giving in the old testament

“They are always asking for money.”  This is one of the most frequent complaints lodged against churches by members and non-members alike.  I am not sure if churches would be convicted of this trespass in a spiritual court of law, but since perception is powerful we will take some time to examine the Biblical history of asking/giving and “giving” as a spiritual discipline. 

We begin in Genesis, in which we find several stories involving giving.  The first is that of Cain and Able (Genesis 4:1-16) where the twins each bring an offering to God.  Cain brought to God “an offering of the fruit of the ground” while Able brought to God “of the firstlings of his flock.”  A second offering story in Genesis involves Abraham and his encounter with the Melchizedek, priest of the God most high. (Genesis 14:17-20)  In this story Melchizedek blesses Abraham and Abraham offers up ten percent (a tithe) of all that he has to the priest. 

Giving becomes formalized throughout the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).  The Torah contains the Law of Moses which calls for five different types of offerings for five different purposes.  These offerings centered on worship and sacrifice.  Just a note, sacrifices and offerings were never meant to “buy” God’s favor or “make” God do something.  They were instead meaningful acts of thanksgiving, praise or confession as well as support for the Temple and its priests.

The first type of offering was a Burnt Offering.  The burnt offering consisted of a male animal (bull, lamb, goat, pigeon or turtle dove…based on the wealth of the giver) which was to be completely burned up on the altar.  None of it was to be eaten.  The animal was to be perfect (without blemish…in other words one’s best and not a left-over).  The individual would lay his/her hands upon the animal’s head understanding that this animal was standing in (as an atonement for sin or dedication of one’s life) for the person making the offering.
The second type of offering was a Meal Offering.  Israelites were to bring cereal or vegetable offerings in addition to animal offerings.  The second chapter of Leviticus describes four kinds of cereal offerings.  They were to be cooked with oil and salt but no honey (go figure).  These offerings were brought to the priest who would cast a small amount into the fire and eat the rest.  Meal Offerings were a way of demonstrating generosity in response to God’s generosity.

The third type of offering is a Sin Offering.  This offering was intended to take care of (expiate) any unintentional failures or weaknesses in one’s relationship with God.  The offering was dependent upon one’s station in life.  The High Priest offered a bull, leaders offered a male goat and ordinary Israelites offered a female animal, and the poor offered a small amount of grain.

The fourth type of offering was a Peace Offering.  The Peace offering was one that was shared between God, the priests and the people.  An animal was sacrificed and then was eaten by priest and people.  This was an offering of thanksgiving and praise…as well as a community building exercise.

The fifth and final type of offering was the trespass offering.  This offering was similar to the sin offering but it consisted of money.  It was offered as repentance for any fraud which was unintentional.  The sacrifice was to be equal to the value stolen, along with a 20% gift to the priests and to the one cheated. 

Finally there was the tithe (giving of a tenth).  In Leviticus 27:30-33 Moses tells the people that one tenth of all they had produced (crops and animals) was to be given to God.  This command was echoed by King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:4-5) when he ordered the people to tithe to the Temple and the priesthood.   The response of the people was overwhelming in that they gave of all that they had.  I hope this explains why we ask for “tithes and offerings” on Sunday morning…because in the scriptures there are both (though you can leave the bulls and goats at home).

giving in the new testament

Money and how people deal with it is one of the main topics with which Jesus dealt during his ministry.  In fact not only did Jesus talk about money more than anything else other than the Kingdom of God, but eleven out of thirty-nine of his parables were focused on money as well.  In the Gospel of Luke one out of every seven verses is related to money.  Why the focus on money?  I believe Jesus spent so much time talking about money because in some ways money had become an idol for God’s people.  What I mean by this is that people put their ultimate trust in money/goods rather than in God.  And because of this people forgot that money (as with every other possession) was a gift from God which was intended to be used the way God designated.  In addition, Jesus implied that many persons who did give were doing so for the prestige it offered them rather than as a means of praising God.

Let’s look at some specific texts.  One of the most famous of Jesus’ teachings on giving occurs in Matthew 25:42-45 where he speaks of giving to the least of these.  We were to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and look after the sick.   While this text does not specifically mention money it is implied because Jesus was already living in a money-based economy (rather than a rural barter economy) and so all of the food, clothing and housing would have had to have been paid for with cash.  


