God's Sacred Portion

Understanding and practicing consistent stewardship as productive managers of everything God has “loaned” us is really Christianity 101. It’s one of those foundational ideas that summarizes our life as Jesus followers and citizens of his Kingdom. But sometimes the details escape us and might even become sources of controversy. So let’s explore foundational stewardship brick-by-brick.

It really all began with the story of Cain and Abel. Genesis chapter 4 is the first time we see the word “sin” in the Bible and has everything to do with the heart of worship. Both brothers were worshippers but they had a very different heart toward the Lord in their worship. The text says that Cain brought “some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the Lord” while Abel brought “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” (vss. 3-4). God saw the differences between these two offerings as a fundamental indication of their different approaches to God as worshippers. That fact was proven when, after God showed favor to Abel and his offering, Cain responded by killing his brother out of jealousy. Because Abel had a sincere, wholehearted commitment to God, he understood that the first and best portion of everything belonged entirely to God and was to be offered up as worship. The “first and the best” as God’s “sacred portion” became a clear principle of worship and stewardship in the rest of Scripture. In the Law of Moses the sacred portion was sometimes referred to as the “firstfruits” (Exodus 23:19; 34:26; Leviticus 2:12; Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 26:10) or the “firstborn” of the flock (Exodus 34:19; Leviticus 27:26; Numbers 18:17; Deuteronomy 12:6).

I think it would have been helpful if God had defined the “sacred portion” more specifically so true worship could be proportional and systematic. But wait – God did provide that kind of definition. It all began with Abram. When God gave Abram victory over his enemies and enabled him to rescue his nephew Lot, he worshipped the Lord with the priest-king Melchzedek. “Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (Genesis 14:20). This is the first passage in the Bible that defines God’s sacred portion, the first and best, as the first “tenth.” Later Jacob followed this same principle (Genesis 28:22). In the Law of Moses, the first tenth as God’s sacred portion simply became known as the “tithe” (meaning “tenth”). When the nation of Israel was given instructions concerning the true worship God was looking for in their covenant relationship with him, the tithe became a key principle. God summarized it by simply saying, “A tithe of everything…belongs to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30). It wasn’t so much that the people were given the option to worship God by generously giving him a tenth of everything; the first tenth belonged uniquely to God and was not the people’s to give. A sign of their covenant loyalty to the Lord, the baseline of their commitment as worshippers, was an understanding that the sacred tenth belonged to God alone and was to be systematically and consistently offered up to him as worship. It was “holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:32). Just before his death Moses reemphasized the role of the tithe in the nation’s covenant relationship with God as an acknowledgement that everything they had belonged to God and had been given them to manage according to God’s instructions (Deuteronomy 26:1-15). Giving was then seen as “systematic” (regular, consistent) and “proportional” (calling for the same portion from everyone, rich and poor alike).

Whenever the nation of Israel experienced a “backsliding” from their commitment to God, they neglected to worship God with a sacred portion. However, during times of revival Israel always knew to return to their covenant loyalty and true worship with tithes (2 Chronicles 31:5-6; Nehemiah 10:37-38; 13:12). When the prophets called on Israel to repent, their repentance included a return to the worship principle of the tithe (Amos 4:4). In fact, the prophets understood that, because the tithe was holy, it could not be given – but it could be stolen. Giving to the Lord did not begin until it exceeded the tithe. “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8). Malachi went on to promise blessings to those who would return to faithful worship and stewardship. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it” (Malachi 3:10).

Unfortunately, the Pharisees in Jesus’ day made tithing into a superficial, external religious tradition. Jesus rebuked them by saying, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (Matthew 23:23; see also Luke 11:42). Jesus commended them for “practicing the latter” (tithing) but condemned them for neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness. Some object saying that Jesus taught 100% belongs to God and not just 10% and that tithing, therefore, is not called for. My response is: (1) The Old Testament taught that 100% belongs to God as well, the tithe was the sacred portion that constituted the baseline of covenantal worship; and (2) the 100% surely includes the 10% as a starting point. If we understand that everything belongs to God and that we are all managers of God’s stuff, then we also understand that the starting point of our faithful management is worshipping God with the first and the best portion that uniquely belongs to him. We are then stewards of the remaining 90%.

