Have you ever given to a church or Christian ministry? What was the attitude of your heart as you wrote that check? For God loves a Cheerful. Giver, which by the way reverses than everything you might think about giving. Because what matters to God then is the attitude with which we give something, not the amount.
of what we gave. And I have said it before, and I want to say it again: don't give if you hate to. Give Because you can't wait to Have you ever given to a cause or even to your church because you felt you had to? Maybe someone made you feel guilty that you weren't giving. Maybe you gave out of a desire to make God like you more.
He didn't really want to write that check. Have you ever given grudgingly instead of cheerfully? Today, Stephen will help you gain a proper perspective on your giving. This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. In this message, Stephen explains the importance of biblical faithfulness and stewardship.
This is the conclusion to a message called, What We Give Away. Here's Stephen. Giving that is God-honoring is giving that is ultimately preceding. From the overflowing of a life that is entirely devoted to God. And the worst thing that any church or pastoral team could ever do is encourage people to give, and it doesn't really matter how you're getting along with God.
That'd be horrible. In fact, as a church ministry, we've been very reticent to ask the community to give us any money. That's why we don't do the community bake sales and the car washes because we really, as we discuss this as another thing, we don't want to ask the world to give money to us that we will give to the Lord.
Well, we're going to do that. Because what matters... Above and beyond any gift is the heart. We want people that come to know him. Then as they come to know him and grow in him, they'll develop in their discipleship and begin to give.
He writes further, He says, I'm not now speaking of this command. This isn't a command I'm going to make here. But but this is going to prove the earnestness of your love That's where it comes to bear. This really does reveal. who we are.
Look at verse 11. But now finish doing this. You've started, yes. Uh now finish it. There's readiness in you.
I'm grateful for that. But don't just be ready to do it. Don't just talk about doing it. Don't just desire to do it. But complete it, he writes.
by your ability. In other words, be ready. And that's a good thing. Be faithful, but then. Act.
Act. Giving that honors God. carries this This element of eagerness and submission that translates into faithfulness, not because, you know, God to, but I just, I really want to.
Now, let me follow that up quickly with the second principle. It's the principle of cheerfulness. For those of you older in the faith, you know exactly what I'm talking about. But when we write this here, to financially support the church, be faithful, cheerful, giving. If you're new in the faith, you're going to think, what?
Cheerful.
Well, what's that got to do with anything?
Well, I remember being in a church in East Africa, by the way. in a third world context and the block building and the tin roof and the hundred plus people packed into it. And I was on a little platform and my sermon would be translated. They were speaking in a language I didn't know. And suddenly the people began to cheer.
I mean, literally stood up and clapped. I mean, they were so excited, and I thought, what in the world? And here came the ushers. Carrying these long poles with little sacks attached to the end that they would kind of feed down. Yeah.
They were cheering. because they now had the opportunity. to give something. To God. Deeply convicting.
Paul wrote this text to the Corinthians in chapter 9, 2 Corinthians. And verse 7: Let each one do just as he purposed in his heart, not grudgingly, that is, I hate to. Or under compulsion, I guess I have to. And this has the sense of not necessarily that you'd have the responsibility that you really want to maintain. This has the attitude of I have to, and I really don't want to.
For God loves a Cheerful. giver, which by the way reverses then everything you might think about giving. Because what matters to God then is the attitude with which we give something, not the amount. of what we gave. And I have said it before, and I want to say it again: don't give if you hate to.
Don't give if you have to, and you don't want to. Give Because you can't wait to. Yeah that's That's that Kenyan spirit. that I saw. AW Tozer Clarified the perspective when he reminded me as I read him that as earthy.
You know. earthy as money is. As earthy as it is, it can be converted. For whatever is given to Christ is touched. with immortality.
I mean the results can be forever. The church has to be careful. It can create givers. Out of obligation. And I want you to know, and again, this is personal, this is us, okay?
This is one of the reasons I do not come out here during the offering or before the offering. I made up my mind years ago. And I'm not saying negative things disparagingly about other pastors who come out, but I just decided I wasn't going to come out here before the offering and hold up the envelope or give you a story. I just.
Well, I want to err on the side of This is you. Giving. Because you can't wait to give. to Christ. This is what Paul would say.
You know, this is the direction. We want to go. You know, it amazes me. I shared this with both hours, and I've had people every hour come up and say, We heard the same thing. I had two different couples in greenhouse class, two different classes.
