“There’s Gold in Them Thar Pews!”
—A Review of Rod Rogers’ Pastor Driven Stewardship

A symptom of a scandal in Christendom! These words sum up my opinion of Mr. Rogers’ 286-page book, Pastor Driven Stewardship—10 Steps to Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving, published by Brown Books (www.brownbooks.com). The scandal—the institutional “church” and the unbiblical means it often uses to satisfy its need for cash-flow—is manifested here by one of its symptoms, a how-to-manual designed to help meet that insatiable cash-flow appetite. Rod has served up a ten-step system designed to equip pastors of these “churches” to significantly increase the giving of the people sitting in the pews. In fact, the chapter that introduces the ten-step system is appropriately called, “There’s Gold in Them Thar Pews!” The book even comes with a “money-back guarantee” and promises the pastor using the ten-step system, “Your church’s giving will increase by at least 10 percent within five weeks of beginning your stewardship series, or we will give your money back,” plus various “free online stewardship resources” and “discounts on Dynamic Giving System products.”

Right up front I want to acknowledge the immense financial pressure faced by many if not most pastors in the traditional “church.” As with any business enterprise the overhead costs are relentless and often high. They have to be covered somehow. Guess how. The customers, sometimes designated as “tithing units,” otherwise known in this book as the pew-sitters, must pick up the tab, or else. The sad reality here is that the monetary pressure is felt by both the managers of the business—the pastor(s)—and also by the ones in the pews (a financial burden unknown to the house churches of the early church and today). The temptation here is obvious—to persuade, cajole, induce, and/or pressure the pew-sitters, whether they be 20 or 20,000, into giving as much money as possible to fund the operation. Books like Pastor Driven Stewardship are written to help assuage this “need.” Here the plot thickens, and as they say, “it takes two to tango.” Rod Rogers’ book purports to help pastors meet their need for cash flow in a “biblical” way, but unfortunately it falls short in this category big-time! The book’s failings would end here were it not for the other side of the equation—the struggling “pastor” who, either through a lack of discernment and/or an uncaring heart, puts this book into practice. And so the harmful flames of this grievous scandal are allowed to spread and to do their destructive work within Christendom.

To be blunt, Pastor Driven Stewardship is a masterpiece of deception, and a classic on how to manipulate God’s people out of their money. Claiming and appearing to be biblical, it cites many scriptures either out of context or applies them inappropriately. But most disturbing are the number of scripturally unsubstantiated premises upon which this book rests. A few that I will address throughout this article include:

The institutional “church” is a New Testament patterned entity. Giving to it is “giving to God.”

Good “stewardship” means a Christian should always give money sacrificially and regularly to the institutional “church.”

Giving at least 10 percent of their money (“tithing”) is something God wants all Christians to continually do.

The Word of God says that the Lord’s people are precious to Him and should never be exploited, or made “merchandise of.” So says 2 Peter 2:3. Instead, this book depicts the saints as objects of wealth to be mined! Its underlying goal is to show pastors how to do it! As Mr. Rogers says, “Sitting in your pews each week is a gold mine of resources waiting to be lovingly extracted and put to work for Christ.” Unfortunately for the author’s ultimate victims—the gullible sheep—his methods can neither be accomplished “lovingly” or “for Christ.” Perhaps a better title for his book should be “Pastor Driven Fleecing.”

