The Privilege of Stewardship

STEWARDSHIP in the Christian church has an interesting history. Our Lord and the apostle Paul both give it a primary place. Dr. George Salstrand, in his arti­cle "Facing Stewardship Prob­lems," published in Chris­tianity Today, July 17, deals with the ques­tion of preaching and promoting this doc­trine. The word itself comes from the Greek oikonomia from which we get our English word "economy." The dictionary gives a number of definitions of this word, such as "the orderly arrangement and management of the affairs of a community, estate or establishment"; "thrifty and care­ful administration; management without loss or waste; as, a housekeeper accustomed to economy," et cetera.

Sometimes the word economy is associ­ated with carefulness in expenditure. In any form of stewardship, finance of neces­sity has a part. But stewardship is much broader than financial management and economy. Anciently, a steward was con­nected with a king or a noble. Sometimes he was a slave elevated to this important position, as was the case with Joseph in the house of Potiphar. Later he became the steward in the house of Pharaoh, and as such was in charge of all the land of Egypt. Abraham also had a steward named Eliezer into whose hands all the goods of his mas­ter were placed.

In three of our Lord's parables the im­portance of stewardship is stressed. Each of these has to do largely with the care of household matters. Paul uses the word in a broader sense when he speaks of ministers as "stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor. 4:1), or "trustees of the secrets of God" (Phillips' translation). And among these divine secrets is that of stewardship.

An important characteristic of a steward is that he, as a man, be "found faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). As ministers in God's church we are held accountable for the spiritual development of His people. But while our first responsibility is that of building up the church spiritually, this growth is defi­nitely related to faithfulness in service and even in finance.

In last month's Ministry we dealt with the history of tithing. We noticed that not only the worshipers of the living God but also the pagan peoples followed the defi­nite principle of tithing for the upkeep of their temple worship. The system of tith­ing was clearly understood by the early Christians, as is evident from the New Tes­tament Scriptures as well as from the con­temporary sources. But like many other great truths of the gospel, this was trampled under unholy feet. And in the place of sys­tematic tithes and offerings came the whole black train of corruption, such as the selling of indulgences and relics, as well as the introduction of worldly amuse­ments and entertainments—all in the name of religion and all for the support of the church. Against such practices the Reform­ers voiced their protests; but even two centuries later thei'e was still much to be desired in the way of a true system of church support.

With the rise of the Advent Movement came the clear call to come out of Babylon and separate from ungodliness. This led the pioneers of our movement to study God's method for the support of His work. There were numerous discussions. Then in 1859, a two-day Bible class was conducted by J. X. Andrews, the denomination's "theo­logian," as he was called by James White. This "resulted in the conviction and de­cision that the 'tithing system' was still the Lord's plan for sustaining the gospel min­istry. It was first called 'Systematic Benevo­lence of the Tithing Principle.' "—Mis­sionary Magazine, 1901, p. 267.

In that same year (1859) Ellen G. White wrote:

The plan of systematic benevolence is pleasing to God. . . . God is leading His people in the plan of systematic benevolence, and this is one of the very points to which God is bringing up His people which will cut the closest with some.—Testimonies, vol. 1, pp. 190, 191.

While the complete plan of tithing had not been perfected, yet two years later, in 1861, the messenger of the Lord spoke out definitely on this point:

Some have not come up and united in the plan of systematic benevolence, excusing themselves be­cause they were not free from debt. They plead that they must first "owe no man anything." But the fact that they are in debt does not excuse them. I saw that they should render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. . . . Rob not God by withholding from Him your tithes and offerings. It is the first sacred duty to render to God a suitable proportion. Let no one throw in his claims and lead you to rob God. ... I saw that in the arrangement of systematic benevolence, hearts will be tested and proved. It is a constant, living test.—Ibid., pp. 220, 221. (Italics supplied.)

Fourteen years later, in 1875, she wrote:

If systematic benevolence were universally adopted according to God's plan, and the tithing system carried out as faithfully by the wealthy as it is by the poorer classes, there would be no need of repeated and urgent calls for means at our large religious gatherings. There has been a neglect in the churches of keeping up the plan of systematic benevolence, and the result has been an impover­ished treasury and a backslidden church.—Ibid., vol. 3, p. 409.

For more than one hundred years we as a people have been advocating the tithing system as God's method for the support of His work. And what manifold blessings have come to us as a result.

