Resources

Many informative articles were published in our parish newsletters in the years prior to Covid. Email to the friends and faithful of Holy Cross has replaced our newsletters, but many of the articles are collected here. Use the indexes below to find the topic or author you’re interested in. (Once you click on a topic or author, scroll to the bottom of the page to see the search results.)

Also, have a look at the Recommended Readings on the OCA (Orthodox Church in America) website for a list of books covering a wide range of topics. Essential Orthodox Christian Beliefs: A Manual for Adult Instruction is also available for free download on the OCA’s website.

(Speaking of our parent jurisdiction, the OCA traces its origins to the arrival in Kodiak, Alaska in 1794 of eight Orthodox missionaries from the Valaamo Monastery in the northern Karelia region of Russia. Today, the OCA includes some 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries, and institutions throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.)

We hope you’ll find these suggested readings to be both edifying and encouraging!

Fr Thomas Zell 10/30/25 Fr Thomas Zell 10/30/25

The Trail of the Tithe

It all begins with an idea.

Fr. Thomas Zell

February 2016

One of my earliest childhood memories is of piling into the back of our family car on Sunday morning and heading off to our little Baptist church in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Along with ensuring that my brother and I were properly cleaned and dressed for the occasion, my father would always drop several coins into our hands, so that we in turn could drop them into the offering plate at church. Tithing was something Dad faithfully practiced all his life, and he wanted to make sure his sons followed suit. Having lived with this tradition for so long, and loving it so much, it is hard for me now to stop and look at it objectively. But since the concept has become somewhat an object of debate today, I would like to examine both the myth and the realities behind this practice, and to follow the trail of the tithe.

Tithing in the Old Testament

In English, Greek, and Hebrew, the word “tithe” comes from a derivative of the number “ten,” and means the setting aside of a tenth of one’s income for a specific, often religious purpose. Tithing is an ancient practice—very ancient.The Trail of the TitheWhile tithing is a critical practice of the Old Covenant, it did not originate with Moses and the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. In the biblical account, the tithe actually shows up some five centuries before the Law was given. We first hear of it in the Book of Genesis. On his way home from rescuing his nephew Lot from captivity, Abraham journeys through the land of Canaan and encounters a mysterious man named Melchizedek, who was both king of the city of Salem (modern Jerusalem) and priest of the most High God. In Genesis 14:18–20 we read that when Abraham drew near, Melchizedek came out to meet him, blessed him (a story in itself), and Abraham in return gave Melchizedek “a tithe of all.” The writer of the Book of Hebrews makes a point of saying that through Abraham Levi himself, and thus, the entire levitical system established through Moses, paid a tithe to this ancient and enigmatic figure.The Trail of the TitheWe are not told who told Abraham to tithe (it wasn’t Melchizedek), what guidelines he was following, why he felt compelled to provide this portion of his goods, where the idea originated, or when it came to be a custom. The Genesis story simply relates what took place and moves on without comment. While scholars disagree as to the meaning of all this, we do know for certain that the custom was not unique to Israel. It is a matter of historical record that many other ancient nations (Sumer, for example) practiced some form of tithing in the early days of civilization. As the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia notes, tithing is a practice that is “ancient and deeply rooted in the history of the human race.”

Not a Tithe but Tithes

It is also important to remember that for the nation of Israel and for faithful Jews during the Old Testament period, not just one, but three separate tithes were prescribed. In simplified form, the three tithes were:

1) An annual tithe, to be paid towards the support of the Levites, priests, and other religious personnel, who were not allowed an inheritance of their own and thus were at the mercy of the state (see Numbers 18:21–24).

2) A separate annual feast tithe, which went towards the expenses and upkeep of the Temple, and the various feasts and sacrifices surrounding it (see Deuteronomy 14:22–27).

3) A third-year tithe for the poor of the land, and again for the Levite (see Deuteronomy 26:12f). So to “run the numbers,” by the time all of these various tithes were paid into the treasuries, along with the various other taxes, offerings, and contributions, it is likely that a faithful Israelite male under the Old Covenant paid closer to a third of his annual income toward some form of tithe, not just ten percent!

The Spirit Behind the Law

Crunching numbers is one thing. More significant is the question why? Why did God demand this regular offering of a percentage of personal income? Consider the following observations.

1) The tithe was not optional under the Old Covenant. It’s not human nature to reach into hard-earned savings and pull out a portion for a purpose beyond the support of one’s family. Many ancient Israelites were tempted to look for loopholes in this commandment—and to their spiritual detriment, some succeeded. The prophet Malachi speaks directly to this point. By his day, Malachi needed to address his message not to a single group, but to practically the entire nation: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house” (Malachi 3:8–10). This is tough talk—and it is not unique to Malachi. Many other harsh words such as this can be found elsewhere in the writings of the Old Testament prophets.

2) The paying of the tithe was first and foremost an act of worship, not merely a duty. When it comes to finances, we often tend to think in secular, rather than religious concepts. We owe our money to the bank, the credit card company, or the IRS. God, on the other hand, gets the spiritual stuff—or at least it often plays out that way. The perspective of the Mosaic Covenant was much more holistic when it came to such matters. Rather than a nagging debt to be settled over and over again, year after year, the payment of the tithe was seen to be a privilege—an act of worship, a reasonable sacrifice, a giving back to God of a portion of that which He has given to His people.

This is even more obvious in an agrarian economy such as that of the ancient world. Today, we rarely even see the money used to pay most expenses. It clicks over from some unseen electronic fund, and tumbles out of an impersonal bank account over the phone lines. Other than a deduction in the checkbook, we hardly notice the transaction. In ancient days, the tithe was not so much a matter of bringing in gold and coins (although that happened). It was more a giving to God from the fruit of one’s own toil and sweat. It was the first and best fruit of the land: wheat, wine, oil, produce, and firstlings of livestock.

3) The tithe was considered to be a minimum standard, not the total of all giving. This can be seen clearly throughout the passages of the Old Testament, and especially in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), where the teaching is most clearly expanded and set forth.

