Radical Giving
At a church meeting a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I knew that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God’s work or nothing at all. So at that moment, I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man today.”
He finished and there was an awed silence at his testimony as he moved toward his seat. As he sat down, a little old lady sitting in the same pew leaned over and said to him: “I dare you to do it again.”
Bumper Sticker Wisdom
Tithe if you love Jesus; any idiot can honk!
Motivating Stewardship
One year the pastor took drastic action to get a more generous response from the congregation at stewardship time. He called in an electrician and wired the pews. Next day, when the collection time came, the pastor announced to the congregation, “Hereafter all pledges will be made publicly in the worship service.” Then he added, “All those who will pledge ten dollars per week, stand.” At that moment the switch was thrown that sent the juice through the wires in the pews. The response was immediate—about one half of the congregation jumped to their feet. Then the pastor said, “All those who will pledge twenty dollars please stand.” The electrician raised the voltage and a second, stronger shock wave caused more persons to rise. The whole process was repeated several more times. Each time the amount was raised and so was the voltage. The ushers had to work frantically to get all the names and pledges written down. Later, in the counting room, the pastor and his staff were busy adding up the totals and congratulating themselves on the great success of the campaign—until the sexton appeared at the door and announced that four parishioners had stubbornly remained glued to their seats and were electrocuted.
Let the Church Crawl
One Sunday morning the pastor encouraged his congregation to consider the potential of the church. He told them, “With God’s help, we can see the day when this church will go from crawling to walking.”
The people responded, “Let the church walk, Pastor, let the church walk.”
He continued, “And when the church begins to walk, next the church can being to run.”
And the people shouted, “Let the church run, Pastor, let the church run.”
The pastor continued, “And finally, the church can move from running to flying. Oh, the church can fly! But of course, that’s going to take lots of money for that to happen!”
The congregation grew quiet, and from the back, someone mumbled, “Let the church crawl, Pastor, let the church crawl.”
First Fruits Tithing
There was a knock on the door of the hut occupied by a missionary in Africa. Answering, the missionary found one of the native boys holding a large fish in his hands. The boy said, “Reverend, you taught us what tithing is, so here—I’ve brought you my tithe.” As the missionary gratefully took the fish, he questions the young lad. “If this is your tithe, where are the other nine fish?” At this, the boy beamed and said, “Oh, they’re still back in the river. I’m going back to catch them now.”
High Tech Stewardship
I read of one pastor who perceive the whole concept of encouragement from a financial point of view. He announced one Sunday that he had made a new offering box for the weekly collection of the tithes and offerings. He claimed that it was designed to encourage people to become better stewards of their money.
“This new box,” he explained, “has some interesting features. When you drop in a check or paper money in large amounts, the box makes no sound at all. Put in a quarter and it tinkles like a bell. A dime blows a whistle, and a penny fires a shot. When you put in nothing, the box takes your picture.”
Did You Notice the Difference?
A priest once asked one of this parishioners to serve as financial chairman of his parish. The man, manager of a grain elevator, agreed on two conditions: No report would be due for a year, and no one would ask any questions during the year.
At the end of the year, he made his report. He had paid off the church debt of $200,000. He had redecorated the church. He had sent $1000 to missions. He had $5000 in the bank.
“How did you do all this?” asked the priest and the shocked congregation.
Quietly he answered, “You people bring your grain to my elevator. As you did business with me, I simply withheld 10 percent and gave it to the church. You never missed it.”
The Locus Classicus
The pastor got up at the beginning of the huge stewardship rally, held his hands up for silence, and said, “Friends, I have a marvelous announcement to make about our building fund and our stewardship program from the coming year.” He paused for the import of his opening remark to sink in. He then added with dramatic phrasing, “Friends, we have the money!” A buzz of excitement went through the congregation. He held up his hands for quiet once again. He finished, “Yes, we have all the money we need. Now all we have to do is give it!”
The Church of All Tithers
Dr. Hugh McKean of Chiengmai, Thailand, tells of a church of four hundred members where every member tithes. They receive a weekly wage of forty stangs [less than twenty cents] and their rice. Of this meager existence, each gives a tenth every week. Because of this, they have done more for Christ in Thailand than any other church. They pay their own preacher and have sent two missionary families to spread the gospel in a community cut off from the outside world. They are intensely interested in all forms of Christian work, especially work for unfortunates of every kind; and their gifts for this kind of work are large. They have not only accepted Christ, but, having found Him good, they are making Him known to others. Oh, by the way, this church of all tithers is also a church of all lepers—every person has leprosy.
Only One “T” in Dirty
He was not too well-educated and his manner was somewhat crude and rough, but he became a Christian and was on fire for the Lord. He constantly pestered his pastor to help him be of some genuine service to his church. In desperation, the pastor gave him a list of ten people, saying, “These are members who seldom attend services; some are prominent men of the city. Contact them any way you can and try to get them to be more faithful. Use the church stationery to write letters if you want, but get them back in church.” He accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. About three weeks later, a letter arrived from a prominent physician, whose name was on the list. In the envelope was a one thousand dollar check and a note: “Dear Pastor: Enclosed is my check to make up for my missed offerings. I’m sorry for missing worship so much, but be assured I am going to be present every Sunday from now on and will not by choice miss services again. Sincerely, M.B. Jones, MD. PS: Would you kindly tell your secretary that there is only one “t” in dirty and no “c” in skunk.