We were invited recently by the mayor of one of our southern cities to join him at lunch. He is a sincere Christian, and to en­large the spirit of fellowship he had also invited the pastor of his own church—the largest in that city. We were happy to meet this good man, and our conversation was genial. This influential minister seemed eager to discover the way we Ad-ventists conduct our work; how we are or­ganized, et cetera. Then in friendly tone he asked, "Brother, what would you say is the secret of the success of your denomina­tional program?" It was not easy, of course, to give a complete answer, but we cau­tiously suggested that it could be the whole­hearted acceptance by the total member­ship of the responsibility for the carrying of the gospel to all the world. We reminded him that written right into our very name is our belief in the imminent return of Jesus. And it was the Master who said that when this gospel has been preached to all the world He will come in glory. Our friend became thoughtful, then ventured, "Your church follows the principle of tith­ing, does it not?"

"Yes," we replied. "We believe it is God's plan for the support of His work."

"You teach this not only as an ideal but as a definite doctrine, do you not?"

"Yes, we do."

"But how do you get 100 per cent of your members to pay tithe?" he asked.

Our reply was somewhat restrained, for "we had to admit that not 100 per cent of our people actually pay tithe, although we were happy to emphasize that the major­ity of them do.

Then he said, "I too believe in the tith­ing principle. I pay tithe myself, and I en­courage my members to follow this divine method." One of his members, of course, was the mayor who was seated beside me— a wealthy contractor and, incidentally, a millionaire. Turning to him the pastor said, "Joe, you believe in tithing, don't you?"

"Yes," he said, "and I know the Lord blesses me because I follow this plan. If all our members were faithful in this, what a blessing it would be for the church and its program."

It was heartening to find a man of wealth rejoicing in the privilege of tithing. Then referring to the fact that not all were faith­ful, we inquired concerning what propor­tion of the membership adhered to the plan. "Not more than 20 per cent," was his regretful reply. Then he added, "I would like to know how you encourage your people to be faithful in this, for I'm sure it means a great blessing to them. I don't seem to be able to impress all my people with its importance. Many say they cannot afford to pay tithe."

This gave us an opportunity to unfold the principle of sacrifice. "Could this be a reason," we said? "Those who come into our faith have usually had to make sub­stantial adjustments in their lives. In order to obey the Lord in respect to the Sabbath, for example, in many instances they have lost their employment. No man will sacri­fice his job, especially in times of depres­sion, without a good deal of thought and prayer. But to be true to conscience, folks who join our church have to make real sacrifices. But they discover that God is as good as His word and that all temporal needs are supplied, and so, after further in­struction concerning the tithe and the blessings of faithful stewardship, they nat­urally recognize it as a privilege to go into partnership, as it were, with God. They take the Lord at His word and are happy to bring their 'tithes into the storehouse.' " Slapping his hand heavily on the table, this minister said, "That's it. Your people have learned to sacrifice and put God to the test. Many of my members have never had to make such adjustments; therefore they are unable to exercise their faith."

We came away from that dinner engage­ment thoughtful, yet happy in the realiza­tion that we have a faithful people. Perhaps the reason some are not so faithful as they should be is that they have never known the joy of putting God to the test. As stew­ards in God's household, the Lord calls upon us ministers to lift our congregations into a higher experience in sacred things. When they are encouraged to bring all the tithes into the storehouse, it is then that God opens the windows of heaven. David spoke a truth when he said, "All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee" (1 Chron. 29:14).

The overseer of the flock of God should faithfully discharge his duty. If he takes the position that be­cause this is not pleasant to him, he will leave it for someone else to do, he is not a faithful worker. Let him read in Malachi the words of the Lord charging the people with robbery toward God in withholding the tithes. The mighty God declares: "Ye are cursed with a curse." Malachi 3:9. When the one who ministers in word and doctrine sees the people pursuing a course that will bring this curse upon them, how can he neglect his duty to give them instruction and warning? Every church member should be taught to be faithful in paying an honest tithe.—Ibid., vol. 9, pp. 250, 251.

A very plain, definite message has been given to me for our people. I am bidden to tell them that they are making a mistake in applying the tithe to various objects which, though good in themselves, are not the object to which the Lord has said that the tithe should be applied. Those who make this use of the tithe are departing from the Lord's ar­rangement. God will judge for these things.—Ibid., p. 248.

In presenting these things to our churches, let us remember that the chief aim of a good steward is to bring glory to his absent Lord. Someday each will be called to give an account of his steward­ship (Luke 16:2). To some the Lord will say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." The steward is responsible for the management of resources that are his master's, not his own. As ministers we should take the lead in sacrificing for the interests of God's cause, and the tithe is surely the minimum standard for Christian giving. We have noted for years that those who lack faithfulness in returning to God tithes and offerings are not those newly come to the faith, but usually those who have not had to really put God to the test in the adjustment of a life program; often those brought up in the Advent message. Because of that, they sometimes look upon the tithe as a tremendous sacrifice, forget­ting that all we have is really not ours but the Lord's. Everything we possess in this life and all we shall inherit in the life to come is a gift from Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Therefore let us urge our members to be faithful in their stew­ardship.

R. A. Anderson