Some time ago, I read a small booklet by Andre Trocme, entitled Jesus and the non-violent revolution.[1] It completely shook my world and forced me to re-evaluate everything that I thought I knew about Christ and being a disciple. This article is a brief summary of his views and how they might be applied to the topic of giving.

My reason for making this application is to demonstrate why I no longer advocate tithing. It is not that I have a problem with generosity. It is that the practice of tithing is not radical enough. Instead, I believe that the Christian approach to giving finds its impetus and fullest expression in the life and teachings of Christ.

Jubilee

At the commencement of his ministry, Jesus stood up in the synagogue in his home town and delivered what might be called his Nazareth Manifesto:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."
      (Luke 4:18-20)

Sitting down, with every eye now on him, he then gave the punch-line: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus was announcing that he would proclaim and put into effect the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee.

According to Leviticus 25, the fiftieth year was to be a year of release and freedom. All debts were to be cancelled, all slaves released and wealth redistributed with land being restored to its original owners. The Jubilee law was aimed at preventing the accumulation of capital in the hands of a few and reminding the Israelites that everything they thought they owned actually belonged to the Lord.

Unsurprisingly, the Jubilee was rarely applied. However, it did inspire a prophetic hope and challenge that God would one day act on behalf of those that had been denied justice. Then Jesus arrived demanding that the Law be put into immediate effect - "today." In doing so, he was announcing the implementation of a new order characterised by liberty for the oppressed and a radical redistribution of wealth.

We see this emphasis being spelt out a number of times in the gospels. The Lord's Prayer assumes that the disciples of Jesus would release all those indebted to them (Mt. 6:9-13). The parable of the merciless servant challenges those who would accept the benefits of jubilee, without themselves practicing it (Mt. 18:23-35). Likewise, the story of the rich young ruler is not about a rich man who didn't get into heaven, but a ruler who refused to bless the poor with jubilee, thus failing to enter into the new regime Jesus was implementing (Mt. 19:16-26).

We are not accustomed to reading these scriptures politically or economically. We usually limit their sphere to the forgiveness of sins, but I would argue that "sin" is seen as another one of the debts that we owe (or must release). These scriptures address debt in its widest sense and grace as the cancellation of debts.

Putting it into practice

The early church didn't literally follow the stipulations of Leviticus 25. After all, like the law of tithing, Jubilee was an old covenant law for the nation of Israel in its own land. It could hardly be imposed on the international church that was spreading throughout the Roman Empire. However, Jesus had deepened and broadened the Jubilee and the spirit of the Jubilee had become a defining characteristic of life in the Kingdom of God. So, it should come as no surprise that when the Spirit of God fell on the early believers we see a drastic redistribution of houses and possessions.

This was no momentary experiment in radical economics, but a sign that a new age was dawning. For the next couple of centuries money was given to care for orphans and widows, the elderly, the sick, victims of shipwrecks and exiles, and even to free slaves. Eusebius tells us that the church in Rome, in 250, regularly gave support to 1500 people in need, even though it was relatively small (See Murray, p. 127). It is this kind of giving that will free us from the shackles of the love of money and fit us for the kingdom of God.

Jubilee is good news for the poor, whereas tithing actually privileges the rich by calling for less of a sacrifice from them. Tithing makes no challenge on how much money we have left after giving - or what we do with it - and touches only our income, not our possessions. Jubilee addresses how much money we have, how we use it, our possessions, our concepts of private property and ownership and our debt.

I'd like to suggest a few steps that we might take to begin to see the spirit of jubilee being implemented in our churches. However, please recognise that I write as a fellow-traveller, not as one who has arrived!

1) Talk openly and counter-culturally about finances and how we handle our money.
2) Choose a particular project to support as a church, e.g. funding a staff member at a poorer church, paying for the education of a child, etc.
3) Banish snobbery, especially in our leaders! (There's nothing wrong with second-hand clothes!)
4) Name and resist the idol of consumerism.
5) Discuss openly the financial needs of those in the group and discover ways to redistribute resources in the church.
6) Develop links with churches in different communities, cultures or countries and learn how to share resources with one another (perhaps their hermeneutic for your surplus books?).
7) Let those who can afford to, pay the extra on their car insurance so that others might borrow the car if necessary.
8) Pursue hospitality:
a. Get rid of the excess clutter in your spare room so that you can put up guests for one another.
b. Consider sharing your home with the homeless.
9) Discover tactics for escaping from (and staying out of!) debt.
10) Explore the possibility of a common-purse.

When I think through some of the possibilities and implications of rediscovering Jubilee in our churches, I get really excited. When I consider how we might more faithfully incarnate the God who empties Himself and actually, literally, embody his grace to those around us, I am humbled and daunted and eager to do so. When I realise that the gospel really can be good news for the poor and freedom for the oppressed, I feel so blessed and so zealous to pass that on.

And I never felt that way about tithing.

Further reading:

Andre Trocme, Jesus and the non-violent revolution
John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus
Stuart Murray, Beyond Tithing
Donald Kraybill, The Upside down Kingdom
Richard Foster, The Freedom of Simplicity

 [1] <http://www.bruderhof.com/e-books/Jesus.htm>

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Thanks for the commentary on Trocme's book. Your comments inspired me to order the book this morning. As a church business administrator, it's always refreshing to receive an inspirational message on New Testament stewardship.

Two other authors you should consider:

Craig Blomberg
NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES

Ronald E. Vallet's entire stewardship series:
STEPPING STONES OF THE STEWARD
THE MAINLINE CHURCH'S FUNDING CRISIS
CONGREGATIONS AT THE CROSSROADS
THE STEWARD LIVING IN COVENANT

In Christ,
--Tom Foran ( tomjoe at arn dot net ) on 9/30/2004; 12:01:45 PM

Glad that you enjoyed it! I've not yet gotten round to reading Alcorn, so thanks for the reminder.
--graham old ( graham at anabaptist dot co dot uk ) on 9/27/2004; 10:21:48 AM

You're article gets my blood pumping! Thanks for the challenge and reminder. Another valuable resource that I've come across is Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. His resulting approach is not as radical, but the assessment is thoroughly Biblical and convicting.
--steve thompson ( steve at stevethompson dot us ) on 9/24/2004; 10:08:50 AM