Jesus may have had this teaching in mind when He spoke to the Pharisees of first-century Jerusalem about tithing. He railed against these “teachers of the Law” not because they had failed to follow the letter of the Law (by all appearances, they had meticulously followed the minimum standard and kept current with all accounts), but because in the scrupulous performance of this minimum, they had totally missed the true spirit behind the Law. To them, Jesus raised His voice in righteous indignation: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:23–24).

Tithing in the New Testament

This quote from the Gospel of Matthew represents the very mind and heart of God Himself regarding this matter of tithing. Jesus was not seeking some type of financial compensation from His people—a paying back of the debt owed to the Holy Trinity for services rendered. It is ridiculous to imagine God needing, or in any way desiring, any physical remuneration from the helpless creatures He had come to save. Speaking through the Psalmist, God declares: “For every beast of the forest is Mine, / And the cattle on a thousand hills. / I know all the birds of the mountains, / And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. / If I were hungry, I would not tell you; / For the world is Mine, and all its fullness” (Psalm 50:10–12).

The above passage from Matthew is interesting for another reason. It is one of only a handful of passages in the New Testament that speak of tithing. The only others are its parallel account in the book of Luke (11:42), the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9–14), and a handful of passages in the Book of Hebrews relating to the story of Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek.

Why is this so? Why don’t we read about the brethren in Corinth being told to set aside part of their tithes for the suffering church in Jerusalem? Why are there no instructions for new convert churches regarding how to set up a ten-percent tithe? Why did Jesus Himself only refer to the tithe on two occasions, both of them at least slightly negative in connotation? (The first is quoted above. The second is found in Luke 18, where the self-righteous Pharisee boasts, “I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.”)

Answers to this question have varied widely, depending on the perspective of the interpreter. Some have said that this silence reflects nothing more than the fact that the practice of tithing continued unabated into the New Testament period. Jewish converts to Christianity, already accustomed to paying their tithes to the Temple, simply transferred those offerings to the Church. Gentile converts would have been taught the importance of tithing from the beginning. It wasn’t even worth writing about, end of discussion.

But others have argued that the ten-percent tithe faded away under the New Covenant, as did worship on the Sabbath, Temple rites, and the entire sacrificial system as it existed under the Mosaic Law. The reason it is not mentioned in the New Testament is that there was nothing to talk about—tithing had ceased to exist.

Let’s set aside that discussion for a few moments in order to make some fundamental observations about the issue of money and giving in the New Testament.

1) Although our Lord spoke little about the practice of tithing in the Gospels, He had much to say about the spirit of giving that formed the basis of the Old Covenant system of tithing. How much did He say? He had more to say about the proper stewardship of money than about any other single topic—including love, family, holiness, sin, honesty, and more. It is curious that many pastors recoil at the thought of discussing financial issues from the pulpit. Yet our Lord returned to these matters over and over again. God treats giving like a joyful topic, not a burden. This shouldn’t really surprise us. After all, the basis for true and God-pleasing giving is a thankful heart with a joyful spirit. “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

2) The supreme model of giving in the New Testament was not based on ten percent, but on a hundred-percent commitment of personal resources. As St. Paul reminds us, our Lord provides the ultimate example of hundred-percent sacrificial giving. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9; see also Philippians 2:5-8). No wonder Jesus praised the widow in Jerusalem for placing two small copper coins into the Temple treasury, yet had little to say to the wealthy benefactors who were probably depositing the exact amount of money prescribed by the Mosaic Law: “For all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had” (Luke 21:4). We read in the Book of Acts that early believers sold all they had—both lands and houses—and brought the proceeds to the apostles, who distributed them to each according to need (Acts 4:34–35).

3) The principle of New Testament giving is clearly the principle of wise stewardship and concern for the needs of others. Saint James reminds us that: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). St. Paul praises the Philippian believers for their faithful and generous support of his apostolic ministry: “When I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities” (Philippians 4:15–16). A few verses later, he calls their financial gifts “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.” This beautiful imagery confirms the Mosaic understanding of tithing and giving as an act of worship.

Tithing in the Church

Sadly, there are Orthodox Christians who argue that tithing is merely a Protestant phenomenon. As we have seen, tithing is an ancient practice—it most certainly did not originate at a meeting of the Southern Baptist convention. The real question is, should we practice this discipline today, or has it passed away, like the rites of purification? To answer this question, Orthodox Christians must look beyond the pages of Scripture to the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit as expressed through the Holy Tradition of the Church. What happened after the close of the Book of Acts and the end of the first century?

The writings of the Church Fathers include a number of intriguing references to tithing. Here are just a few quick examples:

From the third-century document Didascalia Apostolorum: “Set aside part offerings and tithes and first fruits to Christ, the true High Priest, and to His ministers, even tithes of salvation to Him. . . . Today the oblations are offered through the bishops to the Lord God. For they are your high priests; but the priests and Levites are now the presbyters and deacons, and the orphans and widows. . . . Your fruits and the work of your hands present to him, that you may be blessed; your first fruits and your tithes and your vows and your part offerings give to him; for he has need of them that he may be sustained, and that he may dispense also to those who are in want, to each as is just for him.”
From Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on Ephesians: “Woe to him, it is said, who doeth not alms; and if this was the case under the Old Covenant, much more is it under the New. If, where the getting of wealth was allowed and the enjoyment of it, and the care of it, there was such provision made for the succoring of the poor, how much more in that Dispensation, where we are commanded to surrender all we have? For what did not they of old do? They gave tithes, and tithes again upon tithes for orphans, widows, and strangers, whereas some one was saying to me in astonishment at another, ‘Why, such an one givest tithes.’ What a load of disgrace does this expression imply, since what was not a matter of wonder with the Jews has come to be so in the case of the Christians? If there was danger then in omitting tithes, think how great it must be now.”
From St. John Cassian, The Conferences, Chapter XXIX: “He who retains his goods of this world, or, bound by the rules of the old law, distributes the tithe of his produce, and his first fruits, or a portion of his income, although he may to a considerable degree quench the fire of his sins by this dew of almsgiving, yet, however generously he gives away his wealth, it is impossible for him altogether to rid himself of the dominion of sin, unless perhaps by the grace of the Savior, together with his substance he gets rid of all love of possessing.”

