Giving

JtM was listening to a sermon this weekend concerning stewardship. One of the premises of the sermon was that church members should give in proportion to what they receive from the church.

He mentioned it me, and we both thought, "What?!"

Stewardship is part of what we do, and the concept that we give to a church in proportion to what we receive from the church is a concept we try NOT to promote.

But what's wrong with that statement? I think when one considers the spiritual nature of stewardship, generosity and giving, one see several problems.

• What if you made a deposit in a bank and then requested a withdrawal only to have the bank -- the steward of your money -- to say, "No, you haven't done enough for the bank to have the money." We are stewards of the gifts God has given to us. A steward doesn't own the gift -- he or she cares for it, stewards it, does with it as the owner wishes.
• We give of what we have as a response to God's grace. To give in proportion to what we have received is impossible. We don't have enough to match what has been done for us.
• Church membership isn't on an exchange basis. We promise to give of what we have been given -- with no conditions. We don't vow to give to the church only if we are happy with the programming, or pleased with the preaching or out of approval of the worship services

Giving is a response to the grace of God. It is an answer to a call from God. It is unrelated to budgets or programming. We give to a particular church because we have been called to be a part of a community of faith, but our giving is not done in exchange for what the church does for us.

Image: G and Molly, taken by Steve