In the last couple of beers, independently of each other, they didn't know each other, and they came up. with the same rumor. And they came up and told me, in fact, after our session on New Testament giving, which I spend a couple of sessions on this subject, explaining that tithing, the word tithe, disappears when you get into the New Testament. That is the establishment of the church. And it is all grace giving.
It is what God moves your heart to give. And then you happen to pay taxes too. Just as in the Old Testament, the Israelites paid taxes. That's the word for tithe, really. And there were about 25% of their annual income that went to tithes.
More than one tithe. Never heard a pastor tell me that. I always thought it was one. There's actually more than one. Do you want to add them up?
At any rate, you have the same, and then they and then they gave overflowing gifts of grace. You find the same thing in the New Testament. We pay our taxes and we give overflowing gifts of grace out of love for the Lord. But at any rate, they came up. To me, and they said after those sessions, they said, you know, we really came here skeptical.
to colonial. And we came to this class, and we were expecting you to teach something differently. and tell us you were going to do it differently. because of what we'd heard. I said, well, what did you hear?
I know there are a lot of rumors out there.
Some hurt, some are painful, some are... Heretical.
Some are tragic. And I couldn't believe this one. was really interesting. Couldn't think of another way to put it. They said, well, we had close friends tell us that it's okay to attend there, but just don't join.
And I said, well, why not? They said We were told by our friends that if you join The pastor is going to require that you give him a copy of your most recent 1040 tax return.
So that he can evaluate.
So that you can prove that you are giving to the church. Two couples. Had a man come up to me after one of the hours say, I was told the same thing. Mm-hmm. Your pastor requires a 1040.
so he can know for sure you're giving to the church. I thought that was a brilliant idea, by the way. Why didn't I think of that, huh? That's Bria. No, in fact I joke and then it's going to go out there.
Yeah, it's true. It is not true. It's a rumor. I can assure you of a couple of things. Number one, I don't even know what you give.
I do not know what you give. We've just established the system going back to the days now 20 27 years ago, and we hired our first pastor, and I drove him immediately to the bank. I said, It's going to be your signature on this bank account, and you're going to deposit the money. I am out of it. Our church was three years old.
I do not know what you give. I don't want to know. But secondly, the only tax returns that I have ever looked at to evaluate charitable giving. Our Ours. And the reason that's important, those principles are, at least in the way I've tried to practice them as your pastor-teacher, is that I don't want you to ever give thinking you're giving to me or even this church, because ultimately, though you do give to the church, you are giving to Christ.
I mean, it would be pitiful. to be led to give to man. I mean, how short-sighted would that be?
Some time ago, I read the biography of George Whitfield. He was a wonderful man of God used to fan the flames of the Great Awakening, the 17 onwards. And I found numerous examples of his sacrificial spirit. He uh uh um Preached to thousands of people, primarily out in the open fields, because he wasn't allowed behind the pulpits of the English churches. Um And most of the pastors before this awakening were unbelievers anyway, and they didn't want him.
So he'd preach in the open. And they got a little portable pulpit, which I've seen. He'd just kind of unfold it and climb up on it, and there you go. And he would preach to thousands at a time. And he started an orphanage and was always needing funds for that, always taking offerings for his children, and died with very little money to his name.
But at any rate, he learned that a widow with a number of children had her furniture taken away because she couldn't make the rent. And so he found out that she needed five guineas. I don't know how much that is, but there were five of them.
Okay? And so he had that, and he decided he would go pay her rent and get her furniture back. And she lived quite a distance away, and so he had a friend in ministry go with him. And so they both saddled up and they began to ride to meet her need. And Whitfield's friend, his biography, included the notes that his friend was a little disturbed with George because George didn't have the money to do that.
He had other needs, other bills to pay. And so he was kind of chiding Whitfield as they went along that he really couldn't afford to help. And Whitfield made this interesting statement. He said this: when God brings a case of need before us, it is that we might relieve it. In other words, there are a million needs, but what has he told you about?
What has he informed you of? There's a reason behind that. And so he said, because I can relieve it, I believe God wants me to do it.
So they're traveling along, and suddenly a highwayman, a robber, gallops toward them and demands their money. This minister friend didn't have any, and Whitfield had five guineas.
So he emptied his pocket and gave the man five guineas, and the robber rode away. And now his friend is chiding. Whitfield with you know now You don't even have that.
So you really shouldn't have done this. Whitfield didn't respond. They're still heading toward the widows. home and and suddenly here comes this robber galloping back toward them. And the robber rides up to them, brandishing his He demands Whitfield's cover.