A search of the patristic writings will uncover these and more quotes regarding the issue of tithing. The New Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes this by saying, “The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law, and early writers speak of it as a divine ordinance and an obligation of conscience. The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of the bishops assembled at Tours in 567 and the canons of the Council of Macon in 585.”

It is clear that tithing is addressed in the patristic literature. But on the other hand, I think it is also important—and honest—to say that the subject does not comprise a major portion of thought for any of the fathers of the Church. The pattern is reminiscent of the New Testament. Countless patristic writers talk about giving everything we have to God, giving to the poor, not being obsessed with worldly possessions, renouncing the world, and so on. We could fill up libraries with books, treatises, and discussions about these subjects.

But regarding the ten-percent tithe specifically, there are no major treatises, no full books, no passionate apologetics either in favor or against. On this subject, the writings of the Church are actually fairly quiet! As a matter of fact, for a variety of reasons (some political, some historical, some economic), there are entire periods of time throughout the history of the Church where the practice seems to disappear altogether, and nobody seems to care. At times, the churches were controlled by the state, and received money directly from the government rather than through tithes. At other times, the practice of tithing pops up again.

Such vagary is not the case in the West. The practice seems to have been codified, sometimes wildly abused, and generally set in stone in the Western churches—especially the Roman Church (with various of her wayward Protestant children following suit) and the Anglican Church. Tithes have been flowing down the aisles in those traditions for centuries without let-up. Richard Schebera, Associate Professor of Religion at St. Louis University, summarizes this whole tangled story for the World Book Encyclopedia by saying, “The early Christian church did not require tithing. By the 500’s, church law required payment of a tax on income and lands. In the late 700’s, Charlemagne made this civil law. Tithing was more common in the West than in the East.”

Where do we go from here?

Over the last 30 years, as more and more Protestant Christians have joined the Orthodox Church, the practice of tithing has surfaced as an emotional topic of discussion. Large numbers of these converts have come from backgrounds in which faithful participation in the practice of tithing comes as naturally as buckling up before heading out the driveway in the family automobile.

Many of these new Orthodox Christians look at the landscape of contemporary Orthodox giving and ask why it is that an ancient and venerable practice such as the tithe should now be abandoned. After years of consistent giving through the tithe, they ask: “Must we now abandon tithing as our way of offering our finances to God, and instead support other approaches to church giving such as pledges and monthly dues, bazaars and raffles, bingo games, and yearly church festivals and ethnic events?”

I’ve rarely heard of a priest forbidding converts to tithe to the local parish. It’s hard to say “no” to consistent, generous financial support. And in many cases, the people dropping their regular tithe checks into the church offering box every month are also the ones helping to man the booths at the church festival, learning to bake baklava for the bazaars, and sending in extra donations for emergency appeals. In my experience, it’s rarely a matter of “either/or” for those who tithe.

In case you haven’t guessed it, I am a firm believer in the practice of tithing today. I’ve tithed all my life, and have no intention of abandoning the practice. But after nearly 20 years in the Orthodox Church, my understanding of this discipline has definitely matured. Here’s what I’d say now:

1) For those who tithe, remember that God desires every corner of our heart, not a percentage. The tithe—even from its most ancient days—was a minimum standard, a guide to ensure basic, consistent giving, not a be-all and end-all. If we think that giving a tithe “gets us off the hook,” we’re placing ourselves in the company of those Pharisees the Lord debated with on a daily basis. We use a rule of prayer each day to guide us in our prayer life. But we don’t say, “Thank God! I’ve done my ten minutes of prayer this morning, now I don’t have to pray again until tonight!” A rule of prayer is just a starting point for prayer, a call to order, not the total of all we do. The same thing applies to the tithe.

2) For those who do not tithe, exercise caution. There’s one really wonderful excuse for not tithing, as long as it’s honest: “I give way more than ten percent already, and would need to reduce my giving considerably to get down to a tithe.” It’s tempting to think we’re giving vast sums to the Church, when in fact our giving amounts to pocket change by year’s end. The statistics here are grim. In the typical church today, 5 percent of the congregation gives 50 percent of the weekly offering. Another 20 percent of the congregation gives 40 percent of the church’s income. The remaining 75 percent of the typical congregation contributes 10 percent of the incoming dollars. Nearly 75 percent of American church attendees drop only about one dollar a week into the offering plate by the time everything is said and done. [Refs in Handmaiden?]

3) Our contribution to the Church should never be a matter of personal ego inflation. How sad it is that the Church often encourages more giving by posting the names of donors, and making flattering speeches about how much so-and-so has given. Our Lord spoke about the evils of public religiosity: “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” (Matthew 6:3–4).

4) Be honest. While precedents for tithing exist in Church history, things did change after the coming of Christ. We do find more references to tithing in the writings of the Church than we do to bingo! But I don’t believe any of us can just pull out our favorite Old Testament proof text or patristic quote and hammer people over the head with it today. The patristic evidence is mixed. Not every Church Father taught on tithing. Not every Church Father tithed.

5) For those just becoming aware of this conversation, be patient. It is easy for someone like me to get carried away with this topic. As I’ve said, emotions run high when it comes to tithing. But our Church also includes many people who have not given it much thought one way or the other. They may feel like they’ve walked into a room where a heated argument is under way, and find themselves being challenged to immediately commit to one side or the other. Those of us with strong beliefs on the question need to treat these brothers and sisters with love, acknowledging that this is a challenging topic in many ways. And those working to form their beliefs should approach the question of tithing with patience and prayer, turning to their spiritual elders for guidance. Don’t panic if you feel that you are so unable to manage your money as it is that you don’t know how to even begin when it comes to giving to the Church. In peace begin the crucial work of developing godly financial stewardship, addressed in other articles in this issue of AGAIN.