So what is the meaning of the tithe?

1.   It is a small portion of everything God has given us that belongs uniquely to God. We have the honor of worshipping God with that portion.

2.   It is a sign of our covenant relationship with God. When we worship God with the first tenth we are acknowledging that 100% belongs to God.

3.   It is worship, an expression of love and gratitude to the God who sacrificed everything, and especially his Son, for us. It is to be offered up freely and joyfully.

4.   It is proportional and systematic, asking the same thing of everyone equally.

On the other hand, the tithe is not:

1.   Membership dues, a requirement to belong in God’s kingdom community.

2.   Brownie points, earning favor with God or contributing in any way to our salvation.

3.   An investment scheme, making a business deal with God in order to earn his blessings.

4.   A savings program, allowing us to worship with a tithe and add 10 or 20 or more percent – “banking offerings” (maybe during a building program) and then not tithe for some time afterward.

5.   A barter system, trading one kind of service and stewardship for another. (“I’ll trade you 3% of the tithe for an extra two hours of service in the youth group,” etc.)

Everything we have belongs to God alone – our time, our talents, and our material treasures. The principle of the sacred portion can be applied to every part of our lives as we commit ourselves to worshipping God with the first and best of everything he has given us. 

Are You A Leader or a Manager?

One of the most common discussions in the leadership literature these days is the difference between a “leader” and a “manager.” A recent article in the Wall Street Journal described the difference this way: The leader innovates, the manager administrates; the leader is an original, the manager is a copy; the leader develops, the manager maintains. While it’s clear that both are needed on any effective leadership team, it’s also clear that managers would have nothing to do if there weren’t real leaders and that leaders would not get anything done without managers. (On a sidebar, it’s my view that good leaders know how to manage and good managers know how to lead.) While we like to describe the significant difference between these two, my question is this: From God’s perspective, are we leaders or managers?

One of the key differences between leaders and managers is the simple fact that the leader is also the “owner,” and it is the responsibility of the manager to coordinate and administrate the assets of the business in a way that causes it to be healthy, grow and multiply. In that sense, God is always the leader and the rest of us are always managers. Because God has made everything, God owns everything; and because God owns everything, God has authority over all things and is the leader of all things. And because God owns and leads all things, the rest of us own and lead – nothing! We are always, in every situation, the managers of something owned by God. God only “loans” us certain things to manage.

There is a very interesting example of this truth in the book of Leviticus. In the Hebrew calendar the 50^th year was to be the “Year of Jubilee,” the year of restoration. The land was to be allowed to rest, all debts were to be cancelled, all slaves were to be set free. Most amazingly, everyone was to return to the land originally assigned their family by God. During the previous 49 years some families may have fallen on hard times and been forced to sell their family farm (or even themselves into slavery). At the end of the 49 years, some had a great deal of wealth in land and assets while others had sunk into abject poverty. But on the Year of Jubilee, all the land was to be given back and everyone was to start over again with a clean slate and an equal playing field. Why? What was God’s perspective of this situation? “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers . . . for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 25:23, 55). Simply put, the land did not belong to the people; the people did not belong to the people. God alone was the owner of everything; it was the responsibility of the people to manager what belonged to God according to his instructions.

This unique Kingdom perspective on leadership was a prominent theme in the teachings of Jesus. He taught the disciples a parable about what it means to be a “faithful and wise manager” (Luke 12:42-48). Such a manager is trusted by the owner and is put “in charge of his servants,” is given responsibility to oversee and care for the servants in the owners household. If he is faithful and fruitful, the manager may also be put “in charge of all his possessions.” While the manager has clear authority and responsibility, he never forgets that his authority was delegated to him by the owner so that he could manage the owner’s assets in the most productive way possible. But what if the manager begins to feel like he is the owner? What if he begins to misuse his authority in a way that is not only presumptuous and arrogant but also destructive to the interests of the owner? In that case, he will eventually be punished by the owner. In another place, Jesus taught a parable about a shrewd manager that concluded with a lesson about managing temporary things with an eye on eternal rewards (Luke 16:1-13). Jesus ended his parable with these famous words: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:11-12).