Yeah. It's cold. It's winter. And Whitfield had a nice warm coat, and he demanded it. And so Whitfield took off his coat.
And before the robber rode away, Whitfield said, Sir, could I at least have your tattered coat? It is cold. And the robber gave Whitfield His code.
So they're riding along, and suddenly here comes this highwayman galloping toward them again, and Whitfield and his friend were concerned about their own safety, and so they spurred on their horses, and they made it to a little village ahead of the robber and into the safety of a cottage, where they were warming themselves by the fire, thankful that they had been rescued from who knows what. And as Whitfield took off this tattered coat, he discovered in one pocket his five guineas. And in the other pocket, a hundred guineas more.
Now isn't that The best story for sacrificial giving.
Now, lest you think that, oh, here's a rumor. Stephen's into prosperity theology. I'm actually. I'm actually going to use that as an illustration of that just doesn't happen. And if you think that when you give sacrificially that God's going to do that, be careful.
Because prosperity theology will teach you that if you give to God, He's going to back the truck up. And you give five guineas, you're going to get 100 back. You can turn on the television and watch those hucksters delivering that message. And I want to use that as an illustration, not only encourage you as you do sacrificially to give, that God will meet your needs, not your greeds, but your needs. But He has already given to us.
Do we realize that when we give to him, it isn't bargaining? It isn't, well, I'm going to give you this gift, Lord, now you back the truck up. No, in reality, beloved, God has already backed. His truck Up to us. We have been given Immortality.
We have been given forgiveness. We have been given grace. We have been given the promise of a coming kingdom where we will be. Dressed in royalty as royalty, serving along with him, we have no idea. The apostle wrote of the glory that he has reserved to be revealed in us.
He's back the truck up. Already.
So, the false promise of prosperity theology that you just give and God's just going to give you back all the more. No, God will meet your needs. But sacrificial giving does not make a demand on God. It isn't bribery. It's simply responding.
to his grace. for what he's already given.
Now the key word in this promise is the last word. And it sort of governs the entire promise, doesn't it? We promise to financially support the church, the faithful, cheerful. and sacrificial Stewardship.
Now that word stewardship Clears up so much for us.
Okay. Uh uh it just simply understanding. what that word means. That that we We aren't owners. We're stewards.
were funnels. We're managers. Of someone else's property. I mean, we can say it rather glibly: you know, God owns everything. But But he really does.
and has given us what he has given us to manage.
Now you might follow a certain percentage. And I think that's strategic, whatever that percentage might be. But just don't make the mistake that if you give 4% or 6% or 10%, that you own the other 96% or 90%. Eight percent. Or 90%.
God is somehow bought off with a dime. On a dollar. No, God owns All of it. The question is how much are we going to use? To meet the needs that we have.
In fact, the older I get, the more convinced I am that the issue of giving revolves around understanding the difference between ownership. and stewardship. Let me just in a rather rough way illustrate that. this morning. I want all the men.
All the men to take out your wallet. I'll show you if you'll prepare. No, no, no. Take out your wallet. Anybody out here, any guy out here have bills?
You have some bills in your wallet? I don't even carry a wallet. I got a debit card, okay? That's it. But do some of you guys have, anybody here have bills in your wallet?
You do? Yeah, come on up here. Oh man, am I glad you're here. On the You're mistaken. No, no, no, you're You're here.
Thank you so much. How you doing? Doing well, how are you? Outstanding. You want to say hi, mom, or anything to the camera?
Hi, mom. All right. Uh can I can I have uh Just the whole thing. Yeah. Thank you, sir.
You know, I'm Even before I met you, I knew this is my desire. And I feel good about this. Um I In fact, I I actually feel Feel cheerful about this. You do too, don't you?
So I I here's what I want to do I'm going to give you something. Thank you. I knew you'd say that. You're welcome. Thank you.
You can go ahead and be seated. No, no, no, come here. Everything. Here you go. All right now Take that other bill out.
Here's the difference. For me to say to you, after you gave me your money, you know, I'm going to give you something, and expect you to say thank you. Isn't that the issue and the description of someone who has a perspective of ownership. That's mine. It's his.
Now you saw that immediately. I mean, it's it. He took it out of his pocket and gave it to me.
Now Stewardship means that I'm going to say, or you're going to say to me, Stephen, I'm going to give you this money. And what I want you to do is manage it for me.
