What’s A Church To Do?
Studies in First Corinthians
41^st in the Series

Passing the Plate
"Principles for Giving"
1 Corinthians 16:1-4

Someone once said that, "Money talks –– It says bye-bye." I’m sure there is some truth to that statement. Probably all of us feel that we have heard those words as we have written checks to our creditors. But money talks in other ways as well. Jesus had a lot to say about money. Did you know that? You see, everyone, rich or poor, has to deal with money, and how we deal with it speaks volumes about us. Money does talk. It speaks about us, our relationship to God, and what we value. What does money say about you?

As Christians, we should want to know what God says about how we should handle the money we have. And we ought to want to follow God’s principles for giving. While you can’t outgive God, many certainly undergive him. It has been said that, "Some give their money as they give their teeth to a dentist." But that is not Christian giving. Listen to this report:

Suppose we decided to take the offering in this church in a new way. Instead of passing the plate, let’s say we let each one of you come down to the plates on this table and put in your gifts. As you did that, I would be standing there looking at what you put in and evaluating it in terms of your income.

Some of you may think that would be an invasion of your privacy. Some of you might even get offended. But you shouldn’t. That is exactly what Jesus did. In Mark 12:41-44, Jesus was standing around the Temple treasury, looking at what the people put in. We know it as the story of the "Widow’s Mite."

Jesus, here, is evaluating the people’s gifts in terms of their income. He not only saw who was doing the giving, but what they were giving. And he evaluated it in terms of the how much the person gave in proportion to the person’s income. Why was Jesus doing that? Because he is interested in what and how we give.

Let’s look at some of the important principles for giving that we see in our text today. You might learn something about yourself. Perhaps, as a result, we can learn to give God’s way.

The first thing that should be obvious from reading our text is that giving is neither unexpected nor optional. It is God’s ordained plan for the support of his work on earth. But it can be and often is much abused. That is why we should be careful to understand the principles put forth in the entire word of God, so that our giving is consistent with God’s plan and purpose.

Paul is responding to a question that had been raised in the letter that the Corinthians had sent to him about the collection that had been organized as a special offering for the poor among God’s people, especially the saints in Jerusalem. There was a great need there, and Paul was pulling together money from various churches to help them.

The instructions he gives them are very interesting. Basically he is telling them how to take the offering. In doing so, however, he reveals something that I believe is very important for us to recognize, especially today. He instructs us that giving is Church centered. The place where we give is the place where the church gathers as the church for worship. Notice that he speaks to them that they are to do what he told the Galatian churches to do. And then he mentions their doing it on the first day of every week.

We know that the early church moved their day of worship from Saturday, the Sabbath Day, to Sunday, the Lord’s Day. This was the day of Resurrection, the first day of the week, and consequently became the day of worship. As they gathered on that day, they would bring their tithes and offerings to the Lord. Paul could have told them to save up what they could and send it directly to him. But he recognized that each individual was part of the church, and that it was through the church that such offerings should be made. In that way the poor saints in the church in Jerusalem would be blessed by the various churches from all around the region. While we each personally give, we are all in this ministry together.

God has a plan for giving. As a matter of fact, God has a plan for everything. People maybe capricious and unpredictable, randomly changing their mind and behavior for no apparent reason, but God is immutable or unchanging by nature. That means that he planned and designed everything according to his sovereign purpose. It should not surprise us that he has a plan for giving.

Just as we gather every week for worship, so we also participate in giving every week. This is the principle of regular giving for the support of God’s work. As a matter of fact, giving is as much an act of worship as singing, praying, serving, or receiving God’s word through teaching.

And no one is excluded. It is for everyone. In fact, he says that each one of you is to be involved in setting aside a sum of money. Of course, he is speaking directly about the contribution being collected for the poor saints in Jerusalem, but he is asking them to do that as a part of their regular giving on the Lord’s Day. In other words, he was asking them to bring these special offerings to be set aside at church rather than at home.

The plan of God for giving is regular systematic giving in which everyone participates as a part of the regular worship they attend each week on the day of Resurrection.

How much should we give? Well, it depends on what we’re talking about. Here Paul was talking about a special collection that was being set aside for the poor saints in Jerusalem. I am sure that he expected each person to pray about how much they were to give considering the blessing of God in their life. When he encourages them to give in keeping with his income, he is asking them to consider just how much God has blessed them.

That phrase is translated in the King James Version, "as God hath prospered him." Of course, the idea here is that everything we have is a gift from God. Some of us have been richly blessed, and are well able to give over and above what someone else can give, even on a percentage basis. How we respond says a lot about our love for God versus our love for possessions.

The idea here is of proportionate giving. It is the same idea behind the tithe. The word tithe literally means tenth. So, to tithe is to give a tenth of your income to God, which is what I believe that the Bible teaches is the beginning point of Christian stewardship. Take the phrase the Paul uses here of setting aside a sum of money in keeping with his income. What is in keeping with everyone’s income? The same percent for all is. That is tithing.