I am certain we still need to hear the prophetic voice of Malachi. Remember the words God gave him to cry out: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.” When we fail to use our finances properly—to be good stewards of that which God has so freely given to us—we are robbing God. There’s no nice way to say it. If our priests are living on substandard wages, our ministries understaffed, our churches dilapidated, and our almsgiving to the poor and underprivileged a sham, while we personally surround ourselves with all the unnecessary possessions and expensive toys our culture offers us on a daily basis, we stand under the same condemnation. How dare we!

We must also remember that our God is a loving God, and He does not leave us without encouragement. The conclusion of that Malachi passage provides “the rest of the story” regarding not just tithing, but the spirit behind all giving to God: “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now in this,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

May He receive from us the dollars and cents of our existence, and with them the heartfelt love and worship we so imperfectly desire to give to Him. And may He send down upon us in return the true blessings we seek: the Kingdom of Heaven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit!

From: http://www.antiochian.org/node/16719

Fr. Thomas Zell is the Editor-in-Chief of AGAIN Magazine and the pastor of St. James Orthodox Mission in Modesto, California.

This article was originally published in AGAIN Magazine, Fall 2005. AGAIN Magazine is published by Conciliar Media Ministries, a Department of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

Benjamin D. Williams 10/28/25 Benjamin D. Williams 10/28/25

An Orthodox Understanding of Stewardship

It all begins with an idea.

Benjamin D. Williams

September 2015

How should a person living at the close of the second Millennium, especially one living in our North American culture, approach and understand the subject of Stewardship? Clearly it is not a new subject. We have all grown up hearing about it, being told what it means, and instructed in how to practice it, have we not? Yet if our instruction had been as good as we recall it, if we had learned our lessons well, if we truly understood the historic Orthodox Christian meaning of stewardship, wouldn’t we be better stewards? Would not our Churches be in better condition? The fact is that much of what we have learned about stewardship is either incorrect or only partly correct. There are two main reasons for this: much of what we have learned has been out of context, and much of what we think is Christian teaching on stewardship is not - it has been imported from our culture.

Let’s briefly consider these two problems. Most Orthodox Christians only hear about the subject of stewardship when it is related to money. When dues are being assessed, when there is a fund drive or some other financial program, then homilies are preached on stewardship, much talk goes on about "financial stewardship," and we are challenged to become better stewards by giving more money! In other words, for most of us, stewardship and the giving of money to the Church are one and the same. That is not Christian stewardship. That understanding of stewardship has been ripped out of the larger context of living all of our lives as "good and faithful stewards."

As if that problem is not bad enough, much of our understanding, definition and practice of stewardship are shaped by our culture and society. We grow up and live in a society where material advancement and personal pleasure are the number one goals. The purpose of life, our culture tells us, is personal satisfaction. This cultural perspective on the purpose of life shapes our thinking about the faith, and all of us bring it into the Church. It shapes our understanding of stewardship, among other things, because it is the exact opposite of what Christian stewardship is all about. We are persons created in the image and likeness of God, and we were created to be stewards. We are called to live a life of stewardship, stewarding the life and creation of which we have been created a part, in the most responsible and productive way. The message of our culture, that our purpose is to "live the good life," is the opposite of our purpose as Christians. Stewardship is the golden thread that runs through and holds the Christian life together.

Stewardship As Christian Identity

Within this understanding, we must begin with the acknowledgment that all of life is a sacrament, in that in every aspect of life we may experience and commune with God. This communion ranges from the most natural - like experiencing a beautiful sunset, to the most divine, communion with God in the eucharist. We must come to see that "all the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it." (Psalm 24:1) As Fr. Schmemann challenges us, our human role is to offer back to God in thanksgiving, all that He has given to us. (For the Life of the World, SVS Press, Crestwood, NY, p. 24)

From this realization comes our understanding of Christian stewardship - managing the resources that God has given us, administering the elements of life. One of the best ways of thinking about stewardship is that it is the only truly appropriate human response to what God gives us. We experience all of life as a sacrament, and we steward all of life in response.

Consider for a minute the original usage of the term "steward." Our English word steward comes from the Greek word oikonomos, and literally means "house manager." Oikonomia, or stewardship, literally refers to the management of a household. Stewardship is a task, a responsibility bestowed on one person by another - usually by a master. Our Lord used the terms steward and servant frequently, as recorded in the Gospels. St. Paul uses them the same way in his epistles. In I Peter, every Christian is charged to "be a good steward of God’s grace." (I Peter 4:10) St. Ignatius of Antioch told the faithful that they were "stewards in God’s house, members of His household, and His servants." (Epistle to Polycarp, 99) He holds these three aspects of our way of life in dynamic tension: being stewards, being members of God’s household, and being servants. St. Ignatius can encourage us to toil, suffer, run, and rest, because these important aspects constitute our way of life as Christians.

Stewardship does not mean being hit up for an annual pledge to the Church. It is not being enlisted in a financial campaign for the new building. It is not even tithing. Rather, it is a well-rounded view of life and an incarnation of that view based on theology and ecclesiology – the giving of time and talent and treasure. Thus stewardship is a state of being. It is based in service. The steward is in the employ of his master. Therefore the most important aspect of being a steward is serving.