Jesus tells his followers that they were to sell what they had, give it to the poor, and then come and follow him.  (Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22)  While I don’t believe Jesus meant for his followers to actually sell all that they had, I believe it was a way of reminding them of what their priorities ought to be; Jesus and the Kingdom of God first, money second.
The Apostle Paul was not quite as critical of having money.  He was a small businessman who made tents for a living and understood that money was not evil in and of itself, though the love of it was (1 Timothy 6:10), but instead money was a medium of exchange which could be used well or used poorly.   Proper uses of money included caring for family and relatives (1 Timothy 5:8); supporting the work of the church and its leaders (1 Corinthians 9:13-14; Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:15-20); and the support of those in need (Romans 12:13, 20).  Paul also offered a special reminder to the wealthy that they were to focus their lives on God while being generous in giving to others (1Timothy 17-19).  Finally Paul believed that generosity in giving was a virtue to be cultivated.  This comes to our attention in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 where he refers to the generosity of the Macedonian churches.  Though the churches in Macedonia were small, poor and under great strain they gave far more than was expected to the relief fund for the church in Jerusalem.  The Apostle even encourages people to set aside money every week in order that they have something to give to others and to the church. (1 Corinthians 16:2)

Some of the most concrete demonstrations of giving are found in the Book of Acts.  In Acts 2:44-45 we read, “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”  This sharing of all that the early church possessed is mentioned again in Acts 4:32.  For the early church, the bottom line was that every person gave what they had to insure that no one did without what others needed.  Giving in this way was one of the great draws of the early church; a community in which giving was at the heart of their life.

giving as a spiritual discipline

As we turn our attention to giving as a spiritual discipline I want to offer a couple of thoughts about tithing.  Tithing is the practice of giving 10% of one’s income to the church and other helping organizations.  Our examination of giving in the scriptures offered us a Biblical basis for tithing.  However while I believe in tithing (it is something that Cindy and I practice) there is no hard and fast rule that one must tithe.  It is a goal…toward which people are encouraged to work…as well as a benchmark beyond which some people are able to go.  The other thing I want to offer is that tithing is a total of our giving to charities which serve the needs of those around us.  While I would love to have everyone tithe to the church, the needs of the world around us are great…and any assistance we can give to those in need gives glory to God.  Now, let’s look at giving as a spiritual discipline.

The first way in which giving acts as a spiritual discipline is that it orients us to God.  The reality of our lives in the 21st Century is that we are pulled in multiple directions by our culture.  As one speaker put it, we are pulled by the three “A”s; accumulation, appearance and achievement.  When combined with the pull from the “F”s, family and friends it is a wonder that we can keep our wits about us at all.  What giving offers us then is a reorientation of our hearts, minds and lives to God.  By giving to the church we are practicing the imitation of God in Christ who gave his life for the world.  Though we are never going to inoculate ourselves from the pull of the “A”s and the “F”s, by giving we realign our compass to true north, that is to the very heart of God in such a way that we are more intimately connected with God.

The second way in which giving acts as a spiritual discipline is that it reminds us that all we have is a gift of God and that gratitude is the appropriate response to God’s generosity.  In the movie “Finding Nemo” the seagulls are portrayed as flying around saying, “Mine, mine, mine.”  
In a sense this is the way we as human beings often act.  It is the “possession is nine-tenths of the law view;” that whatever I have acquired is mine and no one can tell me how to use it.  By giving, we practice letting go of the attitude of “mine, mine, mine” and instead say to God, “Yours.”  This helps to set us free from the self-centeredness that infects humanity and replaces it with a conciseness that we are all the beneficiaries of God’s good gifts of creation and community.

The third way in which giving acts as a spiritual discipline is that it helps us set aside fear and deepen our trust in God.  The interesting thing about Americans is that regardless of our income/assets, most of us feel insecure.  A recent survey showed that among Americans with assets of between one and five million dollars only 28% felt financially secure.  This sense of insecurity causes many people to hold on tightly to all that they have believing that if they give any of it away they will be at risk.  By giving, we practice setting these fears aside and we discover that God is continually present with us, insuring that we have what we need (even if it is not always what we want).

The final way in which giving acts as a spiritual discipline is that it connects us with other people.  You and I live in a world which, even with all the social media around us, is becoming more and more disconnected.  By giving we connect with others to work for a better world.  We also connect with those whose lives are changed.  A friend of mine who gave to and volunteered with an inner-city eye-care ministry in San Antonio once had a woman launch herself into his arms in a grocery store and say, “Because of you I can see.”  My friend had become part of a larger community of humanity than he ever thought possible.   This is what we can do when we are willing to give of our resources. We can become more closely connected with our church, community and world.