Funding God’s Church
By Rajen Devadason
In one of the most familiar portions of Scripture, Jesus told Peter three times after His divine resurrection that if the Big Fisherman loved Him, then he was to: “Feed His sheep.”
Decades of attending church services and listening to Bible-based sermons have reinforced in me these absolute objective truths: Jesus Christ loves us; died, rose and ascended for us; sent the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to comfort and empower us as we build His church; and promised to be with us, the Body of Christ, which is His church filled with His disciples even unto the ‘very end of the age’.1
We Christians, drawn from various denominational strands, collectively form the universal church of Jesus Christ. We know from Scripture that there will be in the hereafter a mega party in heaven known as the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.2
But today on Earth in the here-and-now we face the specific human challenges of a planetary civilisation suffering from a composite condition called VUCA (the widely used acronym that describes a world increasingly marked by Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity).
At the time of this writing, the stresses associated with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic; Russia’s evil, genocidal invasion of Ukraine; global warming; spiking inflation; widespread food shortages; Sri Lanka’s economic collapse; and the ideological battle for Malaysia’s cultural future; are all symptoms of this growing VUCA phenomenon. It’s no wonder more and more of us feel increasingly untethered from the stabilising standards and norms of previous decades.
Thankfully for Christians, we have an unchanging Saviour who has promised to always be with us, both throughout our remaining earthly sojourn and for all Eternity.
The crux of the Great Commission, though, is that we are not to keep the good news of Jesus’ salvation, abundant life and hope to ourselves. Our world is hurting and we have a major role to play in imparting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and a host of other God-given blessings to our world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is the role of the church – both the universal one comprising all Christ-centred congregations AND the specific local church we should belong to, attend, serve at, and grow in – to fulfil not just the Great Commission, but also the Great Commandment, which Jesus taught at the Last Supper to His core group of 1st century disciples – and, by extension, to all of us who love Him now – to ‘love one another’ as He has loved them (and us).3
We exhibit our love for our family by investing time with, and spending money on, them. Similarly, when we fuse the dictates of the Great Commission (making disciples for Jesus everywhere) and the Great Commandment (loving one another the way Jesus loves us), we recognise that the local church we should be a part of also needs us to invest in it and spend time and money on it to grow its ability to minister to its internal members and its external community.
No Christian should be merely a pew warmer.
Once we find a local church (or possibly an online one) that meets our primary spiritual needs, we ought to do two things:
- Serve in it: and
- Give to it.
As many countries shift COVID-19 gears by decreeing the recent pandemic will now be treated as ‘merely’ endemic in their respective societies, more and more of us are heading back to our physical churches. That is as it should be – for most people. Hebrews 10:24-25 states:
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Speaking for myself, I recognise that I fell into the trap of becoming far too comfortable with online services during the long seasons of Malaysia’s rolling Movement Control Orders (MCOs). I had to actively combat general apathy that was, for me, a direct result of statically ‘viewing’ a church service as opposed to dynamically participating in one.
However, I was ecstatic once my church restarted physical services. The loss of human companionship had been palpable and I did not realise how much I missed ‘meeting together’ in church until I was back onsite.
Having said that, the central verse in the Bible on tithing, Malachi 3:10, teaches us that the ‘whole tithe’ should be brought ‘into the storehouse’.4
The whole tithe refers to the first one-tenth, namely 10% – not, say, 8% or 9% and technically also not 11% or 12%. Those who generously choose to give more than their tithe should earmark the excess as a love offering.
I’ve listened to countless sermons and read various books on Christian financial planning that state the Old Testament storehouse references the place we receive spiritual sustenance. Personally, I equate storehouse to ‘home church’.
Therefore, in my opinion, those who attend a physical church should pay their entire tithe to that particular local assembly. If they also attend the online services of other churches, they might consider giving a portion of their love offerings there because it costs time and money to sustain these digital founts of blessing.
If for truly bona fide reasons – which do not include apathy and laziness – a Christian chooses to only attend an online service, then the church running it deserves the whole tithe.
For clarity, study God’s Word. Deeply.
Finally, pray earnestly for guidance on giving so that you may play your part in your church’s initiatives to tell the world about Jesus.
Notes:
- Matthew 28:20, “… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
- Revelation 19:7-9, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
- John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
- Malachi 3:10, “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.”
© 2022 Rajen Devadason
Rajen Devadason, CFP, is a Licensed Financial Planner, professional speaker and author. Read his free articles at www.FreeCoolArticles.com; he may be connected with on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajendevadason, or via rajen@RajenDevadason.com You may also follow him on Twitter @Rajen Devadason and on YouTube (Rajen Devadason).