Before I proceed to an examination of the book’s contents I confess that I had a hard time getting past the cover. First of all, the title Pastor Driven Stewardship creates a wrong impression of the responsibility of a “pastor.” A pastor (a synonymous term for shepherd) isn’t ever supposed to “drive” the sheep, but to lead the sheep by example! 1 Peter 5:2-3 says for elders to “shepherd the flock of God among you…not lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” The title also assumes that a single pastor is leading a church assembly, not the plurality of elders consistently mentioned throughout the New Testament. And the word “stewardship” is simply the wrong word. Why not call it what it really is—giving? But where in the New Testament does the word “stewardship” ever mean the giving of money? It’s not as eye catching, but a more biblical title would be, “Elders As Examples Of Giving.” But then the contents would have nothing to do with the title! Even the subtitle—“10 Steps to Lead Your Church to Biblical Giving”—would have made a more appropriate title, although the words “Your Church” are unscriptural and offensive,[1] and the phrase “Biblical Giving” is ambiguous. For example, “Biblical Giving” could mean tithing, but the NT never commands tithing,[2] nor does it ever present tithing to New Covenant believers “as a guide-line for leading God’s people into faithful stewardship.” Also, the cover’s money-back guarantee—“Increase Your Church’s Giving 10%-60% in 5 Weeks or Your Money Back!”—is simply a cheap, worldly gimmick! It smacks of a shameless consumer-driven approach to church leadership. Furthermore, the picture on the book’s cover of several one hundred dollar bills inside a money clip with a Christian fish symbol on it is crass and repulsive, but it does hint at the true nature of the book within—the exploitation of Christians for their money!

Pastor Driven Stewardship begins with two huge unsubstantiated assumptions: (1) The institutional “church” is a model of church life spoken of in the NT, and (2) giving to it equals “giving to God.” But where do we find biblical support for either assumption? NT Scripture knows nothing of ecclesiastical and institutional machinery such as dedicated buildings, salaries, and other weighty overhead expenses inextricably linked with today’s traditional “churches.” And as far as the second assumption goes, under the Old Covenant the widow in Mark 12:41-44 gave all she had to the temple treasury, but under the New Covenant we no longer give to a physical temple. Instead, “we [believers] are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16 and see 1 Cor. 3:17) and “a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21). Therefore, shouldn’t giving to those in Christ (see Matthew 25:34-40) as well as to those in need who cross our path (Luke 6:30-36; 10:25-37) be what it truly means to “give to God”?

In fact, what is so disappointing about Pastor Driven Stewardship is that it turns a blind eye to all the Christian-to-Christian sharing found in the NT,[3] and instead seeks to perpetuate an anti-biblical fantasy—that Christians need to give mainly into the offering plate of the institutional “church.” Rod conveniently overlooks the following plentiful references for New Covenant giving in which there are basically two kinds of recipients: (1) Other Christians in need (Matt. 25:35-40; Acts 6:1 and 11:27-30; Romans 12:13 and 15:26-27; 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8:4 and 9:1,12-13; 1 Timothy 5:16; James 2:14-16; 1 John. 3:16-18), and (2) “elders” and itinerants who serve humbly as faithful guides and teachers of the Word (Matt. 10:10; Luke 10:7; 1 Cor. 9:4-14; Gal. 6:6; 2 Thess. 3:7-9; 1 Tim. 5:17-18; 2 Tim. 2:6).[4] As many of the above scriptures indicate, not all Christians are expected to be giving all the time. It’s obvious why. There are times when we ourselves might need to be on the receiving end! For example, Paul lets the Corinthians know that although they are givers at present, someday they may need the help of the now poor Jerusalem saints: “At this present time your abundance for their need, so that their abundance may also be for your need, so that there may be equality” (2 Cor. 8:14). But Pastor Driven Stewardship completely fails to mention this fact because it assumes Christian giving has everything to do with the unending financial needs of the business “church”—and little else!

Another stinging indictment of this book is that nowhere on its pages is there any mention of that which jumps out at you from reading both Old and New Testaments—caring for the poor, the handicapped, the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger. The focus of Pastor Driven Stewardship is the assumed priority of the traditional “church” budget, where monies are given essentially toward perpetuating a building, maintenance, and staff salaries. Years ago Howard Snyder pointed out in The Problem of Wineskins that it was unconscionable that so much in church budgets should go to institutional structures and trappings, and so little in comparison to people in need.

