tithe is, actually. We do not give ten percent so that God will leave us alone with our ninety percent. That would just be an ecclesiastical extortion racket. Rather we give ten percent as tribute, a ten percent that says in a very tangible way that one hundred percent belongs to God. And it does not really matter how much of it there is. What matters is what percentage of it is blessed.
So let the stones cry out.
I may have misunderstood something, but where is this whole concept of a tithe found in the NT? where is there such a concept of ‘the church sanctuary’? Or even the need to build a church building at all? Am I missing something? Does my copy of the NT have a few important books missing?
Paul, if your Bible is missing the OT then yes, it is indeed missing a few important books. Why would you only search the NT for what God has to say about the tithe and sanctuary?
Hi Andrew.
Because the tithe laws were given to the Nation of Israel along with the other laws enshrined in the Mosaic Covenant. They were never intended for the life in the New Covenant instituted by Jesus, who fulfilled the law entirely for those who trust in him as Saviour. The NT Christians didn’t have ‘sanctuaries’, they met in ordinary houses, in the open air or , when necessary, rented public buildings to hold their meetings in. There is no mention of ‘sanctuaries’ as far as I am aware!
To Paul: The NT Christians did not have sanctuaries yet. They were just starting out, like a married couple that rents an apartment for now until they can afford a house. The lack of sanctuaries in the NT in no way indicates that the saints of old were not working towards a time where the Lord is worshipped in a dedicated house, as opposed to making do with whatever accommodations we can find for his worship. That’s still a challenge we face today, but building a sanctuary is a step in the right direction, provided it is done in wisdom,… Read more »
Hi Andrew My understanding is that the whole idea of a salaried ‘pastor’ is foreign to the NT. It was this desire for such a position of pre-eminence (which Jesus warned against) that has led to many of the problems experienced in churches ever since. money gets diverted to salaries instead of to outrageous generosity to those in need. The need to cover the pastors salary means each church has to grow to a size that it then has to have a building to contain the congregation. This building requires maintenance, so more money is diverted from supporting gospel work… Read more »
I understand your concern about the misuse of money in the church, but the solution is not to muzzle the ox and meet in homes. We are as obligated to pay our ministers as we are our soldiers that we send to battle – please read 1 Corinthians 9 below. Also, it is impractical for the local church to grow and continue to meet in homes. If there is a problem that needs to be addressed in the church today, it is hastily appointed unqualified pastors and elders who are raising and handling the funds. Biblically appointed and qualified elders… Read more »
“Tithe” means 10%. Paul Goodwin is correct that “tithing” is absent from the New Testament. Giving is instructed, but we are liberated and elevated from the numerical obligations of the old covenant. The kind of generosity Paul Goodwin is talking about might even amount to more than 10% of income.
Obviously I agree with Invisiblegardner. The tithe is not part of the NT economy. Sacrificial giving might be less than 10% for some people, but a whole lot more than 10% for others, especially for those of us in the affluent West. I’m sorry IW, but I believe you have taken the verses in 1 Corinthians 9 out of context. Paul was arguing for travelling itinerant apostles being able to accept financial support along the way and from those they ministered to, in the same way as those who Jesus had previously sent out two by two and were able… Read more »
Paul did not tell the Ephesian elders that they could not receive wages. Paul told them to be on guard, be on the alert, to follow his example of not coveting, to follow his example of working hard to help the weak, and it is more blessed to give than to receive. Paul wrote to Timothy in Ephesus saying “Let the elders who rule we’ll be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” He then quotes the same passage he quotes in 1 Cor 9 – “you shall not muzzle the ox while… Read more »
Acts 20:34-35 says ‘You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus , how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’. This is what Paul aid to the elders from Ephesus and surely it cannot be clearer – that they should work with their hands, as he had done, to provide for themselves and the needy and to be givers… Read more »