Church Giving

And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

There are a lot of topics that make some pastors very uncomfortable when the time comes to preach on them. At my last church, my lead pastor, Pastor Jason, hated preaching sermons that had to do with circumcision. That was partly because when he was the youth pastor of the church and his father-in-law was the lead pastor, Pastor Don, Jason always seemed to get tagged with preaching on a Sunday when the topic of a passage was circumcision, because Pastor Don happened to be “out of town” that week.

Today, the topic of our passage is another one that often makes pastors uncomfortable when they have to preach about it — giving to the church. Monetary giving to the church, whether through tithes or offerings, can make pastors uneasy because there have been stories of congregants claiming that the pastor was just trying to raise his salary. The number of chat rooms and Reddit boards complaining that “all churches ever do is ask for more money” is more than I can count.

I happened to even find a joke this week regarding tithing that does a good job of summing up what many people believe about pastors preaching about money:

Two men were marooned on an island. One man paced back and forth, worried and scared, while the other man sat back and enjoyed the sun. The first man asked the second man, "Aren’t you afraid we're about to die?" "No," said the second man, "I make $100,000 a week and tithe faithfully to my church every week. My pastor will find me."

In our passage today, Paul praises the Philippians for their gift to his ministry, but his praise is not because of what he was getting out of the giving. Instead, he was more concerned with the motivations of the giver and the blessings that God would bestow upon those who give generously.

I know that many pastors and preachers get a bad reputation for talking about giving and tithing. I pray that my heart will match that of Paul’s concerning giving to the mission of the work of Christ, and that my actions reveal the same motivations as the apostle.

Big Idea:

Philippians 4:15-16God calls us to be generous towards his mission.

Paul reminds the Philippians of when they first came to Christ and received the gospel, that there was no other church around that was giving to Paul’s ministry except the Philippians. There were two other towns that we can see in Acts 16 and 17 that Paul visited in Macedonia — Thessalonica and Berea. Of the churches that Paul helped to start in these areas, only the church at Philippi worked with Paul in sending him resources to help with his ministry.

The Philippians were so willing to help out Paul in his ministry that they sent him resources multiple times when he was still in Macedonia, but over in the city of Thessalonica. For reference, the distance between Phillipi and Thessalonica is about 105ish miles. It would be the equivalent of traveling from Seattle to Ellensburg, just without having to go over a mountain range. You can drive from the archaeological site of Philippi to the city of Thessalonica in about 2 hours.

The Philippians were so eager to give to Paul’s ministry, they started doing it right away. They didnt just send gifts once, they did it several times. They also sent a gift to Paul when he was in Corinth (2 Cor 11:9).

Philippians 4:17-18

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

Paul commends them on their giving, saying that he now has all the supplies he needs because of the gift from the Philippian church. And while Paul is thankful for their giving, he states that he is not seeking his own benefit from their gifts. Paul was a tent maker in terms of his trade. That was how Paul would often make ends meet on his missionary journeys. In one of Paul’s letters, he told his readers that he did not request a salary from them so that he would not be a burden to the church. Instead, he worked as a tent maker when he wasn’t preaching to the people.

Last week, we talked about contentment and how Paul was content in whatever situation he found himself in. Paul was content in making tents to fund his ministry, so that he did not put an extra burden on the churches he was starting and teaching.

However, he would not turn down gifts to his ministry because he understood that the gift was an act of worship to God from the giver. So Paul did not seek his own benefit, but says that he was seeking “the profit that is increasing” to the Philippians’ account.

The word used for “profit” in this passage is literally translated as “fruit.” It is the same word that is used when Jesus tells his followers in Matthew 3 to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. So, to show that we have repented of our sins and that we are a new creation in Christ, we should be producing “Fruit” that shows what kind of tree or plant we are.

Jesus taught about this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7. Though he is specifically referencing how to recognize false prophets and false teachers in the church, the means of recognizing where anyone is spiritually is by their “fruit,” or their actions.

Matthew 7:15-20

“Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.”

We should be able to recognize the types of “plants” people are, based on the fruit they bring forth. Jesus also says that this recognition should be simple. Since grapes don’t grow on thornbushes and figs don’t grow on thistles, Jesus says that healthy trees produce healthy fruit. Unhealthy trees produce unhealthy, or bad, fruit.

In Galatians 5, Paul lists a whole bunch of bad fruits that he calls “the works of the flesh.” Things like sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, strife, envy, drunkenness, and more. If someone sees these things in our lives, it can be hard for them to take us seriously when we say we are followers of Jesus.

But right after this list of bad fruit, Paul shares a list of good fruit, fruit from the Spirit of God that grows because of his work in our hearts and minds.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

These are the fruits that mark someone who has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. When people see us as Christians, these are the characteristics that should come to mind! That does not mean that if we fail to show these every once in a while, we are not actually Christians. As followers of Christ, we are still sinners, but redeemed sinners. And so we are going to mess up at times, but the overall majority of our lives will be marked with the attributes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Many theologians make the connection that the fruit that Paul was telling the Philippians that he was hoping to see was the “fruit of the Spirit.” Through their giving to his ministry, Paul was seeing the fruits of God growing in the people of the Philippian church.