Tithing and Trusting
A church member was having trouble with the concept of tithing. One day he revealed his doubts to his minister: “Pastor, I just don’t see how I can give 10 percent of my income to the church when I can’t even keep on top of our bills.”
The pastor replied, “John, if I promise to make up the difference in your bills if you should fall short, do you think you could try tithing for just one month?”
After a moment’s pause, John responded, “Sure, if you promise to make up any shortage, I guess I could try tithing for one month.”
“Now, what do you think of that,” mused the pastor. “You say you’d be willing to put your trust in a mere man like myself, who possesses so little materially, but you couldn’t trust your Heavenly Father Who owns the whole universe!” The next Sunday, John gave his tithe, and has been doing so faithfully ever since.
Only Fifty-seven Pennies
Fifty-seven pennies were found under a little girl’s pillow when she died left their mark on Philadelphia. The girl wanted to enter a little Sunday school in Philadelphia years ago, and was told that there was not enough room. She began saving her pennies to “help the Sunday school have more room.”
Two years later, she became ill and died, and they found a small pocket book under her pillow with fifty-seven pennies and a piece of paper that had the following note written very neatly: “To help build the Little Temple bigger, so more children can go to Sunday school.”
The pastor told the story to his congregation, and the newspaper took the story across the country. Soon the pennies grew, and the outcome can be seen in Philadelphia today. There is a church which will seat 3300 people, a Temple University which accommodates thousands of students, a Temple Hospital, and a large Temple Sunday school. And it all began with a beautiful, dedicated spirit—and fifty-seven pennies.
It takes concern and commitment and dedication and love to give one’s self. In the words of Jesus at the conclusion of the parable of the Good Samaritan: “Go thou and do likewise.”
Does Your Gift Represent You?
It happened one time after a pastor had made an appeal in church for a great and worthy cause, that a certain woman, a member of the church, came to him and handed him a check for $50, asking at the same time if her gift was satisfactory. The pastor immediately replied, “If it represents you.”
There was a moment of soul-searching thought and she asked to have the check returned to her. She left with it and a day or two later, she returned handing the pastor a check for $5000 and again asked the same question, “Is my gift satisfactory?” The pastor gave the same answer as before. “If it represents you.” As before, a truth seemed to be driving deeply. After a few moments of hesitation, she took back the check and left.
Later in the week, she came again with a check. That time it was for $50,000. As she placed it in the pastor’s hand, she said, “After earnest, prayerful thought, I have come to the conclusion that this gift represents me and I am happy to give it.”
Perhaps in this light the words from 1 Corinthians 16:2, “as God hath prospered him,” may take on new meaning. –John Allan Lavender
Don’t Be Cheap with the Seed
While in Canada, I visited one believer who operated a large grain farm. His spread included some twenty-five hundred acres. I asked him how he planted the seed. He reached in a bin and pulled out an ear of corn. Then he proceeded to pop out the kernels one by one as he walked along, demonstrating the planting process. Do you believe that?
No, sir! That’s not what he said nor is it what he did. He showed me a distributor that was some thirty feet wide. “We take that double tandem truck, fill it with certified seed, back it up to the distributor, open the slots, and pour in the seed.” He went on to say, “If you’re ever going to be cheap, don’t be cheap with the seed.”
One bushel of seed invested yields thirty bushels of grain harvested in a good year. Thirty to one—not a bad return, if you are ready to believe and willing to invest. God says, “Believe Me, trust Me, try My plan, prove My ways, and see the kind of harvest I will give.” So Paul guarantees this principle of truth in the Scripture with the promise: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
All grace, all ways, all sufficiency, all things! There are four promises in one breath. Knowing it is one thing, believing it is quite another.
The Pastor’s Involvement with Stewardship
A man called at the church and asked if he could speak to the Head Hog at the Trough. The secretary said, “Who?”
The man replied, “I want to speak to the Head Hog at the Trough!”
Sure now that she had heard correctly, the secretary said, “Sir, if you mean our pastor, you will have to treat him with more respect—and ask for ‘The Reverend’ or ‘The Pastor.’ But certainly you cannot refer to him as the Head Hog at the Trough!”
At this, the man came back, “Oh, I see. Well, I have ten thousand dollars I was thinking about donating to the Building Fund.”
The secretary said, “Hold the line—I think the Big Pig just walked in the door.”
Debt Collectors
The pastor responded to a member: “You are you can’t give to the church because you owe everyone. Don’t you feel that you owe the Lord something?” The member responded, “Yes, of course I do. But He isn’t pushing me like the others.”
Talk about Money
I have never felt any hesitation in speaking to my congregation about money. I thrill to it. I revel in it. I love to see the liberal enjoy it. I love to watch the stingy suffer. –Clovis G. Chappell
Wesley on Stewardship
When the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being and placed you in this world, He placed you here not as an owner but as a steward—as such He entrusted you for a season with goods of various kinds—but the sole property of these still rests in Him, nor can ever be alienated from Him. As you are not your own but His, such is likewise all you enjoy.