Since God own everything we have, we need to examine what He expects from His investment in us. Let’s think about the management of our money, our time, our talents, and even our influence.

In the New Testament we find several suggestions to guide our giving of money:

-give yourself to the Lord first (2 Corinthians 8:5; Romans 12:1).

-give willingly (2 Corinthians 8:12).

-give cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7; Acts 20:35).

-give liberally (Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:6&7; Romans 12:8).

-give regularly and proportionately (1 Corinthians 16:1&2; 2 Corinthians 9:6&7).

-give expectantly (Mark 10:28-31; Matthew 6:33; Luke 6:38; Galatians 6:6-10; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11).

Every new Christian sooner or later learns that the standard for the stewardship of money in the church is something called the tithe. At first that sounds like just giving something in the offering, but before long the new member realized that the tithe is something quite specific. The word actually means ten percent. From the Bible we learn that tithing was practiced in earliest history, even before the Law of Moses (see Genesis 14:17-20). Then in the Mosaic Law, which governed the nation of Israel through the Old Testament, tithing was made compulsory for all God’s people (se Leviticus 27:30-34; Numbers 18:24). It was an act of worship and reverence to God (Deuteronomy 14:22&23), taken so seriously that to withhold it was considered robbing God (Malachi 3:8). The conscientious tither, on the other hand, was promised God’s finest blessings (Malachi 3:9-11).

When Christ came, He fulfilled the Law - not by lowering the Old Testament standards of conduct, but in raising them (see the entire Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7). He approved tithing (Matthew 23:23) but required more than a legalistic tithe from His followers; to the tithe was to be added justice and mercy and faith. He charged His followers to place the Kingdom of God above all earthly possessions (Matthew 6:25-34, 19:16-30). New Testament churches obeyed this injunction of Christ, giving out of extreme poverty (2 Corinthians 8), and being so generous in their stewardship of money that many sold everything they had to give to others and be certain than no one was in need (Acts 2:44-47, 4:32-37). As the people of Israel supported their priests and temple workers with their tithes, so the apostle Paul instructed that those who proclaim the gospel should be supported by those who received their ministry (see 1 Corinthians 9:13&14 and Numbers 18:24-29).

But, you may protest, how can I tithe when I can barely pay my expenses now?

Those who have tithes for years will testify that they hardly miss the ten percent. In fact, they are convinced that their 90% goes farther with God than the full 100% used to go without His help. But to begin tithing is a real step of faith. It is a definite decision to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" and can probably not be taken without some hardheaded shifting of one’s priorities. Undoubtedly your decision to tithe will cause you to simplify your lifestyle and do without some things you have previously thought were quite important. Tithing will cause you to place your faith in Christ, and not in your money. Tithing will give you the pleasure of knowing you are doing your fair share in the preaching of the gospel and the full ministry of the body of Christ. If it is a sacrifice at first for you to tithe, remember that the full Christian life requires sacrifice - that’s what the cross means.

One man who was tired of the church’s emphasis on money complained to his pastor, "This business of Christianity is just one continues give, give, give,"

The pastor thought about the man’s complaint for a minute, then replied, "I want to thank you for one of the best definitions of Christianity I have ever heard."

The pastor was right. Christianity is about God’s gift of grace to us in Jesus Christ, about Christ’s gift to us of the Holy Spirit, about the Holy Spirit’s gift to us through the church, about the church’s gift of love, mercy, and ministry. Without the giving of the church, where would the world have received her first hospitals, schools, colleges, and even her conscience? Yes, Christianity is giving - that is why Christians, who have received so much, freely give.

We don’t just give money, In fact, sometimes it is too easy to give money. To "seek first the kingdom of God" is to devote time as well as finances to God’s work. One cannot but God off with an occasional offering. His service requires that we contribute our time as well.

Stewardship of time requires careful budgeting. Time is so limited; even the longest life is too short. Without wise allocation of time resources, priceless opportunities for Christian service and personal growth can be squandered.

What is time? Perhaps the most helpful, although not exactly precise, definition is Benjamin Franklin’s: "Time is the stuff life is made of." Some people seem to manage their time with incredible efficiency. They accomplish three times more than the rest of us. They have learned just a few simple lessons about time management: They have worked out their priorities. They don’t procrastinate. They respect time as a precious commodity. They realize that today is all the time they have to work with, so they don’t put off until tomorrow what should be done today, because tomorrow may never come. They agree with Thomas Carlyle, who said, "Our main task is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." That is, they don’t daydream.

Moses put it another way, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

How, then shall we use our time for God? First, ask some basic questions:

1) What is the most important thing you do?

2) Are you giving top priority time to it?