We Act As If We "Own" Creation

We modern humans act as if we "own" the creation and can do with it as we wish including destroy it. We treat and mistreat animals as if we had the right to destroy them. In a passage by Erik Herbermann (a contemporary horse trainer) that should give us pause about how we order our lives and how we treat creation (or those we are responsible to lead), he says:

Since by the power of our free will, we are agents over our own desires, we are fully responsible for our thoughts and words and, subsequently, the deed or physical manifestations which result from them. We are responsible for what we do with all the things over which we have stewardship. We horsemen, therefore, are responsible for our relationship with the horse and for its well-being while it is in our care. Accordingly, it is our duty, as stewards, to come to know enough about the horse that we do not, in any way, cause it mental or physical grief, either because of ignorance about its nature or due to lack of control over ourselves while we are dealing with it. (Erik F. Herbermann, "On Stewardship," Dressage and CT’, August, 1992, p. 5)

This is a Biblical view of stewardship, and it should typify our lives. If it should be true of the horseman and the horse, how much truer for the Christian? Think of the parables Christ Himself used to convey the same message: the vine dresser, the good and faithful servant, the good Samaritan, the talents. Out of this understanding of stewardship, out of this worldview, we realize that all we have is really the Lord’s, that we must care for it and offer it back to Him in thanksgiving. We are all called to be "good and faithful stewards." Then, and only then, is stewardship real. Then, and only then, are we fully living life. Then, and only then, are our tithes and offerings acceptable in the sight of God. (This principle is reiterated at every Divine Liturgy, when after the Commemoration the priest proclaims with the Gifts of bread and wine elevated, "Thine own of Thine own we offer unto Thee, in behalf of all, and for all.")

Transforming The World In The Wrong Way

We have a world full of examples of bad stewardship: e.g., pollution, brutality, pornography, waste, servitude, apathy, abortion, environmental destruction. We must understand and incarnate stewardship at both the micro and the macro level. The micro level means me: where I live, how I live, and how I interact with all with which I come into contact. The macro level means the world and how I interact with it, and how I am a responsible member of the human race.

These are not just abstract philosophical concepts having no direct bearing on our lives. Bad stewardship is in fact transforming our world in precisely the wrong way. The negative health and economic consequences of it fill the news. Such things as the deforestation of the Amazon, the desertification of large land masses in Africa caused by over-grazing and stripping the land of all vegetation, the changes of weather due to depletion of the ozone layer, the unchecked release of pollutants that destroy ozone, are directly caused by bad stewardship. The rampant increase in world population is due to many different causes, but it also adds up to bad stewardship - more people than our world can support.

The imbalance between available food supplies and rampant population growth fuels much of the death and suffering in our world today. Consider the growth in world population: in 200 AD it was approximately 200 million people; by 1825 it reached the one billion mark. "The next billion was added in only a hundred years. A further billion (taking the total to 3 billion) took about thirty-five years from 1925 to 1960. The next billion was added in only fifteen years (by 1975) while the increase from 4 billion to 5 billion took about twelve years and was completed in the late 1980s." (Clive Ponting, A Green History of the World, New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1991, p. 240).

Need we be concerned that the population has grown so exponentially? In one sense, perhaps we needn’t, as long as we can feed and care for all those people and not irreparably damage the earth. But we cannot. Notwithstanding the development of agriculture and industrialization, most of the people in the world live a meager existence with inadequate food and shelter. However, since stewards are supposed to care for the world and to "steward" its resources, consider a very graphic example of the consequences of human population growth: animal extinction. "Between 1600 and 1900 an animal species was made extinct about one every four years. By the 1970s this had risen to a rate of about 1,000 a year. At present about 25,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds and over 700 species of animals are on the verge of extinction. In the tropical forests about fifty species of plants and animals are being eliminated every day. At this rate it is estimated that in the 1990s about 1 million species (almost 20 percent of the total in the world) will become extinct." (Ibid., p. 193)

Would it surprise you to hear that even the AIDS epidemic may be the result of bad stewardship? In a recent article on viral epidemics, the following excerpt describes the process and the future consequences for the human race of this form of bad stewardship:

The emergence of AIDS appears to be a natural consequence of the ruin of the tropical biosphere. Unknown viruses are coming out of the equatorial wilderness of the earth and discovering the human race. It seems to be happening as a result of the destruction of tropical habitats. You might call AIDS the revenge of the rain forest. AIDS is arguably the worst environmental disaster of the twentieth century so far. Some of the people who worry in a professional capacity about viruses have began to wonder whether H.I.V. is the only rain forest virus that will sweep the world. The human immunodeficiency virus looks like an example rather than a culminating disaster. (Richard Preston, "Crisis in the Hot Zone," The New Yorker, October 26, 1992, p. 58)

Not only does this research neutralize the hysteria about the origins of AIDS, it also clearly lays the guilt at our own doorstep. Like the Pogo cartoon of so many years ago, "We have seen the enemy. . . and he is us!"

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that these "environmental concerns" only matter to the environmentalists. On the contrary, these issues must be of concern to every Christian because we are called to be stewards. Not only is environmental concern part of our stewardship, the enormity of the problem today should make us realize that the solutions are very limited. That is why the late Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios issued a landmark message on the protection of the environment in 1989. After lamenting the extent of environmental destruction, he said, "Man is destined not to exercise power over creation, as if he were the owner of it, but to act as its steward, cultivating it in love and referring it in thankfulness, with respect and reverence to its Creator. Unfortunately, in our days under the influence of an extreme rationalism and self-centeredness, man has lost the sense of sacredness of creation and acts as its arbitrary ruler and rude violator." (Patriarch Demetrios, reprinted in The Orthodox Church, v. 29, Nov/Dec 1993, p. 5)

A Spiritual Crisis

A sacramental understanding of life drives us to recognize that the environmental crisis is not merely a physical one. It is a spiritual crisis. Consider this eloquent observation by Elizabeth Theokritoff:

Increasing numbers of people conclude that the way out of the crisis requires spiritual renewal: not just a change of habits, but a change of hearts - in Christian terms, repentance. Tragically, the environmental implications of our Christian Faith are so little understood, even among Christians, that the Church is the last place most people look for spiritual solutions. They are more likely to turn to the worship of Mother Earth, or native American religions, or witchcraft, or New Age spirituality. Yet this realization that the world needs salvation requires a change of heart, is a challenge to the Church." (Elizabeth Theokritoff, "Thine Own of Thine Own," The Orthodox Church, v. 29, Nov/Dec 1993, p. 5.)