Pastoral leaders are responsible to manage their own family well as a sign of their faithful leadership in the local church (1 Timothy 3:3-4, 12). God has given each of us certain gifts, not to own but to manage in the context of God’s Kingdom. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

So who is the leader? What does God own and is therefore in charge of? God owns our very lives. God owns our families. God owns our time. God owns all of our stuff. God owns our talents, abilities, spiritual gifts. God owns our relational connections. God owns our educational and vocational accomplishments. God owns everything – and we own nothing! But we have a solemn responsibility with eternal consequences; we are to be wise, productive stewards of anything and everything God has “loaned” to us. Every aspect of our lives is to be seen in the context of its potential to fulfill the will of God and reveal the glory of God. So what has God loaned to you to manage? And what kind of manager are you? 

What the World Needs Now Is . . . Communication, Sweet Communication

It seems like there are significant relational deficits in our current society. Learning how to love and serve one another seems to be disappearing skills. Relationships “aren’t rocket science,” but they do require a basic level of maturity, and that means humility, respect, a servant’s heart, and a commitment to love unconditionally – qualities rarely found in our lives. But even if there is sufficient maturity to engage in a meaningful relationship, it must still be understood that the heart of any relationship is communication. Without consistent, sensitive, skillful communication, no relationship will make it very far or go very deep. And that includes relationship with God.

It’s amazing to think about how much God loves us and how committed God is to a mutual, committed love relationship with us. “Religion” is all about appeasing the gods and balancing the moral scales. The God revealed to us in Scripture is not calling us to a religious commitment but to a personal commitment of loving obedience. The extent of God’s love for us is made clear everywhere in the Bible. God redeemed Israel because of his “unfailing love,” his covenant-keeping love for them (Exodus 15:13; Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:8; Psalm 44:3). God revealed himself to his people as a God who is “abounding in love” (Exodus 34:6). God’s relationship with us is simply referred to as a “covenant of love” (Deuteronomy 7:12;2 Chronicles 6:14). The only reason we can have a relationship with God is because of his great love (Psalm 5:7). “The Lord your God loves you!” (Deuteronomy 23:5). In fact, the principle attribute of God’s character is love. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34). “Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens” (Psalm 36:5).

On our side of the relationship, God summarizes what he is looking from us in these words: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12; see also 11:1, 13, 22). Even in the Old Testament the “Law” was summarized this way: “Carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him” (Deuteronomy 19:9; see also 30:16). God promised to write his law upon the hearts of his people, “so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live” (Deuteronomy 30:6). “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). “So be very careful to love the Lord your God” (Joshua 23:11). The highest expression or praise was simply this: “He is good; his love endures forever” (2 Chronicles 5:13; 7:3, 6; 20:21). “I love you, LORD” (Psalm 18:1). “I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever” (Psalm 52:8).

When Jesus came his mission was to reveal the love of the Father to a disconnected, alienated world, to model a love relationship with the Father, and to restore a bridge back to that relationship for everyone who was willing. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). “The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them” (John 14:21). The passion and joy that motivated Jesus was his love for people and the prospect of having a real love relationship with them that would last forever. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9). When Jesus restored Peter he asked a very simple question: “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17). There’s no greater demonstration of God’s love than the cross. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s love is so strong, nothing will ever be able to separate us from it. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39), because “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16).