Pastor Driven Stewardship boasts that it can teach pastors how to “lead your church into greatly increased giving, biblically, without pressure or guilt, within 5 weeks.” It indeed may help the budget-driven pastor achieve increased giving within 5 weeks, but to say its methods are without pressure and guilt is simply not true! For example, the book includes a complete sample sermon based on Malachi 3:7-12, a law-based text intended by God to press upon Israel the curses of the Old Covenant—in this case, for not tithing as they should. Rod wants pastors to preach this text to Christians, telling them that they can “rob God of His money” and incur His curse in the form of “financial troubles.” Has Mr. Rogers ever heard of the New Covenant? Didn’t Christ redeem us “from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13)? On this subject Rod sends very confusing signals! On the one hand, in a section called “The Truth About The Tithe,” he correctly says, “I do not believe that the new covenant believer is commanded anywhere in the Bible to give 10 percent of his income to God.” If so, why then does he vigorously promote tithing everywhere else in his book, even to the extent of pressing hard the Malachi passage, which by itself can subjugate a believer’s conscience to the Mosaic Law? According to the Apostle Paul, preaching such a perverted gospel has a “disturbing” and “troubling” influence upon the spiritual and emotional life of a Christian (Galatians 1:7 and 5:12).

Rod speaks of “obedient giving” and “to bring many to obedience in the area of giving.” But obedience to what? I can find only two references in the NT where we are commanded to give. One of them is Luke 6:30:[5] “And to everyone who asks you, give. And do not ask back from those taking your things.” The giving here goes directly to the one in need. This does not depict giving to a church structure as advocated in Pastor Driven Stewardship. Nevertheless, there is a consistent general theme in the NT of giving freely, such as that voiced by the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 9:7, “Let each one [do] as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The whole of Scripture makes abundantly clear (and Rod points out many of these passages in his book) that giving freely out of kindness and love is a great blessing for the giver. As Jesus Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). The point is: under grace we are encouraged to give freely and cheerfully to those in need per 2 Cor. 9:7. But phrases in the book such as “obedient giving” and “obedient stewardship,” are simply foreign to the New Testament.

Rod also misapplies 1 Cor. 16:1-4: “Now concerning the collection for the saints…on the first day of the week let each one of you put aside, storing up whatever he is prospered, that no collections be made when I [Paul] come.” He claims this passage teaches that we (the pew sitters) are to plan ahead and set aside at regular intervals at least “10 percent of our income and give it to the Lord,” which according to Mr. Rogers really entails a “priority” of giving to one’s “local church.” In context, however, these verses tell a different story. They are Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians for a specific famine relief offering for suffering Christians in Jerusalem in which: (1) the offering was not intended for the pastors’ or for the local church’s use at all, but for Christians in need in a far away city, (2) it was a special offering and did not constitute indefinite giving, and (3) the amount to be collected was not 10 percent, but according as each one was prospered by God.

In addition, Rod pulls phrases from 2 Cor. 8:2-3 that have to do with the Macedonian’s giving sacrificially “out of their deep poverty” and “beyond their ability” (towards the same famine relief offering for Jerusalem saints) to suggest that all Christians should give continually in similar fashion to their institutional “church.” What a stretch!

Now concerning the word “stewardship.” Mr. Rogers correctly defines a steward as “someone who manages the resources of another to accomplish the goals of the owner.” In his book, however, the word “stewardship” does not reflect that definition! Instead, it appears non-stop throughout Pastor Driven Stewardship as a euphemism for giving. In the NT “steward” and “stewardship” are translations of three similar Greek words: oikonomeo, meaning ‘to manage’; oikonomia, meaning ‘administration’; and oikonomos, meaning ‘manager’ or ‘overseer.’ Other than the parable of “the faithful and sensible steward” (Luke 12:35-48) and the parable of “the unrighteous steward” (Luke 16:1-8)—both of which speak of household stewards—I have listed below the nine other locations in the NT where our three Greek words are found. Try to guess how many of them pertain to a Christian responsibility to give money at all, much less to give it to an institutional “church”:

(1) Romans 16:23—“Erastus, the manager of the city, and Quartus the brother, greet you.”

(2) 1 Cor. 4:1-2—“Let a man regard us [Paul and Sosthenes] as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God…it is required of stewards that one be found faithful.”

(3) 1 Cor. 9:17—“For if I do this [preach the gospel] willing, I have a reward, but if unwilling, I am entrusted with a stewardship…”

(4) Gal. 4:2—“…but [the child heir] is under guardians and overseers until the date set by the father.”