Paul goes on to say that their gift was a fragrant aroma and pleasing to God. This type of language comes from the laws around sacrificial offerings in the Old Testament.

In Exodus 29, Moses describes the burnt offering of a whole ram on the altar of the Lord as a “pleasing aroma.” This term is used multiple times in the book of Leviticus, concerning the many different types of sin offerings prescribed by God through Moses. The sacrifice as a pleasing aroma means that God accepted the sacrifice that was presented, because it matched what he had prescribed for the situation.

Throughout the Old Testament law, sacrifices were needed to “cleanse” the people of their sins. RC Sproul made the statement that our sin and disobedience to God is “cosmic treason.” When we disobey the God who created us as well as the entire universe, we have committed treason against our creator.

God told Adam in the garden that the penalty for sinning against him was death. And so to “atone,” or make amends for our sin against God, the Lord allowed the Hebrews to offer the sacrifices of animals as burnt offerings, in place of the death of the person who sinned.

The purpose of Christ's coming to earth, living the perfect life according to the law, and dying on the cross was to be the ultimate sin offering, the ultimate substitute, in our place, for the sins we committed. That sacrifice was a pleasing aroma to God the Father because it satisfied the requirement of all sin.

Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

So, just as Christ’s sacrifice was a fragrant offering, or pleasing aroma, to the Lord, Paul is calling the gift from the Philippians to his ministry a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Paul likely understands the sacrifice that gift was, considering they had not been able to give to his ministry in about 10 years. That kind of sacrifice does not go unnoticed in the eyes of God, and so Paul knows that God will richly bless them for it.

Now, God does not accept every single sacrifice that is given to him. Not every act of worship that we bring is acceptable to God. In Genesis, Cain and Abel both brought sacrifices to the Lord, but God only accepted Abel’s and not Cain’s. This upset Cain to the point that he went into the field and committed the first murder in human history by killing his brother out of jealousy.

In Leviticus, the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, presented “strange fire,” what many scholars believe was a burning incense with a recipe that did not match what God had prescribed in the Law through Moses. And so, God consumed them with fire, and they died.

In the Old Testament book of Amos, the prophet is telling the people how they have neglected the things of the Lord, but they continue to bring their sacrifices to the temple. It had become just another thing to do, but there was no reverence, no attitude of worship when they brought their sacrifices. They were just going through a checklist without thinking about their actions toward God. The prophet Amos proclaims this message from the Lord to the people:

Amos 5:21-24

I hate, I despise, your feasts!

I can’t stand the stench

of your solemn assemblies.

Even if you offer me

your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

I will have no regard

for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.

Take away from me the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

I hope that I never have to hear those words from God concerning my own offerings of praise and worship to him, though I know that I have deserved this type of admonition from God at times for not being willing to truly worship him fully. We can see that God cares about the gifts that we give towards his work.

So, how can we apply this to the way we give to the church today? I want to take us to one more passage of Scripture to help us understand how we should give to the work of the Lord.

In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul reminds the Corinthian church that they promised to give a gift to Paul’s ministry. He had even been telling the Macedonian churches (possibly the Philippian church as well) that the Corinthian church had been ready to give to Paul for a year. And so he is warning the Corinthian church to make sure that they are prepared to give what they said they would.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

Paul uses an agricultural example to explain the concept of giving to the Corinthians. He says that those who sow sparingly, reap sparingly. If you are planting a garden but only plant a few seeds, you are not going to get much of a harvest. But those who sow generously will reap generously. He is saying that the more seeds you plant, the larger the harvest you are likely to have. This isn’t rocket science.

The next part is what I really want to look at because Paul says that each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion. There is a lot of pressure from the pulpits of churches toward their congregants to tithe 10% of their paychecks. So, messages from pastors make it sound like you are not a Christian if you do not give 10% of your money to the church. You should never feel that kind of pressure from me.

Did you know that there were 3 different tithes in the Old Testament? There was

3 Types of Tithes in O.T.

Levitical Tithe

The Levitical Tithe was to be 10% of the total crop or earnings for the year to be given to the priests at the temple, since the Levites were not given any land as an inheritance when Israel entered the Promised Land. The Levites were to live in the area of the temple to serve as ministers in God’s house. This tithe served as the principal form of income for the Levites and their families and was essential for ensuring their sustenance.

Feast Tithe

Who do you think got the Feast Tithe? Who was that given to? No one. The Feast Tithe was money set apart, like cash under the mattress, for the trips to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. The Israelites were instructed by God to bring what they had set aside to the central sanctuary, which would eventually become the Temple in Jerusalem. The Tithe of the Feasts was intended to be consumed and enjoyed in an act of communal feasting and celebration, both to reinforce the Israelites' sense of community and to serve as an expression of their gratitude toward God for His blessings and deliverance. This tithe was a giant potluck!

Tithe for the Poor

This tithe was every third year and it was a contribution to the poor and needy in the community like the widows, orphans, and those who could not work for themselves.

