Jesus’ teaching on the cost of discipleship in Luke 14 reminds us the importance of God’s holy family. Even if our earthly family gave us a positive, nurturing, and Christian example in life, we must never forget that our place in God’s family is the most important.

On Sunday afternoon, I was thinking about how the church often lives out this biblical ideal. Hopefully, in coming together to worship God, we start viewing ourselves as one big family united in Christ. It’s no wonder we often refer to fellow church members as sisters and brothers in Christ!

One way the Methodist church has put this “Christian family” idea into practice has been the ministry of the United Methodist Women. The UMW movement with the church was started in 1869 with only 8 devoted women. Now, that number is over 800,000 in official membership. And it goes without saying we were definitely blessed yesterday with the leadership and talents of Concord’s own Methodist Women as we celebrated UMW Sunday!

The overall history of the UMW is truly inspiring, but here are a few highlights:

• The original 1869 group sought to help people through international missions. Specifically, a group of women in Boston were moved to action after meeting a couple missionary spouses. These missionary wives told the group about a massive crisis in India. Women at the time had little access to medical care, schooling, and spiritual enrichment.
• This first UMW group immediately raised the money to send an educator and doctor, Isabella Thoburn and Dr. Clara Swain, to help out with this need. Another fun fact–the school and clinic started by these two missionaries still operate today!
• Past UMW groups have consistently worked to promote the wellbeing of people internationally, from Central America, Africa, to as far as Asia.
• Methodist Women’s Societies often promoted youth education and welcomed young members for their outreach projects.
• Throughout its history, the UMW have tackled many social and ethical dilemmas facing the world, including educating freed slaves after the Civil War, working to overcome racism several decades before the Civil Rights era, and advocating for adequate school funding. Even during one unique instance, the UMW specifically worked to minister to Mormon women who had been abused because of the polygamy system!

I would encourage you to read more about the history in the linked websites below. It really is inspiring in the world of missions and what the church can accomplish… not to mention the countless friendships between Christian women in everyday, local churches like Concord!

The broader point I want to make is this: Throughout history, the women involved in something like UMW have truly lived out what it means to be a member of God’s family.

People like Isabella Thoburn and Dr. Clara Swain had their own “earthly” families. They were obviously someone’s daughter, sister, aunt, or mother. Yet at the same time, however, they responded to God’s call to be a sister to absolutely everyone in need. Many times, this involved raising money to fund schools, programs, and food banks. Other times, it meant even traveling halfway across the world to be a missionary!

At the heart of being a Christian is a simple truth concerning family relationships. Our place in God’s family matters most, and our actions ought to reflect that. We are called to be a brother and sister to our neighbors, treating them with the all-inclusive love of Christ.

Further reading:

• Historical Timeline of the UMW ministry
• Brief History of UMW
• Notable Women of the Methodist Church
• UMW YouTube page

Christians often point to a 10% standard for tithing. I personally think this is a great tradition to strive towards. But what does the bible specifically say about money, personal resources, and giving to the church? Does God literally command we need to have it down to an exact percentage point? You might already guess the answer to this question: It is a bit more complicated than that!

Many Old Testament characters do follow the one-tenth standard. Abram offers God a 10% of everything he owned in Genesis 14:19-20. Jacob had a similar experience in Genesis 28:20-22. Various Mosaic laws command the people to follow this “one out of ten” practice. To share just one example, Leviticus 27:30-34 talks about how every tenth animal is given to the Lord for sacrifice.

Other Old Testament passages clearly advocate a more generous way of living, however, instead of just making a 10% numbers-game. In Deuteronomy 12:5-6, God commands giving the firstborn of all livestock. This is an interesting perspective on giving to God. Perhaps we ought to remember to give first and foremost, rather than from our “leftovers!”

Perhaps most notably in Deuteronomy 26, God outlines how some tithes are used to care for widows, immigrants, and orphaned children. Some people have interpreted and applied passages like these to mean that today, we ought to be giving 10% to the church, and ideally strive to give an additional 10% to some kind of outreach organization serving the poor. So if you’re doing your math, that might mean setting the goal of living off 80% of your earnings and give away 20%.

Generous giving extends further with the early church. One of the most famous verses on giving, Acts 2:45, describes just how truly generous the early church was:

[All the believers] sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.

So instead of pulling out calculators and figuring out a dollar amount, the early church simply gave to whatever need arose. It didn’t matter if someone was rich or poor, the church practiced radical generosity.

