Western worldview encourages us to see ourselves as owners of our resources.  In the Biblical frame of reference, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” [Psalm 24.1].  Hence, the Biblical worldview envisions us not as the owners but as stewards who have been trusted with resources and the care of everything—Creation, gifts and talents, money, time, the gospel—for the sake of God's purposes in the world [Genesis 1.28; 1 Peter 4.10]. The idea of stewardship implies that we are accountable to God for what we do and with what he has trusted to us. 

This notion of stewardship changes how we approach giving as Encounter church. On the one hand, giving is not an optional extra reserved for wealthy members of our community but rather a shared responsibility for the advancement of the mission that God has entrusted us with as a church. On the other hand, giving is not constrained by any predetermined giving level or percentage of income, but rather invites a thoughtful and prayerful pondering of the strategic and effective ways of investing lavishly of God resources entrusted to our care.  “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” [2 Corinthians 9.7]. Hence, as stewards of God-given resources we seek to cheerfully and lavishly invest what God has entrusted us with for the sake of his glory and the advancement of his kingdom.