1 Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

--Luke 8:1-3

We often use tithing as a model for stewardship.  It is not a bad model.  Tithing is based on the Old Testament structure of the temple and the priests and offering the first fruits to God.

But tithing is not the only model of stewardship in the Bible, and perhaps it is time that we looked at some of the others.

I say this because I believe the era of the church being the established temple of the people, if it ever did exist in that sense, is over.  That does not mean the message of Jesus no longer needs to be proclaimed.  It is just that as we need to explore new ways to do evangelism -- that is, to get the word out -- maybe we need to explore new ways to support the ministry.

In the Bible passage above, those who believed in the mission of Jesus and the words that he spoke supported him with what they had. 

Too often when we get together to talk about stewardship we try to figure out how to get more money out of others, especially those who are sparse in attending and perhaps less committed to the message.

But the women who followed and provided for Jesus teach that you have to put you own money where your faith is.  Give what it takes to support the ministry, whatever that is.  It may actually be much greater than 10 percent for some of us.

The challenge of those most committed is not simply to figure out how to get more money out of others, but also to figure out how to find more of their own resources that might further the mission of the Gospel.

Lord, touch me first that I might hear your call to follow and not leave my purse behind.  Amen