So often when talking about tithing, offering, or giving money to the Lord and the first thing we usually think about is giving 10% to the church. Although in the back of our minds we hope God will return to us ten fold. Right!? I mean, it pops in my head quite frequently, especially come Sunday after payday. But, as I’m sure you can already guess from my sarcasm, this isn’t where I’m taking this entry. Instead, what I want to do is consider Matthew 25:14-30 and the parable of the talents and how Jesus challenges us in a way we might not normally consider.
Now right away in this parable Jesus says in verse 14, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” (NKJV). So what are we talking about here: The kingdom of God
So we need to be aware. Aware of how we approach our stuff, our goods, everything we own, we must approach it with awareness of whose it is and who gave it to us. Now, lets pause here for a moment and look at a catalytic scripture in Matthew 22:15. Here the religious leaders come to Jesus and try to trap Him. They ask if they should pay taxes to Caesar. Now they’ve got Him! Right!? If He says yes, then people will feel betrayed because they hated paying taxes, but if He says no, then they would turn Him into the Roman authorities for tax evasion. So Jesus takes the coin, asks who’s face is on it and when they say Caesar’s, He tells them give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. But that’s it. They just walk away saying, wow, this Man is good, and He’s sharp! But what I think Jesus wanted them to do was ask another question. This would have been the question: What belongs to God? And Jesus would have said, whose imprint is on you? God’s! Therefore, everything you have belongs to God.
Every ability, every talent, gift, we have comes from God. We can hone in on our gifts, but we can’t create them. They originate from God, through Him and then to us. That’s what God wants you to know. So Jesus is saying to us, what are we doing with our talents and abilities?
To help answer this question, the national average shows that the average family household income is $50,000 a year. To put that into perspective, if you make $34,000 or more per year, you are wealthier than 96% of the rest of the world. If you make $45,000 or more a year, you are in the top 1% of wage earners! So we are the rich and wealthy ones the Bible is talking about. Yet, the average American only gives 1.5% away on average. If you’re a Christian, then it goes to 2.5%! So God makes a whopping 1% difference in our lives! (Sarcasm) Another crazy fact is that although only 8% of Christians tithed last year, 44% claim they tithe. So as a whole, Christians in America
I’ve heard that some don’t tithe because they heard that God loves a cheerful giver and when they give they are not cheerful, therefore they don’t give. Well good for them, they are upholding one passage of scripture to violate another. It’s apparent from this parable that it’s about awareness of whose money, talents, gifts, abilities, everything we have, it is in the first place. Matthew 25:15 says, “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.” The word talent here has a dual meaning. First it can mean money, gold, or economic insinuation. It can also mean talent, gift, skill, or ability. Both are included. So we can’t just say we gave our talents and abilities to the service of God and not our money. We need to be aware of this. Everything belongs to God and it is all a gift to us.
I used to pray that God would provide. That He would provide for my family, my church and the people who come to learn about God. Then it dawned on me. He does provide. Last year alone, our church gave away about $300,000 to missions, outreaches, grace resources, families that couldn’t pay their bills and many other ministry opportunities. As a pastor, I talk with many people who have great ideas and passions for ministry and outreaches to reach the lost. Of course, many of them require some amount of money. I would like to list all the outreach ideas our church members have, but that’s not the point of this message or parable. Jesus is saying, what are we doing with what He has given us? Are we honoring Him with it? Are we doing our best to use our gifts, talents and finances to honor God?
I could say you should tithe 10% with the hopes of receiving 10 fold back. If that were the case and the sole purpose for giving, as a church we wouldn’t even take tithe. We would just give out 100 dollar bills to each person after service with the hope of receiving 10 fold back. It’s not about that. God already tells us He will provide for all we need. But if we truly honored God and learned from this parable, we would recognize that all we have is His to begin with. When we understand this we wont have such a hard time giving it back and honoring Him in all areas of our lives. Just think, in my church alone, if everyone tithed or gave at least 10% we would receive 70% more money than we do now. Monies that could go to reaching the lost, serve others, and bring glory to God. We are not given these riches to become rich, but to give to others and glorify God.
So I encourage you, if you aren’t giving to God now, begin. If you are giving a little but don’t know how to give more because the economy is tight. Listen, I love you, God loves you, but you must understand there comes a point when we have to step out in faith and trust Him with all we have. Honor God with all your gifts, talents, monies, and abilities, everything you have! There is nothing more fun than seeing the gifts God has given you being used to bring Glory to His name and lead others to Christ.
Leadership Challenge for the week: How can you help at least one person in discovering or putting their gifts, talents, or abilities to work?
