church_windows tagged: ,

A Different Look at Tithing

Posted by in God-time, Money, Religion


My pastor was talking about the biblical concept of tithing the other day and he said something I’ve never heard another church pastor say. It was so shocking in terms of how much sense it made, and it so embodied the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ that I felt the need to share it.

Most of my life, I belonged to churches that talked about money a lot. In some cases, they talked about it incessantly. You couldn’t get through a single service without tithing being mentioned. But it was done in such a way, all too often, that focused more on getting cash than being obedient.

The Bible does, in fact, discuss the concept of tithing in both the Old and New Testaments. We show our obedience to God by honoring Him with 10% of our “harvest.”

It has only been recently that I began tithing regularly. A couple of years ago, I started giving a set amount to the church, that wasn’t even close to a full monthly tithe. But after praying about it, I decided that it would be my first step toward tithing.

That’s not the kind of thing I’d say around certain Christians. Particularly those that go to certain churches I’ve been part of in the past. You’d hear that gasp of shock. You’d see the surprise in the faces, that little glimmer of surprise that usually comes right before a very judgmental attitude takes hold.

There are too many of that type of Christian in the world these days. They’re the same kind who’ll summarily dismiss any discussion of the financial difficulties associated with tithing with a harshly delivered line like, “There’s no reason someone can’t tithe,” and an instant judgment that those who don’t tithe are somehow less worthy of grace.

In fact, there are a lot of reasons, and the number one reason is debt. We owe too much. And a bad economy isn’t helping people get out of debt.

For many people, many God-fearing people, there isn’t enough money to tithe. Even if they don’t buy Starbucks’ famous $5-per-cup coffee and give up cable and have no car payment, they barely have enough to afford to live.

I have friends who would argue —and have argued — that you should tithe, anyway. You give God your first 10%, and He will bless you for the remainder of what you owe at the end of the month. Some of them have even assured me that this is exactly what happened to them.

The ironic thing about this is that some of them were magically “rewarded” for their tithe through emergency assistance from the very church they paid their tithe to. That is to say, their church had to turn around and hand them the check right back when they faced losing electricity or water.

To them, that’s God rewarding them for their obedience.

To me, it’s not tithing, because when you give it to God, you don’t do so knowing you’re going to have to ask for it right back. At the end of that day, you haven’t tithed, because you haven’t really given God any of your money. You merely loaned it to Him for a few days.

So when my pastor didn’t tell a group of people, in a typical stern, unwavering voice, that not tithing was not an option, my eyebrows went up a bit. And when he came right out and said that some people can’t tithe, I had another reminder of why I love my church.

He said that when you have bills that don’t allow you to tithe, you don’t tithe. Instead, you do two things: you give what you can, and you begin working your way into a better situation so that tithing won’t be such an impossible burden.

Both parts of that are critical:  you give what you can afford to give now, even if it’s only 1%.  But you don’t stop there.  You work towards clearing off the debts.  You fight to get your situation better so you can then give 2%.  And you keep going from there.

That’s what I had done on my own, without any real conversation with anyone from my church. I prayed a lot about it. I told God I wanted to get to that point financially. At times, I’m still really, really tight at the end of the month. A few times, I’ve had to dip into a very modest emergency reserve I’d prefer not to dip into.

But while I definitely believe that you can’t bargain with God, I also believe that if you are sincere in your request to God, and you tell Him that you want to reach a point of obedience and ask for His help, He will give it to you.

It’s not the kind of thing that happens overnight.

Few things are.

People who are overweight because they love to eat don’t suddenly wake up one morning and never overeat again. People who have chained smoked for 30 years don’t suddenly stop smoking on a dime and never have another cigarette for the rest of their lives.

It’s a process. It takes commitment. And discipline.

But if you show God you’re serious and stick to your plan, He’ll meet you half-way. He’ll make things happen in ways you never expected.

That’s what He does.