This post originally appeared at my writing blog, The Accidental Author.
The tithe is one of those concepts that gets people all hot under the collar. Common rebuttals against the tithe include:
The tithe is one of those concepts that gets people all hot under the collar. Common rebuttals against the tithe include:
1. "Tithing is a part of Old Testament Law, and I'm under the New Testament covenant, so I don't need to tithe."
2. "God isn't concerned about percentages as long as I give something."
3. "The Bible says God loves a cheerful giver. I cannot give cheerfully, so it's best that I don't give."
Well, let me address these one at at time.
1.
It is true that tithing has its foundations in the Old Testament, but
that's doesn't necessarily mean that it is no longer relevant. Jesus
admonished the Pharisees to attend to matters of justice and mercy,
while NOT neglecting the tithe. The Macedonian believers gave even
beyond what their means would allow, in the face of extreme poverty.
And yet, we are squabbling about giving our ten percent? Do we really
want to look Jesus in the face on Judgment Day, the One who gave up everything for you, and tell Him that His purposes and His Will were not worth ten percent of our income?
2.
I believe it is true that God isn't some cosmic accountant, making sure
that everyone gives their 10.000% when it comes time to write the tithe
check. But once again, I point to the New Testament. Like I said
before, the Macedonian believers were giving more than Paul thought
they should, and they had to plead with him to take their money to help
support the saints in Jerusalem. In addition, the early church members
in Acts Chapter 2 were selling all they had to distribute to those who
had need in their fellowship. Do these passages give an indication of
percentages given? No, but "all they had" would be 100% in my opinion.
And if the Macedonian church was giving more than Paul believed was
rational, it would certainly lead me to believe they were giving more
than ten percent of what they had.
3. God is absolutely
interested in those who give cheerfully, without regret and without
grumbling. But if you are grumbling about the tithe, the best question
to ask is: Why? And this leads me to the key point for this post.
If
you are looking at your monthly budget, and at the bottom is a big fat
ZERO, and you don't have room for a ten percent tithe, that means your
tithe is going somewhere else, doesn't it? Where is your tithe going?
Is it going to pay for the car you can barely afford to make payments
on? Is it going to your local cable company so you can maintain your
750 channels of mostly unwatchable programming? Is it going to
Starbucks (no offense, I do still love you Starbucks, but you aren't more important than God). Is it going to your twice weekly McDonald's habit?
My
proposition is this. Can't afford to tithe? If you earnestly desire
to starting giving to God as a faithful steward, figure out where your
tithe is going, reign it back in and start giving as soon as possible.
Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:
CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)
You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.
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