The proclamation of Patriarch Demetrios calls all human beings to repentance, and asserts that the Orthodox Church believes the solution is to be found in the liturgical, eucharistic and ascetic ethos of the Orthodox Tradition. Theokritoff points out that "A eucharistic ethos means, above all, using natural resources with thankfulness, offering them back to God. Such an attitude is incompatible with wastefulness. Similarly, fasting and other ascetic practices make us recognize even the simplest of foods and other creature comforts as gifts, provided to satisfy our needs. They are not ours to abuse and waste just so long as we can pay for them. We worship as a community, not as individuals: so a liturgical ethos is also one of sharing."

Personal Stewardship

But what about stewardship in my own life? It is one thing to see and understand and critique good or bad stewardship on the macro scale; it is another to take personal responsibility for it. And, besides, while it may be in vogue to do certain things which smack of good stewardship (like recycling newspapers or not using wood stoves), it is easy to cop out of any responsibility for macro-level stewardship. It is "the government’s problem," it is "such a big issue," and besides, "I can’t change anything, anyway!" In our hearts we all know that this isn’t true, but one of our fundamental flaws as humans is to be reactive, not proactive. In other words, rather than be responsible and anticipate problems, we wait for them to develop before we realize we have to change our behavior.

This irresponsible approach occurs on the personal level, too. Consider our personal stewardship of the earth as it relates to the transportation we use. We choose to drive cars that pollute the air, soil, water, and vegetation because cars are fast, powerful, and convenient. We even insist on having multiple cars for convenience sake, largely refusing to be a part of mass transportation. Thus, we Americans have a highly polluted economy that is dependent on oil companies and auto manufacturers - so dependent that we find it difficult to implement better stewardship methods.

What about other resources which we are to steward? Certainly they include the things around us: e.g., land, animals, possessions. And what about our children? Are they not God-given "resources" put in our charge to steward for a reason? Are we practicing good stewardship toward our children when both parents work and our children are raised (shaped and influenced) by others who may not share our values? Is it good stewardship to allow our children to spend as much as 500 hours a year (as some researchers tell us) of unsupervised TV viewing — knowing full well that they are spending more time with the TV than with either of their parents or teachers? Is it good stewardship to allow our children to unquestioningly absorb the values of our hedonistic society? Are we not being poor stewards of their moral and ethical instruction?

We may even see child molestation as a result of bad stewardship. Experts tell us that children who have a poor relationship with their parents are most at risk to be molested. Such children quickly follow someone who seems willing to befriend them - primed for abuse by their parents’ poor stewardship.

If on the Day of Judgment you are asked how you stewarded the God-given resources put in your charge, how will you answer? Will you just say, "But Lord, come on, nobody ever told me they were resources! How was I to know I was supposed to steward them?" And what will Church leaders say when confronted with the fact that the word "stewardship" has come to be narrowly used as a way to get money? Shame on all of us for either letting it happen or condoning and perpetuating the improper use of the word.

Are Humans An Integral Part of Nature?

Why have we lost the Christian ideal of stewardship? To answer this question we must first answer another - are humans an integral part of nature, or are they separate from it and superior to it? The modern scientific worldview regards the world of nature as something external to humanity - not as something of which we are intrinsically a part. This worldview assumes no living connection between humanity and creation. It no longer sees nature as "the living garment of [man’s] own inner being. Consequently, man has also lost the sense of his role in relationship to the rest of creation. Displacing himself from nature, depersonalizing and objectifying it, he has destroyed the harmony and reciprocity that should exist between them." (Philip Sherrard, The Eclipse of Man and Nature, West Stockbridge, MA: Lindisfarne Press, 1987, 39) This change in worldview is so fundamental, so basic to who we are as members of modern Western society that most of us don’t even know it is ours; and fewer still realize that it is an inherently un-Christian and ungodly view of life. The result of this change is that mankind has become the exploiter of nature, rather than the steward of it.

Stewardship is clearly a part of the Christian worldview that is based on the fact of unity with nature and the desire for harmony with it. We have to realize that it is not enough to want to be good stewards, to long for a society that practices stewardship, to try to bring about stewardship in our own society. We have to realize that we live in a culture that is fundamentally opposed to stewardship! Sure, there is lots of talk about stewardship, but most of the talk is romantic and based in idealism. There are lots of hard-working and well-intentioned people trying to improve things in our society, but they are unlikely to make any change, because the society we live in is fundamentally opposed to it. Why is this?

It is because "The West has developed technically in direct relationship to the decline of the Christian consciousness, for the simple reason that the ‘secularization’ of nature that permits it to be regarded as an object and so to be exploited technically, is in direct contradiction to the sacramental spirit of Christianity, wherever and whenever this is properly understood . . . " (Ibid., 67) In other words, as soon as you tell yourself that you are not a part of nature, but are apart from it, you are in the position to exploit it. As soon as you lose the sacramental view of life, life becomes something to be used for your own selfish purposes. It is not easy to be a steward in a culture that denies stewardship.

There are as many suggested solutions for the environmental crisis as there are concerned people. So what do we do? Most of the suggestions are good ones, but in and of themselves they will do little. The starting point has to be a change of heart. We have to re-discover the historic Christian view of life as sacred, as a sacrament of which we are a part and which we may offer back to God in thanksgiving. And then, we have to participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church, for unless we become part of the sacrament of life, unless we have a eucharistic understanding of life, we will be unable to be good stewards and will have little effect in the world.

Stewardship As A Way Of Life

If I am serious about stewardship, I have to be serious about restoration and full communion with God. And, if I am serious about full communion, I will undertake the spiritual struggle to achieve it - and with the grace of God and many tears, I will attain it. Then, when I have my own house in order, I may begin to consider focusing on other things. That is the spiritual foundation of stewardship. If we would begin to approach stewardship in that manner—spiritually, and with a commitment to purity ourselves—our stewardship would please God. Instead of just worrying about recycling aluminum and plastic, we would be focusing on fulfilling our role in the sacrament of Life. Only when we see life as a sacrament of which we have an intrinsic part, will we change our hearts and our behaviors, and be good stewards. And only when we have a grasp of the spiritual dimension of stewardship, can we begin to understand and practice servant leadership and be good leaders.