(5) Eph. 1:10—“…with a view to an administration of the fullness of times; to head up all things in Christ…”

(6) Eph. 3:2—“…if indeed, you heard of the stewardship of the grace of God, given to me [Paul] for you [Gentiles]…”

(7) Col. 1:25—“…of which [Christ’s body, the church] I [Paul] became a servant, according to the stewardship of God given to me for you to fulfill the word of God…

(8) Titus 1:7—“For the overseer must be blameless, as a steward of God…”

(9) 1 Peter 4:10—“As each one has received a [spiritual] gift, minister it unto yourselves as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” [6]

Is there any indication in these passages that the words “steward(s)” and “stewardship” carry the meaning that Rod Rodgers assumes in his book—i.e., a spiritual responsibility of all pew-sitters to support institutional Christianity? Of course not! In fact, nowhere do we read that we are stewards even of our own money and possessions! God is certainly the source and the giver, but He has made us owners with authority over our own property. For example, in Acts 5:1-4 when Ananias held back some of the proceeds of the sale of his property and lied about doing so, the Apostle Peter told him, “While [your property] remained [unsold], did it not remain your own? And when it was sold, was it not in your authority?”

And where in the world are the saints ever instructed in Scripture to be “good stewards” by giving away their money? If stewardship applies to anyone it applies instead to the ones who collect and distribute donations! Such people are expected by the givers to act responsibly with their (the givers’) money. The Apostle Paul and Titus in 2 Cor. 8 and 9 demonstrated proper stewardship of the money being entrusted to them by the Macedonians and the Corinthians for the needy saints in Jerusalem. The text oozes with concern that the saints’ money will be faithfully handled and distributed, such as in 2 Cor. 8:20-21: “…taking precaution lest anyone should blame us in this abundance which is being administered by us; considering in advance for what is honest, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.” Now that’s true stewardship! But in these two great chapters on principles of New Covenant giving, “stewardship” as Mr. Rogers means it—the saints giving of their money—is never mentioned!

I must now bring up an issue that is rarely addressed anywhere, and it is especially unsung in the institutional “church” culture of Pastor Driven Stewardship. Looming behind the façade of so-called “biblical giving” erected by Rod Rogers in his book is the important issue of burdening the saints financially! The Apostle Paul was deeply concerned about this. Consider his heart-felt words in 1 Thess. 2:9-10: “For you recall, brethren, our labor and travail, how working night and day so as not to put a burden on any one of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You and God are witnesses, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we were to you believers…(1 Thess. 2:9-10) According to Paul it is clearly unholy, unrighteous, and blameful behavior on the part of a pastor to place any financial burden on the neck of Christians that they were never meant to bear! The same concern of Paul can be seen in 1 Timothy 5:16 where the Apostle seeks to prevent the saints’ money from going to widows who already have believing relatives to help them: “If any believing man or woman has [dependent] widows, let them relieve them, and do not burden the church, that it may relieve those who are widows indeed.” What do you imagine Paul would think about the unnecessary financial burden placed on the saints today to build and maintain the physical facilities of most traditional “churches”? [7]

Now look closely at 2 Cor. 12:14, where Paul completely discredits the entire purpose of Rod’s book, when he tells the Corinthians Christians, “Behold, I am ready to come to you a third time. And I will not burden you, for I do not seek what is yours, but you.” A genuine pastor who loves his fellow believers seeks only how he can serve them, not how he can take more of their money!!! On the other hand, Pastor Driven Stewardship instructs today’s pastor how to do what to Paul would be unthinkable—to burden the church—and to do it in “10 Steps” or get his money back! What a striking difference. What a tragedy.

Here in a nutshell is what is so odious about Pastor Driven Stewardship: it teaches and encourages “the pastor” how to manipulate and exploit (“make merchandise of”) the children of God into falsely believing they should always give sacrificially of their money, and that it should go first and foremost to the pastor’s institutional “church.” Mr. Rogers’ methods are subtle and insidious, and are designed to come across in a “loving” way. But misinterpreting and misapplying the Word of God of both Testaments, even going as far as to pervert the gospel by subjecting born-again saints to the Old Covenant law of tithing, is certainly a serious enough scandal! But Rod’s unscrupulous scripture-twisting techniques are intended for the purpose of increasing cash flow to a business entity—the institutional “church”—where the giving leads ultimately to the pastor’s own aggrandizement! What could be more scandalous?

