It Really Needs To Stop

The practice of churches using moneyraising schemes to provide resources for their work is a sad chapter in religious history that continues to plague communities of faith with long-term negative influences. Last week, a priest in South America rigged helium balloons in enough numbers to lift himself into the sky and is now unaccounted for several days after the stunt to raise money for ministry needs.
The occasional roof-sitting preacher may rally a church to action, but when it comes to risking life and limb for the dollar, that is going too far. It is time for churches to return to a biblical basis for stewardship that will provide for the needs of churches and their ministers and the ministries to the world that God intended to be accomplished through his people. It was a very simple system: tithes and offerings. Tithes were given… a tenth of one’s increase. It was a first-fruits offering…the first and the best. It was an intentional, purposeful, act of worship in thanksgiving and trust toward God. It was a shared participation that regardless of wealth or poverty, community status or the lack thereof, it was proportionate giving. A tenth is a tenth is a tenth. Interestingly, it is usually the wealthy that endeavor to justify something less than a tenth as their tithe. They just never were good at math when it came to giving. Jesus said it would always be an issue for those with wealth…they would be continuously challenged to comprehend the basis of faith and stewardship. There are a few who have caught on…but they are few and far between. Freewill offerings like that which supplied for the building of the Temple were described as so generous that they had to tell the people to stop bringing any more…there was more than what was needed. When was the last time you heard of such a thing in modern times? .What we need to remember is the fact that everything we have is a gift of God to us and a stewardship of time and opportunity for a season. Every choice we make is an exercise in stewardship…of the earth, of our knowledge, of our experiences, of our resources and energy. We will be stewards…good or bad. We should be challenged to gain a common sense and positive approach to stewardship principles through a study of scripture and to establish a biblically informed practice. Jesus got more than a little upset with those who turned the place of worship, “a house of prayer for all people,” into a marketplace of moneychangers and livestock sellers. We would do well to remember and chart another, more authentically Christian course of action.
We need teachers and visionaries to take up stewardship as a focus. Environmental stewardship poses one of the most significant concerns of our time. Developing more substantive resources of nutritious and safe food supplies, clean water, adequate systems of agricultural distribution remain key world needs. God has given us some good principles for stewardship. We should start exercising them and put a stop to nonsensical schemes that undermine the foundations of sound stewardship practice.