Have you ever thought about your relationship with the Church from the perspective of good stewardship? It is a challenging proposition. We are to care for and nurture all those resources (God’s gifts) within the Church. We are to care for and nurture the Church itself, because she is a resource - a gift from God for the life of the world. We are to love and support, care for and nourish all who are in it - those within and without our little circles, those who dress well and those who don’t, those who are cool and those who are crass, those who are successful and those who are failures. And then, recognizing Christ’s challenge, we have to look at being a good steward within the Church as nothing less than practice for being a good steward outside the Church.

We are each ordained (Contrary to what most lay people think, ordination is not reserved for the clergy. Baptism and chrismation are rites of ordination for every believer into the "royal priesthood." See I Peter 2:9) by God to be stewards of His spiritual gifts, seen and unseen, material and immaterial, physical and mystical. Stewardship within the Church is not just limited to the building or to financial offerings. A good steward is concerned with the optimal use of all the gifts, talents, and responsibilities of the organization placed in his or her charge. This means that a caring attitude cannot be limited to some aspects at the expense of others. A good steward’s decisions and actions must reflect a caring for the entire body, from the least to the greatest within it.

An Inclusive Way of Life

Good stewardship is an inclusive way of life. It includes the loving treatment and care of others. It includes giving to the poor. It includes financial support of the Church. If we have a Christian understanding of stewardship, and if we are good stewards, then all of these elements are part of our lives. We move beyond selfishness and stinginess toward giving as Christ gave. We do so because we realize that selfishness is a sin; it deceives us into thinking we "own" things eternally. Consider the revelation that was given to St. Anthony, founder of monasticism, about the holiest person he ever met. "It was revealed to Abba Anthony in his desert that there was one who was his equal in the city. He was a doctor by profession and whatever he had beyond his needs he gave to the poor, and everyday he sang the Trisagion with the angels." (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, translated by Benedicta Ward, SLC, Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1975, p. 8) The physician in Alexandria gave to the poor whatever he had beyond his needs.

Holiness and good stewardship are inseparably linked. This physician was a good steward because he was holy. Or, should we say that he was holy because he was a good steward? The point is, we cannot separate them.

Good stewardship is meaningless without spiritual practice, because of sin and its endemic selfishness. Our salvation depends on us being self-less; to give of ourselves to others as Christ gave Himself to us so that we may thereby be restored to the divine image.

Can non-Christians be good stewards? Certainly! Orthodox Christianity teaches us that life itself is a journey in and toward the Kingdom of God. Every human being is on that journey. (Consider the opening sentence from the final prayer of The First Hour: "Oh Christ the True Light, who enlightens and sanctifies every person who comes into the world, may the light of Your countenance shine on us so that in your light we may see the unapproachable Light.") And, God gives gifts to each one for their life’s sustenance. (" . . . for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45.) What motive do non-Christians have for practicing good stewardship? Who knows? Maybe they are close to the Kingdom. Maybe it is out of pure selfishness. Maybe it is out of concern for the environment they will leave the next generation. The point is, our faith teaches us that the higher way of stewardship is out of love for God. We cannot and should not concern ourselves with trying to judge the orthodoxy of the motives of others. Rather, we should focus on our own goals of achieving purity and sanctity.

A Practical Counsel

So then, how do we live as stewards? One of the counsels of St. Anthony is perhaps the most practical and cuts through all of the mixed motives: "Indeed, if we too live as if we were to die each new day, we shall not sin . . . When we awaken each day, we should think that we shall not live till evening; and again, when about to go to sleep we should think that we shall not awaken ...If we are so disposed and live our daily life accordingly, we shall not commit sin, nor lust after anything, nor bear a grudge against anyone, nor lay up treasures on earth. . . " (St. Athanasius, Life of St. Anthony, 36) Nor, we might add, will we be anything less than good stewards!

If we understand stewardship properly, then being stewards will become our way of living; and this higher calling will experience and encounter life in all its facets - its joys and its sorrows, its victories, and its setbacks. We can muster the courage and strength to travel on this stewardship journey because "God is with us." Good stewardship brings joy into the lives of others, helps those in need, enables those who desire to improve, loves and cares for the people in our lives, cares for God’s creation, supports the Church financially, participates in the sacramental life of the Church, teaches and guides others, nurtures the gifts which God has given us. All of these factors are qualities of good stewardship. If practiced well, all of these qualities can become normal parts of life. Returning to St. Anthony, which event in his life do you think provided the holy physician in Alexandria the most joy? Giving away all of his excess to the poor-the very thing that convinced St. Anthony of the physician’s holiness!

One of the greatest limiting factors to our stewardship is that we don’t practice good discernment. We make decisions on a legal, contractual level. You see, most of us bring a contractual understanding to the subject of stewardship. This simply means that for most of our lives, and especially at work, we have learned that we are supposed to get something in exchange for what we give! We must have an equal exchange of value. If I give you forty hours of my time per week, then I expect to get paid in return. I contribute my expertise, I get paid. A contractual mindset, applied in all circumstances, will kill stewardship. A contractual approach to giving means we are not truly free. By contrast, unqualified giving without constraint is a mark of freedom. When we bring a contractual understanding to our giving, then not only are we not free, but God is shortchanged. God has already given us much; our life, our possessions, and His Son! And now we want to strike bargains with Him?

St. John Climacus said, "It is better to insult your parents than it is to insult God." (St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 3, "On Exile," Classics of Western Spirituality, New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1982) God gives to us without strings. We must reach a level of spiritual maturity from which we can give back to God without expecting to get more in return. If we don’t, then our attitude and behavior are downright sinful. Broadening this discussion to include God’s Church, the problem is that we, in our contractual mindset, expect to receive in like kind from the Church when we give. We expect to get equal or greater value for our money. This attitude can easily degenerate into viewing the Church as a dispenser of goods and services. This is not a Christian attitude, it is a cultural understanding we have accepted. Such a view betrays a lack of understanding of the Church’s vision and misunderstands our identity as members of the Body of Christ.

