Stephen
Terry, Director
Giving
Back
Commentary
for the March 11, 2023, Sabbath School Lesson
"Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and
especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an
unbeliever." 1 Timothy 5:8, NIV
Our study this quarter has placed
much emphasis on giving money to the church with the idea that God will return
much more in blessings than what we give. Some take umbrage at this,
remembering that the love of money is the root of evil.[i]
These rightly ask if this is the case, why does the church constantly seek more
of it? It is reasonable to assume that if the desire for more money can corrupt
individuals, it is capable of corrupting organizations as well which are simply
organized groups of individuals.
Many twists have been put on
this overall theme. One is that giving our money to the church is to save us
from being greedy. Another is that it is not our money anyway. It is God's and
if we keep what the church wants, we are robbing God.[ii]
This is despite God owning everything already, so he has no need to bring to us
to fulfil.[iii] Nonetheless,
the church demands and we comply, building a vast ecclesiastical empire capable
of using the power of the purse to advance ecclesial-political agendas in order
to maintain key families who equate their perspective with God's in positions
of power.
This is not unusual, for it is
the way the world works. It is why the average voter has no influence with
their legislative representative. But money talks and the more money they can
funnel to their representative, the more influence they can garner. It is the
same with the church. The view of the common member in the pew means little to those
presiding over the church internationally. If the parishioner s opinion on a
matter differs from the leadership, they will simply be ignored, or at worst,
forced to suffer through sermons or articles in the church publications denying
the validity of any other perspective. Diversity is sacrificed on the altar of
uniformity and conformity, even if unity must die in the hearts of the believers
broken by the indifference replacing compassion in leaders that should know
better. Sadly, the desire for ever more money and the power and influence it
can buy has corrupted the church to the extent it can no longer see itself as
others see it. Success is defined as accretions in membership, tithes, and
offerings--worldly standards of success. But every soul who does not have
enough to eat, struggles with disabilities, is unable to obtain an education,
is homeless, has inadequate clothing, or cannot find employment to support
themselves or their families is an indictment against the church, an indictment
made long ago in the Epistle of James.[iv]
When we tell someone struggling
to give to the church and God will pour out a huge blessing in return, we are
doing worse than James warned about. We are not only ignoring their struggle.
We are making it worse by stealing from them what little they had to begin
with. Over the decades, anecdotal examples have come to me of individuals charged
with failing to care for their families, but who had ample funds for that care
set aside to give to the church, believing that by doing so, they are ensuring God
will care for their families with those blessings that are promised. But
despite Malachi's statement, God is not a vending machine where you put money
in and get blessings out. To add insult to injury, when people suffer from this
kind of abuse, they are told that the suffering is a blessing from God. The
church fails to admit that the suffering could have been prevented if those
claiming to represent God had not demanded the money for their own use.
I will go out on a limb here and
say that God loves families more than he loves the church. He knows that
without healthy, thriving families, the church cannot be healthy and thriving.
He also knows that redirecting money away from family needs is sin, even if it
is redirected to the church. Jesus said, "For Moses said, 'Honor your father
and mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to
death.' But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to
help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)--then you no
longer let them do anything for their father or mother.'"[v] We
do the same with the tithe. We claim it is God's and cannot be used for the
family's needs. It must be given to God. In this we are no different than those
Jesus was speaking to. Our greed and hardheartedness condemn us in both
instances.
There was a time when humanity
returned to God thankful offerings for blessings received after they cared for
their needs, those of their family, and others in need. Job said, "I rescued
the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them. The
one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing. I put on
righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to
the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I took up the case
of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from
their teeth."[vi] Justice was at one time
more important than filling church coffers.
This all begs the question, does
the love of ever more money have such a strangle hold on the church that it is
impossible to return to a simpler apostolic model? Paul, the apostle, worked to
support not only himself,[vii]
but those who traveled with him.[viii]
In contrast, several decades ago I had a conversation with a ministerial secretary
that I have never forgotten. He was lamenting that they did not have enough
funds to provide pastors for all the churches in the conference. I asked why
they did not offer those positions to self-supporting ministers who did not
need a stipend to carry on the work? He replied with horror that they would not
be able to control pastors they did not pay. I said nothing at the time because
I had no desire to challenge him, but I was startled to realize that the reason
the church needed more money was to exert control. This seems to me a very dark
path we have gone down. I believe that the early apostolic church would be
astonished to find that the Christian church was using money as a means of
control for they were so close to God that they acknowledged he was in control
even as far as life or death. They did not need to purchase loyalty.
Loyalty that can be bought is
not true loyalty, for it is often for sale to the highest bidder. Sometimes
that is the result of greed for more. Sometimes it is because dire straits
cause the person employed to seek a better position in an attempt to extricate themselves
from financial difficulty. But the loyalty is to the paycheck, not the church,
and sincere examination of the principles of our faith are often stifled to
keep that paycheck rolling in. This is what is meant by control. God is comfortable
with our questions and doubts. He urges us to reason with him.[ix] This
is the image of someone who is truly in control. It is dramatically illustrated
in the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis, chapter four. When Cain complained to
God about God appearing to play favorites, God did not try to control him.
Instead, he reasoned with him and attempted to show him a better path. But Cain's
response was to try to coerce his brother Abel. When Abel resisted accepting
Cain's perspective, Cain slew him. This has differentiated the sons of God from
the sons of man ever since. God appeals to the heart and mind while mankind
uses coercion and force to impose their will over others. The choice to do so
is behind much of the pain and suffering in the world. That the church has
absorbed this same philosophy has effaced the image of God not only from the
church, but from the hearts of its members. "God is love."[x]
Paul went to great lengths to describe love in his letter to the Corinthian
church.[xi] I believe
he realized that being created in the image of God means we were created to
love, not coerce.
Love begins at home by providing
for our families a warm and supportive environment to be all they can be, an environment
filled with love. Then with our hearts surfeited with love, we can draw upon
that reservoir to love others, knowing that we have it constantly infilling our
hearts even as we share it. We do this not from obligation but from the natural
workings of a loving heart, the heart we were intended to have and that God
will still provide. We do not need to live with hearts hardened by the coercion
the world demands. God says through the prophet Ezekiel, "I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh."[xii]