So, which of these tithes are we supposed to give? If we give all three of them, based on the word tithe meaning “one-tenth”, we would actually be giving about 30% of our income to the church. I will bet that very few of us can say that we could give 30% of our income to the church without any problems or worries.

Paul tells us here in 2 Corinthians that we should decide in our hearts (giving the impression that this is something you have prayed and asked God about) how much we are to give. When all you hear is “You need to give 10% or you are sinning!” that does not encourage cheerful giving.

I have done a lot of study on this topic and heard a lot of sermons about tithing. Here is where I have landed on this topic. Tithing 10% is a good round number to tithe. It is usually pretty easy to calculate. I have no problem with people tithing 10%. That is the number that my family tithes.

Not everyone has the ability to give 10% of their income to the church. If you are financially in a place where $30 could be a stretch for you to give because if you actually gave 10% of your income it would mean you are not paying your rent or electricity or some other bills, but you know that $30 is what God has put on your heart to give while you are in your current situation, then you should be willing to put $30 toward the work of the church with a cheerful heart, and not feel bad that you aren’t giving 10%.

If God has blessed you in your finances to where you can give 10% and still have the room in your budget and finances to give more, ask God if he wants you to give more than 10%. The point that Paul is trying to make here is that we are to cheerfully be generous with the blessings God has given us. When we give cheerfully to the mission and work of God, he will bless us and take care of our needs.

Next Step: I will ask God what I should give to His mission.

Now, I want to get back to this “sowing and reaping” that Paul mentioned. Some preachers teach their followers that we get blessings from God BY sowing into places. But the blessings they refer to are material wants, not the NEEDS that Paul mentioned. They treat “sowing and reaping” like a transaction.

The concept goes like this: If you want God to bless you with a new car, you need to give a “seed offering” to some ministry. That way, God can take that seed, multiply it, and provide you with a new car. Preachers like Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, and Paula White have taken this teaching so far that they have told people, “If you give $2000 to the work of God (or in other words, to my ministry) you will get your healing, or your breakthrough, or whatever blessing you are looking for.” The inference is that if you don’t give to their ministry, you won’t get your blessing.

This is spiritual manipulation and taking advantage of the vulnerable. They are trying to get people to give out of compulsion.

Definition of Compulsion

the action or state of forcing or being forced to do something; constraint.

an irresistible urge to behave in a certain way, especially against one's conscious wishes.

Paul said that we should give cheerfully, not as if we are being strong-armed or bullied or coerced into it. The amount of people who have lost their money, lost hope, or walked away from the faith because of these types of preachers is incalculable. All this teaching does is turn God into a vending machine. You put money in and get what you want out. God does not work that way.

God is not a vending machine.

A little bit farther in 2 Corinthians 9, Paul tells the Corinthians what the harvest is from when they sow into the kingdom of God.

2 Corinthians 9:10

Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Paul tells his readers that it is God who provides the seeds for the sower as well as the one who provides bread for food. That same God will multiply what we sow into his kingdom and increase the harvest of our righteousness. When we give to the work of God, He uses that gift to bless others and expand the work of His kingdom so that more people can hear the gospel, repent of their sins, and submit to Christ.

Paul says that it is a righteous act for us to give toward the work of God. This is because when we sow into the kingdom of God, we do it for God, and not for ourselves. When you give to the church in order to receive specific blessings that you want or desire, you are giving out of selfish ambition. In Philippians 2, Paul tells us we should do NOTHING out of selfish ambition. When we sow into the kingdom of God, we are doing it for Him to use as he chooses to, not for ourselves.

Finally, when we give to the work of God, there are blessings.

Philippians 4:19

And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Giving to God will never leave us impoverished. When we give with hearts of service to the Lord, God will not abandon us to our ruin. Paul tells his readers that God will supply all their needs (both physical & spiritual are implied) according to his glorious riches in Christ. It does not say that God will provide all of our wants or desires. God will provide for all our NEEDS.

God provides for these needs out of his glorious riches. The riches of the all-powerful, all-knowing, merciful, and kind God that we serve are endless. When we give to God through tithes and offerings, we are trusting that God is who he says he is, that he will provide for all of our needs, just as Scripture says he will.

Next Step: I will trust that God will provide for my needs when I give to him.

As we close today, we have looked at how we are to give to God through our money or possessions. It is an act of worship to give of what we have to the work of Christ, especially when we realize that he is the one who provides what we have to us so we can give back to him.

But the greatest sacrifice we can make to the Lord is giving our lives to him. When we submit to Christ, repenting of our sins and believing in him for our salvation, we are trusting him to take care of our needs. We are admitting that we are not self-sufficient. We admit that everything we have in this life comes from him.

When we understand this, it should lead us to offering our entire lives to him. It is time to come before the Lord, acknowledging your sins and the ways you have strayed from his path.

Repent of your sins. Turn away from your past life, offering it to Christ. Embrace his grace and forgiveness. Today is the day.

Next Step: I will submit my life to Christ.

If that is you…

Let us pray.

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