While Jesus was still on earth, with whom was He the most visibly upset? According to Mark 11:15-17, it was toward “all those who were buying and selling in the Temple.” What did he do? “He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the Temple.” His own words indicate the seriousness of what was taking place: “It is written, ‘My House shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations,’ but you have made it a den of thieves.” Hebrews 3:6 says that we, the saints, are Christ’s “house,” and 2 Cor. 6:16 says that we are “the temple of the living God.” Now connect the dots. Today’s equivalent of the Temple thieves are so-called pastors who follow the methods and dictates of Mr. Roger’s book and others, and eagerly consider the “temple of the living God”—that is, the saints gathered together, the people entrusted to them by Christ to shepherd—as “a gold mine of resources” waiting to be extracted! Elders/pastors/bishops are supposed to shepherd “voluntarily” [8] and to not be “shamefully greedy for money” (1Peter 5:2 and see 1 Tim. 3:3).

Can you imagine for a moment how even more serious this is than what took place in the Temple between Jesus and the moneychangers? The ones being “merchandized” today are the ones He died for—His house, His body, His Bride! The Lord cannot be pleased with the perpetrators of this huge scandal in Christendom. Pastor Driven Stewardship has only added fuel to the fire!

In the final analysis, here is the real tragedy. This whole issue highlights the fact that in practice too many church leaders do not trust the Lord when it comes to finances. They do not believe that it is sufficient to set the example of Christ’s sacrificial love before God’s people and then let the Holy Spirit guide in the response to NT-sanctioned needs. Instead, these leaders resort to misapplying Scripture and using high-pressure tactics involving guilt and intimidation, even holding the Law of Moses (i.e. Malachi 3:7-12) over the heads of the saints who have supposedly already been delivered from the Law. The thought of simply presenting Christ as crucified before the flock is too frightening and too vulnerable. “Tithing” seems to provide a method that guarantees continuous overflowing coffers, but, as even Mr. Rogers concedes, the NT nowhere requires such a practice by New Covenant believers. The NT ethic is, “Christ has given Himself in response to our need, so let us give generously and freely to others in need” (I John 3:16-18; 4:9-11). If such fundamental teaching were the steady diet of Christians, there would be no “need” for a book like Pastor Driven Stewardship!

John Alexander, Your Money or Your Life: A New Look at Jesus’ View of Wealth & Power, Harper, 1986, 251pp.

Tom Atkinson, “How Should We Then Give? A Detailed Overview of Old Versus New Covenant Giving.” Originally prsented at a conference in Colfax, LA, November 4, 2006. It can be read at www.searchingtogether.org.

Pierre Berton, “The Casting Out of the Outcasts,” The Comfortable Pew, Lippincott, 1965, pp.76-79.

Vernard Eller, The Simple Life: The Christian Stance Toward Possessions, Eerdmans, 1973.

Larry Eskridge & Mark Noll, eds., More Money, More Ministry: Money & Evangelicals in Recent North American History, Eerdmans, 2000, 429pp.

Justo L. Gonzalez, Faith & Wealth: A History of Early Christian Ideas On the Origin, Significance & Use of Money, Harper, 1990, 240pp.

John Green, “The Tithing Sermon You’ll Never Hear,” Searching Together, 30:4, 2002, pp.15-16.

Horace M. Kallen, “Buildings, Clergy & Money” [1947], Searching Together, 28:1-3, 2000, pp.25-38.

Matthew Narramore, Tithing: Low-Realm, Obsolete & Defunct, Tekoa Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0974558702.

“Perspectives On New Covenant Giving,” Searching Together, 16:4, 1987, pp.1-19; articles by Frank Clarke, Scott Collier, John J. Mitchell & Jon Zens.

Frank Viola, “Tithes & Clergy Salaries,” Pagan Christianity: The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices, Present Testimony, 2002, pp.217-229.