3) As you examine your use of your 112 waking hours each week, how many of them are you using consciously for God’s work? (I’ve wasted time, and now doth time waste me." complained Shakespeare’s King Richard II).

4) When you give a full accounting of your stewardship to time, like your stewardship of money, can you justify to God your time priorities? ("How do you suppose some people will spend Eternity," Ralph Waldo Emerson asks, "when they don’t know how to spend the next half hour?")

5) Remembering that "the end of all things is at hand," are your living each day as if it might be the last? (We must work the works of him who sent me, said Jesus, "while it is day; night comes, when no one can work" [John 9:4].)

With these questions in mind, a Christian determines to give the Lord’s word top priority. This means being present in the church’s worship and study sessions, volunteering to help in congregational service and missions projects, and being prepared to carry a fair share of the church’s work load.

The church is organized like the human body, with each member contributing to the good of the whole, and with a large variety of talents and abilities represented among the members. On one member has them all, but every member has something to contribute for the good of all. Here’s how the apostle Paul discusses them:

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.

If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.

If it is serving, let him serve;

if it is teaching, let him teach;

if it is encouraging, let him encourage;

if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously;

if it is leadership, let him govern diligently;

if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Romans 12:4-8

Notice that Paul does not expect the came gifts from everyone, but that every member can offer something. The list could be expanded, couldn’t it? Your gift could be included. Remember, as Phillips Brooks once commented, that "it is almost as presumptuous to think you can do nothing as to think you can do everything." The Spirit that enabled Paul to preach and teach will enable you to give an important gift back to the Lord, also.

Whatever God has given you, He can use to help the church. His cause has been beautifully served by cooks and counselors, by carpenters and plumbers, by speakers and listeners, by singers and monotones.

To discover what you can give to the Lord, just ask these simple questions:

1. What do I have to give?

2. Who needs it?

3. To what extent is God receiving a return on His investment of this ability or gift to me?

One largely overlooked area of accountability in Christian lives is that of influence. Although we may depreciate our ability to influence others, we need to remember, as Aristotle said, that "we can do noble acts without ruling earth and sea." In fact, as someone else has wisely commented, when a person is a Christian, even his dog should be better for it.

We all operate in a sphere of influence. Every day we touch many other lives. Do we touch them for better or worse? A goal would be for us to live up to the praise that poet W.H. Augen gave of fellow poet T.S. Eliot. "So long as one was in Eliot’s presence," Auden said, "one felt it was impossible to say or do anything base." At the other extreme is the negative influence of the Sunday-school teacher whose lesson persuaded one of her little pupils of the importance of putting the kingdom of God first in his life. Later, when he discovered that his teacher taught her lesson and went home without bothering to attend worship, he quit coming. She often wondered why he had lost interest. Her lesson was perfectly acceptable, but her influence was negative.

God is as impressed with our steady influence as with our spoken sermons. His way has always been to choose the weak and seemingly insignificant things of this world (a manger, a cross, a tomb, a table) to accomplish his tasks. As Phillip Brooks, the famous American preacher, once said, "No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, pure and good, without the world being better for it, without someone being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness."

Here are some questions to help you assess your influence:

1. Whom do you know?

2. What do you talk about when you are with them?

3. In their eyes, what do you stand for?

4. Do they recognize you are a committed Christian, or would they be surprised to discover your relationship with Christ?

The famous English missionary to India, E. Stanley Jones, tells of a missionary lady who gave specific instructions to a contractor about putting a concrete roof on a building. But to save money, he cut corners, ignored her instructions, and built a roof that collapsed, injured a coolie boy and causing great financial loss to the missionary. When she was told of its collapse, she rushed to the scene and, ignoring the loss, she went immediately to take care of the boy. Some of the Hindu workmen were talking about the matter and wondering why the missahib had paid so little attention to her loss and so much attention and love to the boy. "Don’t you understand?" said another coolie, "she is a Christian, and Christians always think more of persons than things."

That is the power of influence.

I hope by now you understand the cost of being a disciple of Christ. We do pay "dues" to belong to the church, but we pay them voluntarily, even cheerfully, because of the unmatchable rewards that attend the Christian life.

When do we stop? When have we given enough? Here’s the answer:

"Go, break to needy sweet charity’s bread,

For giving is living," the angel said.

"And must I keep giving again and again?"

My peevish and selfish answer ran.

"Oh, no!" said the angel, piercing me through,

"Just give till the Master stops giving to you!"

(i) LeRoy Lawson ministers with Central Christian Church, Mesa, Arizona, and is president of Pacific Christian College, Fullerton, California. Adapted from The Family of God (Standard Publishing, 1980).