Robertson McQuilkin was the president of Columbia International University for 22 years, after planting churches in Japan for 12 years. He retired from his role as president of CIU in 1990 to care for his wife as her Alzheimers advanced and lovingly served her for 13 years until her death. McQuilkin wrote 19 excellent books including “A Promise Kept” about his care for his wife. And one of his lasting contributions to the Christian movement is this presentation of levels of giving.
These levels are a call to grow up in Christ and a visual presentation that helps us see we aren’t probably as far along in generosity as we might think.
- The lowest level is simply not giving at all. This is like a spiritual infant who is entirely focused on him or herself and can’t see or appreciate the needs of others and therefore gives nothing away.
- The current average churchgoer in America is a kindergarten giver – averaging 2% of their annual income, usually given as “tips” from time to time as a need is mentioned and they throw in a few bucks.
- Evangelicals do better than this, averaging 4% giving but sadly, most born-again believers don’t reach the elementary level of what McQuilkin calls legalistic giving – of a consistent, pre-tax tithe. The point of this progression is that tithing is the starting point for a growing believer, not the end-point. Giving 10% is like training wheels for moving toward a generous Christian life. Most of us were not content to keep the training wheels on long term. We wanted to advance to greater freedom and mobility! The tithe is the OLD TESTAMENT standard – it’s the minimum requirement of the Mosaic Law – and Jesus actually confronted the Pharisees for ONLY giving a tithe while they were neglecting the care of their immediate family members. Should blood-bought new covenant followers of Jesus remain forever in the minimum old testament requirement or should we mature in the Lord to greater generosity?
- The high school level of giving is called honest stewardship – you realize that all you have belongs to the Lord and you manage your time, talents and treasure with kingdom principles in mind – investing intentionally in global missions, local outreach and, of course, your local church.
- University level advances to love giving – and is evidenced when people give away a vehicle or a home, or sell off an investment fund to help a brother or sister in need – and not just an immediate family member, but a brother or sister in the church.
- And the graduate level is faith giving – sacrificially stretching beyond what is practical or what the budget numbers would indicate, trusting God completely to take care of your needs even when you have no anticipated way for that to happen.
In 1990 Robertson McQuilkin was at the very pinnacle of his career. (Read more here). He was only 62 years old, was president of a prominent evangelical university, was writing books, speaking all over the world – really making a difference for Jesus. But his wife was increasingly distressed without him. Her Alzheimers had gotten to the point that if he wasn’t with her she got fearful and went hunting for him. Of course, she knew the half mile route to the school – and would walk – a mile round trip – sometimes ten times a day. He would come home and see that her feet were bloody from trying to find him.
In the end, he said the decision was an easy one. 42 years before he had promised to love and to cherish her in sickness or in health. Period. Nothing more to it. Did he give up a degree of impact for the kingdom of God? Of course. Was it wrong to do so? Of course not! Here is what he said about his decision:
“I never think about ‘what if.’ I don’t think ‘what if’ is in God’s vocabulary. So I don’t even think about what I might be doing instead of changing her diaper or what I might be doing instead of spending two hours feeding her. It’s the grace of God, I’m sure… I don’t feel like I’ve given anything up. Our life is not the way we plot it or plan it… All along I’ve just accepted whatever assignment the Lord gave me. This was his assignment.”
Robertson McQuilkin
Listen to McQuilkin’s 2 minute resignation speech. Have your tissues ready.
As we begin our short series on Stewardship, McQuilkin gives us perspective and inspiration to faithfully manage everything the Lord has entrusted to us. Yes, our finances are part of that trust, but it is so much more than that. God has given us time, energy, abilities, gifts, relationships, resources – all so we can bring honor to Him and advance His kingdom priorities in this world. How will we manage all the Lord has given to us?