Jon Zens, “Each According to His Ability: Principles of New Covenant Giving,” Searching Together, 8:2, 1979, pp.33-44.

Searching Together Magazine/Bookstore, Box 377, Taylors Falls, MN 55084-0377; 651-465-6516; jzens@searchingtogether.org

Here’s part of a letter from a church leader who read Tom’s review article of PDS:

“Dear Jon: I just read it Tom’s review. Well done. I had the joy of sharing your [1979] article on NT giving with the elders here and then it was taught to the saints. Our giving went up like crazy as the saints were freed from the tithing mentality and as they saw the joy in freely, willingly, joyously, and voluntarily giving of their resources” (Dayton, OH)

Mr.Zens,

Below is my response to your review. You have my permission to publish
it in its unedited entirety.

--------------

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to respond to Searching
Together's review of my book Pastor Driven Stewardship. Here are just
a few thoughts for your readers to ponder. First, I assure you that I
wrote it to help pastors bring their flocks into the same spiritual,
emotional, and financial blessings that my own people, and countless
others, have enjoyed as a direct result of practicing its biblical
giving principles. Rather than feeling "exploited" or finding these
teachings a "burden," my church family experienced incredible liberation
in their spiritual and financial lives as a result. They thanked me
regularly for having the courage to share these truths with them. I'm
glad to read that we agree on the truth that tithing is not a New
Covenant giving obligation. Frankly, I think most believers should be
giving away much more than 10 percent of their income to God's work
(however you want to define that). I agree that the modern institutional
church has many failings. But I also believe 1) that many good and
biblical ministries take place in the institutional church and 2) that
giving to support those ministries is giving to God. Referring to the
church one leads as "my church" is no more an arrogant claim to possess
or dominate it, than is referring to the God one serves as "my God"
(E.g., Exod. 15:2), or to the neighborhood in which one lives as "my
neighborhood." I find most people have no difficulty understanding that.
Also, most of my readers have understood that phrases such as "There's
gold in them thar' pews!" are tongue-in-cheek, rhetorical devices
designed to catch attention and drive home a biblical point with a bit
of humor. We pastors can be way too uptight in many areas, including
teaching on money and giving. I'm simply trying to nudge us into a
healthier biblical perspective by using a little "over the top," playful
exaggeration. I'm sure that readers of Pastor Driven Stewardship will
decide for themselves whether or not I achieved that goal.

-----------------------

Blessings! Rod

Thanks for your reply to Tom's review. However, I'm utterly baffled by your response. Tom raised many issues related to how you handled NT texts. Your words do not address his critical points. The issue is not what you intended to do in your book. You know as well as I that good intentions do not inherently prove anything. Isn't the central issue whether or not what you wrote in the book is faithful to New Testament teaching? You admit that tithing is not the New Covenant way of giving, yet your book does nothing but promote an Old Covenant percentage-point approach to giving -- including the guilt-inducing use of Malachi 3:7-12. The blurb sent along with your book states, "At one point 70 percent of his church members were tithing." So why is there so much rejoicing over the fact that people are led to practice that for which you concede has no NT precedent?

The offering of a "money back guarantee" smacks of a world-driven, gimmicky, carnal approach to obtain responses. Surely you will not claim that such an offer is a tongue-in-cheek rhetorical device. I think it is safe to assume that any reflective pew-sitter would feel demeaned and exploited by being viewed as an ore to be mined by the person behind a pulpit.

There is a huge chasm between believers confessing, "My God," and a pastor saying, "My church...my elders...my deacons...my board...my pulpit...my staff." In terms of actual practice, such remarks reflect the unbiblical tradition that the pastor has the final say, that he is in charge, and that the buck stops with him.

The constant refrain in the endorsements by church leaders of your book is "thoroughly biblical." How can this be? For a book to be biblical at least two things would have to be true. First, biblical texts used to show that something is true would have to be handled correctly. Secondly, the conclusions set forth as a course of action would have to be based on a proper summary of the biblical information. Tom has shown in many cases that the way you used proof texts was incorrect and out of context. Even you concede that tithing is not required of believers, yet you push what is without biblical basis -- tithing -- on your readers and those in the pews! How, then, can it be affirmed with any integrity that your book is biblical?

