Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him. Mark 12:17
“Give your tithe to God. The rest is yours to save and spend.” Sounds reasonable–right? Except that’s not what the Bible teaches at all…
God loves us. He wants the best for us. And He knows that we thrive when we give ourselves away. Thus, He calls us to be givers–not tithers, not donors, but radical all-in givers.
We did not always understand this, and in some ways we’re still learning it, and relearning it over and over. But this book is about our ongoing journey from mindsets of Spending (Greg) and Saving (John) to the mindset of Servant.
We have learned so much along this journey, but most significantly, we no longer ask “How much should we give?” Rather our question has now become, “How much do we need to keep?”
John Cortines and Gregory Baumer in God and Money: How We Discovered True Riches at Harvard Business School (Carson: Rose, 2016) inside of dust jacket and page 4.
I just got this new book, and I love what I have read so far. Regardless of what others are doing, let’s follow biblical teaching as all-in servant givers!
Cortines and Baumer hit the nail on the head: We must stop using cultural terms like “donor” which connote “ownership” of what is given. We don’t own anything. It all belongs to God.
Also, neither Jesus nor the apostles and disciples after him instructed followers to “tithe” so we shouldn’t either. It sends them back to the slavery of the Law.
I fly to Ohio today. I get to have dinner with my parents and my sister’s family before a speaking engagement tomorrow. Thank you Lord for family members that are all-in servant givers.