In our stewardship campaign, our pastor keeps telling us, “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.” I don’t follow his logic. What does God’s ownership of cattle have to do with sacrificial gifts to our church? What does the Bible say about handling money—for our needs and for our church?
Stewardship is an important spiritual discipline, so we need to have a good grasp of its scriptural foundations. Many pastors use the reference to God’s ownership of “the cattle on a thousand hills” in Psalm 50:10 to say that if we’ll tithe, God will supply our needs. But the passage isn’t talking about that. In the psalm, God rebukes the Israelites for their attitudes about animal sacrifices. In verses 14-15, the Lord says fulfilling their vows to him is more important than making expensive sacrifices.
Handling money
What does the Bible say about handling money for our needs and for our church? The foundational teachings of stewardship are that God owns everything in the universe and he puts material things in our hands to use for a time. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” Job 1:21 expresses the same idea in a different way, when Job says, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.” We brought nothing with us into this life when we were born, and we’ll take nothing with us when we die. In Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), he teaches that God has given us resources and holds us accountable for how we invest them.
The concept of the tithe—giving 10 percent of our possessions—appears early in Scripture. Genesis 14:20 reports following Abraham’s successful rescue of Lot, Abraham gave 10 percent of the spoils he had gained to Melchizedek, a king and priest of the Lord. Passages like Leviticus 27:30-32 and Deuteronomy 14:23 demonstrate the Old Testament law required the Israelites to give 10 percent of their crops and animals to the Lord.
Greater commands
Jesus mentioned the tithe (Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42) when he criticized the pharisaical practice of diligently giving 10 percent of their gains but neglecting more important matters of the law. He affirmed the concept of the tithe but admonished the Jews to obey greater commands. Elsewhere, Jesus set a standard of giving far above the tithe (Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:33). The Apostle Paul addressed financial giving as well, saying our gifts to others through the church result in praise to God (2 Corinthians 9:11-13).
In summary, the Old Testament established these two concepts—everything we have comes from God, and we’re to give 10 percent back to him to acknowledge that fact. The New Testament adds we’re to subject everything we have to the Lordship of Christ, and we should give as he commands us. It affirms the tithe as a basic standard but calls us to give much more than that to meet the spiritual and physical needs of others.
Robert Prince, senior pastor
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First Baptist Church
Waynesville, N.C.
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