Now, if I understand that it's his and I'm going to manage it. One of the things I'm going to want to know is What would you like to do with this? How would you like it managed? Is there anything that maybe he wrote down that gives me some principles or perspectives? Yeah, we call that the New Testament in this analogy, right?
Because I want to please him because this is his. In a sense, We are managing God's part. portfolio.
Some of us have more than others and it isn't because, well, we just deserved it. We were just better. No. God just chose that. And now we manage his.
Account.
So I'm going to give this back to you and let you sit down. I know that you could afford to give it to me because I've seen your tax return. No, I haven't. I'm just. Thank you.
Would you give this guy a round of applause, huh? See, that's how That's how rumors get started, right? Like the rumor that I hate cats. I have people asking me about that. That's a Give us the truth.
All right. Let me make three very quick personal challenges from this, okay? Make a realistic assessment of your spirit. Make a realistic assessment of your spirit. Nobody can answer this but you.
Do you give because you have to? And you don't want to. Do you give even though you hate to? Or do you give Because you can't wait to. You want to.
Secondly, make a realistic assessment. of your record. of giving. Don't just allow it to float out there. You know, it's real easy for us to think that, oh, we're doing something, and well, really, are we?
Uh y you've got the data. Uh do the math. And let me tell you this, nearly every study. In American church a culture today. establishes The fact that the average Christian, I don't know if they're Christians or not, but that's how they say it, churchgoer.
The average believer in this country is giving less than 2% of their income to charitable causes. It's right at about 1.5% on average across the board.
So we're not at 10%. We're not at 8%. We're not at 12%. The average is 1.3 to 1.5%. Yeah.
Let's just quickly do a little math here. Put up a slide. We put together a little graph for you. Let's just, we're going to start at 4% because colonial is way above. and beyond the average, okay?
So you kind of look up there, try to find where you are monthly income. If you bring home $3,000, we're just talking about take-home. I have people ask me: are we talking gross or net or whatever? That's just whatever you bring home. It's 3,000?
So maybe you Don't get anywhere near that. But 4% would be that last month, think about last month. Not today, but last month. He gave $120. 7% meant you gave 210.
10% would be 300. If you brought home 6,000, maybe that's your household income, the average income. in carry is about six to seven thousand dollars.
So if that's it. Then if you gave a check for $250, you gave... Right at 4%. If you gave $420, you gave 7%. Six hundred would be ten.
Some of you might bring home 10,000.
So, if you wrote out a check for $400 or whatever, or $700 or $1,000.
So, try to find your. place there. And I'm doing this not because I know or want to know, but I want to lead you and me into a realistic assessment.
So that we can see where we really are.
Now if you went to your job Tomorrow, and they said, You know, we've got problems, issues, we don't want to cut anybody. But we're going to cut everybody's salary 2%. Would you quit? Probably not. You would probably make a way to live off 2%.
Less. And I can tell you That In my own personal life, if I live off 98% of what I Bring home. I can tell you where I am, that would indicate to me that I haven't caught. what I would call a Macedonian spirit. If we together as a congregation Spend 98, 99% on our family.
Our house, our automobiles, our education, our retirement. Our stuff. We've got to accept the teaching and a realistic assessment. of what it means. for God's Spirit to work in us.
The Macedonian attitude. Here's the third challenge. Make a realistic assessment of changes. that you might want to make. Have conversations.
Pray about it. Do a little ransacking of the scripture. Because here's the key. Beloved, we're not talking about money. That's just a reflection of our heart.
We're talking about attitude and submission and joy and anticipation and the building of the church and the disseminating of the gospel and the reaching of our world. We're talking about all of that. I know it's earthy. It's a $20 bill. It's earthy.
But it touches. It can touch. Immortal things. As you've seen today, the way you give. The attitude in which you give makes all the difference regarding how God views your gifts.
I hope this has been a good reminder for you. You're listening to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davie. With this message Stephen concludes his series on the church called Upon This Rock. Today's the last day that our companion resource is discounted.
So let me tell you about that. If you're the member of a local church and especially a church leader, this resource will help you. You might also want to get it as a gift for your pastor or for a leader in your church. We've taken the entire series and packaged it as a set of C D s. Of course, you can visit our website and read or listen to these messages free of charge.
But if C D s are more convenient for you, this series is deeply discounted and today's the last day. Call us today for information. We're at 866-48-Bible or 866-482-4253. You'll also find this resource on our website, wisdomonline.org. Once again, call 866-48 Bible or visit wisdomonline.org today.
Tomorrow we move to the Old Testament with a series from Genesis, so join us on wisdom for the heart.
