This is part two of three of an article I am posting by Dr. Robertson McQuilkin. He is the President Emeritus of Columbia International University in South Carolina and he passed away in back in 2016. He was a godly man who loved Jesus and lived radically for Him. He described 6 different stages of spiritual maturity and relates it to the way that we give. I’ll post 2 stages at a time, progressing in maturity levels. I hope you enjoy this insight from a spiritual giant in the faith. As you read, honestly ask yourself, “When Jesus looks at my giving and spiritual maturity, does He see me in this stage?” Let’s all pray together that we can grow in our giving and in our maturity!
Measuring Maturity (Giving) Part 2
By Robertson McQuilkin
Elementary: Legalistic Giving
When a Christian moves from sporadic impulse giving to giving as a way of life, he often becomes a tither. “Will a man rob God? But you have robbed me.” “How do we rob you?” “In tithes and offerings.” (Mal. 3:8)
The kindergarten Christian hears that and says, “Thatʼs Old Testament legalism.” Jesus, too, had problems with the legalists of his day, the Pharisees. They were so careful to obey the Law—measuring even the harvest of tiny herbal seeds to give God his tenth. But they were not so devoted to the heavy concerns of God.
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect the justice and the love of God.” (Lk. 11:42)
Surprisingly, Jesus did not tell them to stop tithing. “What you should do,” he remonstrated, “is concentrate on the big ones—justice and the love of God and donʼt stop tithing.” Itʼs better to give legalistically, apparently, than not to give illegalistically! Tithing is the elementary, basic level of giving, but the majority of faithful church members do not even reach this stage of giving.
After I had spoken on giving at a large influential church, the church business manager called me aside. The church had every sign of dynamic vitality, including a budget of over $3,000,000, a third of which was for missions—a sure sign of clear biblical priorities. “We did a demographic study of our congregation,” he said, “and discovered that if every member quit their job, went on unemployment, and began to tithe, we could double our budget!” Tithing moves the Christian from impulse, kindergarten level giving to giving as a way of life.
Secondary: Honest Managership
One of the clearest passages on managership is the story Christ told about the cheating manager. (Lk. 16) The story is straightforward: an owner discovered his manager was a cheat. When the owner announced his intention to fire him,the shrewd fellow used his bossʼs assets to win friends for himself—officially canceling large portions of othersʼ debts. Jesus made a single point: even worldlings are smart enough to use available resources to prepare for their future. So why are the “people of the light”—who should know better—acting so stupidly?
“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Lk. 16:9)
Jesus contrasted temporal and eternal wealth: the temporal is very little at best, sort of a test; the eternal, great wealth (v. 10); the temporal, fake, like play money; the eternal, the real thing (v. 11). The punch line: Even that small amount of play money you have isnʼt yours! You are just a manager of some of Godʼs property (v. 12). Itʼs impossible to live for both, to work with equal fervor for temporal and eternal payoffs—you cannot serve both God and money (v. 13). The audience, having a love affair with money, scoffed at his teaching (v. 14). So he told those cheating managers using Godʼs property for their own benefit what their final payoff would be: an eternity in hell (vs. 19-23).
This teaching rocked my life. As a young adult, I continued my childhood pattern of tithing. God got his ten percent first. Always. It was like paying taxes. But when it became clear to me that I was not the owner at all, just a manager of anotherʼs property, I stood convicted as an embezzler. I was avidly getting, saving and spending 90% of Godʼs property on myself without a qualm. I shrank from managership, fearing to lose the good life. Finally I concluded that the cost of disobedience was too high and yielded to Godʼs will. Suddenly it was as if my cage door swung open, setting me free! If the corporation is his property, itʼs his responsibility. And so am I! I no longer needed to worry about finances—that was his concern. My responsibility is simply to be an honest manager.
The manager looks at the Kingʼs business differently from a tither. Tithers look at their paycheck, calculate the 10% and ask, “where should I invest this?” The manager looks at the needs of the business and asks, “How can I rearrange my resources to meet this great need?”
The angels from their realm on high
Look down on us with wondering eye
That where we are but passing guests
We build such strong and solid nests
And where we hope to live for aye
We scarce take thought one stone to lay
Jesus says, “Thatʼs dumb, really dumb. You should use whatever I have put under your control now to build your eternal estate. Donʼt squander my possessions building your own petty kingdom here on earth. At least be an honest manager.”