So how important is communication to a love relationship? What if I asked you, “Have you told your wife you love her today?” and you responded, “I tried that once and it didn’t work.” What would that say about the health of your relationship? What would that say about the quality of your love? There is no real relationship without consistent, intentional, thoughtful, sensitive communication from the heart. And there is no real, growing relationship with God apart from consistent, intentional, thoughtful prayer. Every healthy marriage relationship I’ve ever come across has a consistent pattern of communication, maybe even a weekly date with the goal of communicating (including listening) from the heart. Every growing relationship with God that I’ve ever encountered has a consistent pattern of prayer – not out of a sense of duty, not to appease God, but because of a true love for God and a desire to spend time communicating with God. If your relationship with God seems to be stalled or stagnant, let me ask you this question: “How is your prayer life?” 

"Well, Isn't That Special!"

Everyone likes to feel as though they are special. We want others to confirm that we can make a special contribution to special areas of life and ministry. And it’s true – from God’s perspective, every individual is special. In fact, the word “special” is a vernacular term for “holy,” and God has designed every person to be holy as God is holy. But there is also a self-centered (rather than a God-centered) version of feeling special. This is especially true in western culture. I don’t want to get too philosophical but let me just summarize the issue this way (feel free to skip to the next paragraph): Socrates defined the core of western culture with the admonition, “Know thyself.” Self-knowledge in the context of autonomous individuals is the highest value of our western culture. That simply means that understanding ourselves and our potential significance as individuals that exist independently from everyone else (including God) is the final goal of our culture (i.e., “self-actualization”).

If we’re not careful, we can gain understanding and clarity about God’s created purpose for our lives and just turn it into another self-knowing celebration. That said, true “holiness” includes coming to see ourselves and others from God’s perspective, and to appreciate the potential each one has, in a relational, communal context, to reflect the glory of God. In fact, the Bible is clear about God’s distribution of certain “gifts” to human beings. These “gifts” are simply the unique ways God bundles his grace in our lives. Jesus taught that the Father is much better at giving good gifts than we humans (Matthew 7:11). God’s greatest gift to humanity is the person of Jesus Christ (see John 4:10). The person of the Holy Spirit is also described as the gift of the Father (Luke 11:13; Acts 1:4; 2:38; 10:45). Paul looked forward to the opportunity to “impart some spiritual gift” to the believers at Rome (Romans 1:11). Salvation is God’s gift to us (Romans 5:15-17; 6:23; Hebrews 6:4; 1 Peter 3:7). Paul also reminded the Romans that God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (11:29).

And then there are the various “gift lists” in Paul’s writings. He refers to the different gifts given to the members of the Body so that they can fulfill their God-purposed function (Romans 12:6-8). And there are the gifts or the “manifestations of the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 1:7; 12:1-7) with the exhortation that we are to “eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit” (14:1) that will enable us to “build up the church” (14:12). “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15). The gift of God’s grace results in certain kinds of ministry (Ephesians 3:7), including the grace of God resting on some individuals who themselves become gifts to the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:7-16). For that reason, Paul encouraged Timothy, “Do not neglect your gift” (1 Timothy 4:14) but to periodically “fan it into flame” (2 Timothy 1:6-7). God testifies to the Gospel “by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Hebrews 2:4). Indeed, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

So, other than God demonstrating his grace and glory, why would God distribute gifts to (sinful, self-centered) human beings? Frankly, those gifts (and gifted persons) only have meaning in the context of the bigger picture of the Kingdom of God and the Body of Christ. Gifts are distributed and are to be used for the benefit of others, not so the person with a gift can feel “gifted.” The apostle Peter put it this way: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10-11). Gifts are to be used as a God-given, grace-filled means to effectively serve others, and in a way that will bring glory to God. The real issue is serving, not gifting. The only way God’s grace-gifts can be meaningful and effective is if they are being used by someone with a humble, God-centered, others-centered servant’s heart. Remember the words of Jesus: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). There is no more gifted person in the universe than Jesus, but he came to serve and to give his life. So it’s really not about us being special or doing something special – it’s about Jesus and his Kingdom and his Bride being special. We have the unique and special opportunity to serve and to give our lives – by the grace and gifts only God can provide.