Stewardship & Giving

© 2006 Michael P. Stephenson

The following material was presented at a conference for clergy at Grace Church, Hinsdale, Illinois, on June 8, 2006, and may be reproduced with proper attribution.

My topic is the theology of asking—specifically, asking for money—and as you might imagine, this has not been a hot topic with the systematic theologians. Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Hooker—they all appear silent on the subject. I couldn’t even find anything in The DaVinci Code.

I’m not the first person to notice this absence of theological reflection. Mark Chaves, who has studied this extensively, observed that there is “a striking absence of explicit theological considerations as important factors in congregational decision making about both raising and using money."

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems if the church is going to encourage a particular behavior, like giving—or in this case, asking for money—there should be some sort of theological underpinning.

So I started with the Bible. In checking the Old Testament, the first incident that I found that might be useful in developing a theology of asking occurs in Exodus, Chapter 11, verse 2. The Lord is speaking to Moses when he says, “Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold." Sounds pretty good—but unfortunately, this is that part of the Exodus where God is telling the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians. That might not be the best model to use.

In 2Kings, Jehovah tells the priests to repair the temple from moneys accumulated from sacred donations, so there is at least a presumption of asking, but like so much of Scripture, we don’t know the details.

The New Testament is a little more helpful, although when John writes, “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete,” it is unlikely he was talking about charitable giving.

 Paul, however, was able to convince the churches in Galatia to send money for support of the church in Jerusalem, and in Philippians he writes, “and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel.” Better, but still not exactly what I was hoping for when I started this project.

Part of the problem in finding Biblical support for a theology of asking relates, at least in part, to the Hebrew concept of tzedekah, the word traditionally translated into English as "charity." However, tzedakah, as most of you know, is very different from charity, which suggests a benevolent act by someone who has money to benefit a person in need. In Judaism, giving of this type is simply an act of justice and righteousness—the performance of a duty. In ancient Judea, there would seldom be the need to ask for funds the way we do today.

The solution to this dilemma, I think, requires us to answer the question, “When we ask someone for their financial support of the church’s ministries, what are we really asking for?” Is it money or something else?

My thinking, which continues to evolve, is that at a minimum, we are asking people to support the work of the church, to advance the gospel of Christ, and to share in any of a number of important ministries. As far as I’m concerned, asking for funds to support ministry requires no additional justification. People give to the church for lots of reasons, and in times where children’s soccer matches conflict with worship services, money may be an important way in which a person can feels he or she is meaningfully participating in the life of the church.

Christ wasn’t the least bit reluctant to ask people to follow him, helping him to spread the good news. When Jesus sent the twelve out to proclaim the gospel, they went without any provisions for their own care. There was the implicit expectation that they would ask for hospitality to enable their ministry. The circumstances were different in some ways, but basically, those who heard the word were asked to support those who spread it. In my experience, clergy aren’t just shy about asking for ministry needs—they often don’t ask enough for their own well-being, and that, too, is unfortunate.

There are other theologically sound reasons for asking people to give money for the church and its ministries.

Asking people to give generously of themselves, whether substance or service, can and should be an invitation to a deeper relationship with God.  I’m serious about this. Generosity—true generosity—is transformational, because when we give generously, we imitate God.

Gregory of Nyssa wrote, “For as you practice goodness you are clothed in Christ, and as you become like Christ you become like God.” Practicing goodness in any form, and I believe that generous giving is a form of goodness, is a means for spiritual growth.

Almsgiving is one of many tools that help us move along our spiritual path—although for some reason we don’t often look at it that way. But, in my opinion, it should be treated like prayer, or worship, or study, or fasting, or any other spiritual discipline. I have seen, and I have personally experienced, the ways in which changes in giving cause spiritual growth.

Some of you have heard me say that God doesn’t need our money—any more than God needs our worship or our prayer. It would be hard to make the case that God needs anything from us, so if God doesn’t benefit, who does? Why bother? It is clear to me that we do these things for our benefit, not for God’s, because they are ways we grow closer to God and each others.

Karl Rahner wrote, “God moves towards us so that we may move toward each other and thereby toward God.” God does not need to be more giving and more generous. God’s generosity already is unbounded and unending. If we are created in the image and likeness of God, then our own acts of giving are humble imitations of the divine. By giving generously of our selves, we transcend the material and recapture some of our God-like nature. That is among the ways in which we have the opportunity to exhibit our true and genuine selves as God intended.

Helping people grow in their relationship with God and each other is what we do. Asking people—and sometimes challenging them—to become more God-like in their behavior—is fundamental to our role as ministers of the gospel. When we ask people to practice generosity, we are asking them to imitate Christ. Irenaeus writes, “He became what we are in order that we might become what he is.” That, to me, is what asking people to support the church and its ministries is all about.

As you can tell, I can get pretty passionate about this, and will come speak or preach about it in your churches or whatever venue you think might be appropriate. To me, it is a ministry—it is a way to help people find and grow in their relationship with God. (Chaves, p. 178)