Offerings could be increased by any number of pragmatic methods. "Success" defined by more giving does not indicate that a method is in line with Christ's teaching, does it? I thought we were committed to vigorously searching the Scriptures to see what is so, and then practicing that revelation. Are you?

[1] Pastor Driven Stewardship contains other similar statements, such as “your people” and “your flock.” On the contrary, the church belongs to Jesus Christ, paid for by His own blood. It doesn’t belong to the pastor! Yet many leaders constantly talk about “my church,” “my deacons,” “my board,” “my elders,” and “my staff.” Instead, the Word of God describes the pastors’ relationship to believers as, “God’s flock among you” and “the ones allotted to you” (1 Peter 5: 2-3). The “flock” is not the pastors’ flock! It is “God’s flock” over which Christ Himself is the “great shepherd of the sheep” (Heb. 13:20) and the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4).

[2] God’s commands to tithe are located only in the Old Testament, and do not involve money! The tithing laws were intended solely for physical Israelites and were limited to a tenth of their produce and livestock. Tithing’s main purpose was to provide compensation for the tribe of Levi who had no land of their own, in return for their service at the sanctuary. The tithe also served a secondary purpose of contributing food and drink for annual and tri-annual celebrations in Israel. It is significant that incidents of Abraham and Jacob tithing before the Mosaic Law—one to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20 and Heb: 7:1-10) and the other to God only if certain conditions were met (Genesis 28:20-22)—are not cited in the NT to encourage New Covenant believers to likewise tithe. We are encouraged, however, to imitate the faith of these men (Rom. 4; Gal. 3:5-9; Heb. 11:8-19,21).

3 Capturing the entire spirit of the NT perspective on giving is Ephesians 4:28—“The one who has been stealing must steal no more, but let him labor, working with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one having need.” One of the central reasons we work is so that we can use our resources to help others who lack. The effects of ministry are enhanced when the recipient receives help directly from the giver(s).

[4] Some may point to such passages as 1 Tim. 5:18—“For the Scripture says… ‘The laborer is worthy of his pay’” —as justification for the position of a salaried pastor amidst institutional “church” trappings. But as early church life proved, fulfilling these scriptures does not justify nor necessitate the existence of a burdensome ecclesiastical infrastructure.

[5] The other is Matthew 5:42 (a parallel verse to Luke 6:30), but it reads differently, depending on which Greek text is used. The Nestle-Aland text has, “Give (imperative) to him asking you, and do not turn away him wishing to borrow from you.” The Majority text has, “(to) him asking you to give and him wishing to borrow from you, do not turn away.”

[6] The Apostle Peter uses the term “good stewards” here to encourage believers to mutually minister their spiritual gifts to one another. God has entrusted the body of Christ with various spiritual gifts that are given for the purpose of serving and edifying itself. (See also Eph. 4:15-16) And according to Romans 12:6-8 these “gifts differ according to the grace given to us.” One of the “gifts” given to some (not all) saints is the gift of giving (v. 8). In this case, the generous giving of money and other things may be involved, but it is to be used to serve other saints in need. Certainly “good stewards” in 1 Peter 4:10 has nothing to do with Christians giving their money en masse to the institutional “church”!

[7] Isn’t it utterly fascinating that the early church could do so much to advance the kingdom of God, and yet have virtually no overhead? Resources—monetary and otherwise—went directly to the needs, even though the financial abilities of the saints were often paltry. Sacrificial giving was evidenced very quickly after the Day of Pentecost, and with no fanfare or bureaucracy, people were taken care of, with the result that “there were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:34). Now we have inordinate amounts of ecclesiastical overhead, and one is left to wonder how much of it really advances Christ’s kingdom, or if it is being squandered in order to buttress the empires of individual church leaders and denominations.

[8] This word in 1 Peter 5:2 can also be translated ‘willingly’ and seems to strongly suggest that elders are not to “shepherd the flock of God” with an incentive of making money. Also, being monetarily employed introduces the idea of “compulsion” to the work. Instead, elders are to shepherd as “not under compulsion, but voluntarily.”