2 Corinthians 9:7 might also come to mind, too, when we consider the concept of tithing:

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul tasks the Corinthian church to simply give whatever God has placed on their hearts. It might be 5% or 10%. It could very well be 50% or ever 100%, depending on what God prompts you to do.

Now lets bring these theological ideas and bible passages to today.

America might be rated highly as far as charitable giving goes internationally, but if you ask me, there is a lot of room for improvement. For instance, in some higher income brackets, it is not uncommon to find people giving away less that 3% of their income to charity. Some sociologists of religion found that many Americans give away less than 1% or absolutely nothing each year. While the total amount granted may be a lot–in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually–our overall generosity is rather lacking. Even according to one study, giving rates in recent years have actually declined.

In the Arkansas Conference of the UMC, we do a practice of tithing with our church’s apportionments. 10% of what we collect for offerings goes directly to our conference, and is then distributed to missionaries, college scholarships, youth camps, struggling churches, health clinics, and so on. Hopefully church budgets grow each year, and thereby we can give even more in the future. One of the reasons why I am a Methodist in the first place is that our denomination has historically lived out this sense of generosity… We should at least “practice what we preach” to set a good example for our church members!

That 10% giving goal may be a helpful standard for you to aspire to. But making this all about numbers misses the point completely. The deeper theological significance of giving money is to remember that everything in our life belongs to God. What if we were to continually work to be more generous? What if we were to follow the example of the Acts 2 church and simply give to whatever need arises? What if we only used percentages of giving as a tool to help track how we can give even more as time progresses?

I’ll preface this book summary with a simple reminder: I often read books from authors with which I might disagree. This helps me grow in my role as a pastor to be able to articulate what I do believe, as well as understand differing viewpoints. This was certainly the case (to some extent) for Paula Eisenbaum’s Paul Was Not A Christian: The Original Message of a Misunderstood Apostle.

To share some background, Eisenbaum is a Jewish scholar and has studied the New Testament from a non-Christian perspective. Now, obviously I differ from Eisenbaum’s religious background because I am a Christian. But she does raise several interesting historical and interpretive points in her writing. And I also find it helpful to consider non-Christian perspectives (doing so helps me articulate what I personally believe with my faith!).

Her central argument in the book is that students of the New Testament often examine Paul’s life and ministry through a completely detached perspective from the Jewish tradition. The same can also be said of how we read the four gospels, too, but that is another topic for another book (for instance, we often forget that Jesus was Jewish)! We naturally assume Paul sought to create a completely new “religion” following his encounter with Jesus in Acts. And tragically, many Christians have treated Jews with unkindness and even argue that their faith is “outdated” or some other dismissive term. Anti-semitism is common in our world, with people using stereotypes that might even be connected with harmful religious mistakes of the past.

Instead, closely reading the text will reveal that Paul was convinced of God’s constant involvement with human history. God did not change or reject Israel. Instead, God broadened the boundaries of God’s family. According to Eisenbaum’s reading of Paul, he believed that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ushered in a grand climax to the promise of God. Such a promise “began” with people like Abraham, and continued on with Moses, David, and the prophets from the Hebrew bible.

I disagreed with Eisenbaum’s writing in some areas. For instance, she kind of oversimplifies some New Testament theology. In reality, scripture does say a lot of apparent conflicting things. People have debated the true nature of covenant, law, works, and the like, and these are important debates to have. Towards the end of the book, I thought she could have done a better job of recognizing nuances. Older Pauline books like Philemon sound greatly different that books like Romans (which Paul wrote later in his career). Likewise, Paul might sound a little different depending on what passage someone reads.

I also believed Eisenbaum’s book was missing a noteworthy exploration of a key Old Testament passage: Genesis 12. In this call of Abram story, God proclaims blessing upon Abram’s family and descendants, but also talks about how they will bless all the families of the earth. I think passages like these would have further supported what Eisenbaum argued. God is intimately connected with human history. We as followers of God must always seek to share that blessing with other people.

Nevertheless, my big takeaway or “new perspective” from reading this book is that God is always looking to increase God’s family. God is always willing to draw the circle bigger, to invite more people into fellowship, and to extend salvation rather than being closed off. Eisenbaum and I might disagree with one another in regards to the nature of Christ, but she did a fantastic job of offering a unique, fresh perspective on Paul.