Some Christians say that they do not believe in tithing, that it was simply part of the old Law, and we are free from the Law. But this is a misunderstanding of both the Law and the tithe in relation to the Law. We are not free from the Law of God today. We are only free from the Law as a means of righteousness. But it is just as much a sin against God’s Law to murder, or steal, or commit adultery, as it was when the Ten Commandments were given. It is true that we do not have to keep the ceremonial laws of Israel. They were never for us anyway. But the moral law of God has not changed, and Christ’s standard for keeping the Law was higher than the standards the religious leaders of his day. Over and over in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pointed to a higher standard than outward obedience only. Do you really think that Jesus lowered the standard of giving from 10% to something less? Some say, "All we have is the Lord’s now." But isn’t it interesting that those are the same people who do not even give close to 10% of their income to the Lord. I have never met anyone who made that argument who gave over 10%, a tithe. Who are they kidding? This is just camouflage for their own practice of giving little.

What makes this even more ridiculous is that tithing didn’t originate from the Law. Tithing precedes the Law. It was neither instituted by Law, nor terminated by grace. Tithing may go back as far as the garden of Eden. And Abel may have been the first tither. He offered the first-fruits to the Lord. This principle of first-fruits is one which is important in Scripture. First-fruits represents the totality of the thing. The first man’s sin had a damning effect on the whole human race.

Whether Abel was the first tither or not, we know Abraham tithed. He is the Biblical example of tithing. In Genesis 14, we find Abraham had rescued his nephew Lot from the kings who had captured him. He was returning victoriously with his plunder when out of the blue comes Melchizedek, King of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who brought him bread and wine and blessed him. Genesis 14:20 says that Abraham gave him, "tithes of all." What Abraham did, was to give gratefully, voluntarily, and systematically. And he did it 430 years before the Law was given.

Now this required care on Abraham’s part. He had to calculate a tenth of all his income, which is what tithe means. Abraham gave a tenth, and to do so, he gave carefully. Do you give carefully to the Lord? Have you looked at your income and tithing records to be sure that you are giving at least a tenth?

You say, "That’s legalistic." Well, let me ask you something. If your paycheck was short fifty dollars this week and your employer said, "Don’t be so legalistic, it’s only fifty dollars." What would you think of that? If you want you employer to be careful in figuring your wages, then be careful in figuring your tithe to the Lord. Which is more important?

Melchizedek, according to Hebrews 7, is a figure for Christ. And Abraham is the forerunner of all who trust Christ by faith, according Romans 4:11. The symbolism is that Abraham, a picture of all believers, pays tithes to Melchizedek, a picture of Christ.

Let me emphasize however, that the tithe is only a beginning place of Christian stewardship, not an ending place. Some can give much more than a tithe because you are well able to do so. We are to give as we have been prospered, it says in I Corinthians 16:2, and we are reminded in Luke 12:48 that to whom much has been given, much is required. We should seek to grow in the grace of giving, just as we seek to grow in our knowledge of the Lord.

We have already mentioned that the specific application of our text is Paul’s instructions concerning the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem. The reason for the collection was that there was a great need.

This brings us to the purpose of giving, which is that God’s work can be accomplished. While the streets of Heaven may be paved with gold, down here on earth it takes some of that gold to pay the bills that are produced in advancing the kingdom of God, preaching the Gospel to the world, and ministering to the people of God. In other words, there is always a great need. The purpose of giving is to meet that need to accomplish God’s work.

Just think of what could be accomplished if everyone would just tithe. Think of the support that could be given to missions, the extra money that would be available to local outreach. More money could be made available to the poor and hungry. Buildings could be refurbished and needed improvements made. Money could be channeled to agencies and ministries that are worthy. Money would be freed up to help struggling churches get on their feet. New churches could be started, and the list could go on. All this could happen in most churches if the people would just tithe. Think of what could happen if people really gave as God has prospered them! God has called the church to be the agent of the Kingdom on Earth. He has charged the church with winning the world to Jesus and training Christian disciples. And to do that great work it takes money. O.S. Hawkins said:

What about you? Will you be faithful so that God’s work can be done?

A very important principle of giving can be inferred from this passage of Scripture. And I can think of no more time than today when this principle would be more relevant. It is the principle of being accountable to use God’s money in a responsible way.

Paul talks about giving letters of introduction to the men you approve, who will personally take the gift and present it to the church in Jerusalem. In other words, as we give through the local church, there is a measure of accountability for how the money is used. As Christians, we should take greater precautions against being accused of mismanaging God’s money.

Think for a moment of the televangelists, who seem to talk about nothing but sending in your seed gift to their ministry. "God is speaking to some of you now. He is calling you to make a vow of $1,000 to my ministry. You can even charge it to your credit card. Send in your prayer requests. I will personally pray over each one. And God will bless you. He will prosper you." You may have heard the guy I’m talking about. He is the same so-called minister that investigative reporters found, in dumpsters behind the building where mail sent his ministry is opened, piles of prayer requests in envelopes, discarded after the checks had been removed–– unread and un-prayed-for. What an imposter! This is why we need the protection of God’s people in the local church.

God’s plan for giving is that it should be church centered, regular, for everyone, purposeful, proportionate, and carefully handled. That doesn’t happen by accident. We’re not to give because we have been manipulated emotionally, or pressured personally. Our giving must be loving, premeditated obedience to God’s word and will, giving liberally and even sacrificially at times, to see needs met and the Kingdom work of the Church, the only institution Jesus established, extended and expanded. Money talks. Your giving talks. What does it say about you?

Copyright © 2004 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

Except for the use mentioned above, this data file may not be copied (except for small quotations used with citation of source), edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, or made available on the Internet without the written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be made in writing and e-mailed to J. David Hoke, at David@JDavidHoke.com.

Return to Sermon Page

Return to Homepage