Toward A Definition of Christian Stewardship

Can we now build a definition for stewardship? How might we describe "stewardship in action?" The following list is adapted from one prepared by Ron Nicola:

Stewardship is our active commitment to use all our time, talent and treasure for the benefit of humankind in grateful acknowledgment of Christ’s redeeming love.
Stewardship is caring for the needs of others.
Stewardship is offering one’s self to God as He offered Himself to us.
Stewardship is what a person does after saying "I Believe . . . ", as proof of that belief.
Stewardship is learning how to be a responsible and concerned caretaker of Christ’s Church; it is learning how to enjoy Church life and be happy in Church work, for in Her dwells the fullness of the Spirit of God.
Stewardship is devotion and service to God and his Church as persons, as families, as deaneries, as diocese, as national Church, and as the Church universal. (Ron Nicola, "Stewardship - A Set of Basic Principles," The Word, November 1982,4.)

Perhaps we could summarize the points just mentioned this way: Christian stewardship is a life in service to God and His Church motivated by our thankfulness for His love to us . ".... in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It is the wise and proper use of all the gifts God has entrusted to our care. (See Romans 5:8) What then are the essential elements of stewardship?

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP

Acceptance of the belief that all life and life itself is a gift from God.
Freedom to choose not to sin and freedom from the constraints, pressures and temptations of the world that smother the expression of this belief.
Life in the Spirit which is characterized by behavior that uses and nurtures the time, talents, and treasure entrusted to us by God.

Ben Williams is the national sales manager for Protocol Systems Inc., manufacturers of hospital technology and support equipment. Ben is a member of the Orthodox mission in Midvale, Utah and is author of the books, Oriented Leadership and Orthodox Worship.

Taken from the OCA Resource Handbook for Lay Ministries.

Fr Christopher Foley 8/31/25 Fr Christopher Foley 8/31/25

Stewardship & The Gospel

It all begins with an idea.

Fr. Christopher Foley

January 2008

This is from the homily given on 12/9/07. This is good food for thought as we prayerfully contemplate our tithes and offerings to the Church this year.

All discussion on giving to the Church must begin with the Gospel. In the Gospel we hear many passages dealing with being good stewards of the gifts that God has given us. As Christians we are to be good stewards of everything: our gifts, talents, the earth, our families, our possessions, and yes, even our finances. Christian stewardship, as everything in the life of the Church, needs to be founded on the truths of the Gospel. We tend to think of our financial contributions only in material terms. The Church needs money and we need to make the budget, and no Orthodox Christian would ever dispute the reality of the fact that the Church exists in the world and needs money to conduct its business and operating costs, however, we need to make sure that this is not the basis for a discussion on Christian stewardship and giving. Christian stewardship is not "fundraising" and should not be thought of only in utilitarian terms. The Church budget should be seen as an opportunity to edify the body of Christ, an opportunity to grow givers hearts who generously respond to the Gospel.

The theology of giving rests in these two principles from the Gospel:

We are created in God's image. God reveals Himself as love and pours out His mercy upon us. He is a God who gives of Himself to us for our salvation. Then Christian stewardship is a loving response to a giving God. We offer up all of ourselves to Him in a loving response. The whole thrust of out liturgy is offering. We offer up ourselves, each other, and our entire lives unto Christ our God. "Thine own of Thine own, we offer unto Thee, on behalf of all and for all." The center of the Liturgy is an offering up to God, a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving that is returned to us as Christ Himself in the consecrated gifts. Thus, to give is to offer up all that we have in praise and thanksgiving to God for His wonderful mercy towards us.
We are subject to the law of love as Orthodox Christians. We have a need to give for the sake of others and our own salvation. Our giving benefits others. There are many places in Scripture where we see this. The Gospel is full of Christ's injunctions that we are to care for others and provide for those in need. We have a responsibility in love for our neighbor. But giving also benefits us spiritually. The Lord knows our needs and he promises to take care of us, but we need to give of what we've been given.

The Fathers often speak of the three pillars - fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. These 3 pillars are necessary for Christian growth. Christ links these three together in the sermon on the mount. One priest has commented,

This means that we give for the same reason that we pray or fast. We do not pray because God or the Church needs our prayers. We do not fast because God or the Church needs our fasting. Why then should we imagine that we give for the benefit of the Church's needs! We pray because we have a need to experience the communion with our heavenly Father that prayer provides; we fast because our development of Christians requires that foundation of discipline that fasting provides. W e also need to give because it is only through expressing our Christian love that this love can grow and mature. It is only through giving that we can cultivate the proper Christian attitude toward the world and toward that part of the world's bounty which God has entrusted to us, our material possessions.

Thus, we do not give only out of the need that the church has to "meet the budget", this would be thinking only in material terms. This leads to a "scarcity" mentality that only leads to emergency appeals and continually begging for money.

Giving is a spiritual discipline and we should give out of a need to grow spiritually. We rob ourselves of the benefit of spiritual growth by not giving. Thus, we see that giving is intimately connected to how we actualize the Gospel in our lives. It is part of our answer to the question, "Who do you say that I am?" that Christ asked His disciples. Giving to the Church is a participation in the mission of the Church which is to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." To think first of the Church's "needs" and then decide how much you want to give is backwards. We need to think first of all about the Gospel and our response to the salvation offered to us in Christ.

Christian stewardship is a loving response to a loving God. It is generosity based in response to a vision and faith. The goal of financial stewardship in the Church is not so much about "funding" as it is growing the hearts of Christians in response to the love of Christ. "Success" then should be judged on how much a Christian is maturing in His life in Christ in the Church so that their whole life becomes one all-embracing act of worship. Only growth in Christ produces true generosity.