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Resurrection Anglican Church
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Tithe if you love Jesus. Anybody can honk.Every once in a while, I think it's worthwhile for us to examine our priorities and values, how we live and give, and go before God in prayer to seek His will for us. As we finish this period of Lent, and celebrate what Jesus gave to us - everything, including His life - this seems like a timely and Godly thing to do. Herewith some thoughts... In 1994 the humorist Joe Bob Briggs had a newspaper column about tithing. He wrote the column after reading that the average giver in 1968 gave 3.1 percent of after tax income to the church, but that this had fallen to 2.6 percent in recent years. This kind of giving (and worse, since this is the average) is common to wealthier, suburban churches. Inner city and rural churches (and Resurrection) tend to pull the average up. Joe Bob says, "Now you could go down the street where you got about 300 dirt-poor gospel singing tithers. They don't have as much money [as the suburbanites], but they've got the full ten percent of what they make. Now guess which group feeds the hungry and takes care of the homeless. That's right. If you want the definition of "cold," show up at a rich church and ask for help." "If you wanna see a living church, find a bunch of people who fork over the 10 percent every week, whether they feel like they have it or not. I'm surprised nobody notices this." "But everybody misses the whole point. If it's only 2.6% now, and even when it was great, it was only 3.1 percent, it's still seven percent less than what the Bible says. The Bible has this formula all spelled out so that the churches and the synagogues never have to worry about it. It's the "tithe" and it's 10 percent. Always has been, always will be. My granddaddy did it his whole life. Everybody in my family has always done it. I know maybe 50 people who do it like clockwork - take the old paycheck, move it over one decimal point, and send that much to the church." In the recent movie "The Apostle" (which if you haven't seen, you should), Robert Duvall plays a southern preacher who restarts a ramshackle old church that has died. He earns his living primarily by repairing cars and cooking in a small café. With a handful of other folks, they paint and sweep and restore the church to useable condition. Most of the people are too poor to own cars, so he even drives the bus to pick those up who want to come to church - my kind of preacher! At the first service he tells the congregation that the Lord expects ten percent from His people, and that's what they'll all give, of course. To these people it is just natural - what God expects from them. In 2nd Corinthians 9, Paul says this: "The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." Paul is making three important points here: first, our giving is not to be reluctant, as if we are simply following rules and afraid of punishment. We are not under the Law, but live by Grace. That's why he says, "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." A tithe is not a regulation, but an expectation, a hope, a mark which we should strive to achieve or exceed - and we should be doing so with joy at the opportunity to plunge fully into the work of God - to enthusiastically invest in an eternal kingdom. Second, Paul is saying that there is a spiritual effect to our giving. If we hold back from God, we distance ourselves from Him. We do not experience the intimacy and grace that is available to us - not because God needs our money or time or abilities - but because our stinginess pushes Him away. This is what he means when he says, "the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." Third, "God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." This requires a little reflection. Many folks at Resurrection are in fine shape financially. Not rich, but not in any need at all. Many of them do indeed tithe, and more, to Resurrection. They are a blessing, and they are blessed. They do "share abundantly in every good work." It is my prayer that all of us not in need would be joyful "gospel singing tithers." Many others have more of a struggle to make it week to week, through no fault of their own, and sometimes seek help from this family of God. They get it. Still others suffer under a crushing debt load of their own making. Every month is a challenge to know who to pay and who to avoid. I have certainly been there. The crushing debt load happened because I bought things I really couldn't afford by using credit. I was seduced (willingly - it was my sin) into making "minimum payments" each month on a bunch of credit cards and department store accounts. I bought the lie that my credit line gave me "buying power," and I bought stuff I shouldn't have because I wanted it. This is the sin of our age. The truth is, God had provided me "with every blessing in abundance" and I did have "enough of everything" that I truly needed, but I wanted more and I bought it. The debt load became a nightmare. Everything we have is actually God's. He makes us caretakers of it, and we
can either do a good job, honoring Him and contributing to His work, or we can
over-indulge ourselves instead. It is not surprising that when I indulge myself
beyond my means, and get myself under a crushing debt load, that I might be
astonished or even angered by the suggestion that God might want me to give ten
percent, or even more, to His church and His work in the world. But many of us have been suckered into paying credit companies 16-22% for the privilege of using their money to buy things we can't afford and don't need. God's meager 10% vanishes in the cost of our indulgence, and so we grow in despair and anger. One great object lesson to us was a family in California, neighbors, who raised five children on $18,000 a year. The father taught in a small Christian school, and the mom stayed home and raised and educated their children. They clipped coupons. They budgeted. They bought second-hand. They saved. And you can bet they gave a tithe and more to their church. If they could do it on just $18,000, so could we on our higher income. And so can you. But it takes a radical shift in priorities and values. Another lesson to us was the pastor at the church which sponsored me to seminary. He also tithed his income. When I first heard him say that he did this (back in about 1984), I was shocked. I couldn't even imagine it. It made me squirm. And it began, for me, a radical shift in priorities and values. Today my family uses credit cards, but we pay them off completely every month. We give at least 10% of our income to Resurrection. We have basic necessities, and more. We invest for the future. We buy only what we can afford. It is just natural - what God expects from us. It took us some time to get to the point where we understood this Biblical formula and could live by it, but we did get there, and we have prospered. I relate all of this not to pat us on the back, or to make anybody feel disrespected. Rather, I reflect on all of this to encourage us to regularly seek God's will in our giving (me included), and in our priorities and values. We need to seek Him, not fear Him. God says in Jeremiah 29:11-13, "I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." May we each be willing to give up our old priorities, seek Him with ALL our heart, prosper in the plans He has for us, and take joy at the opportunity to plunge fully into His work. It's just natural - what He expects from us. Then our giving is for His eternal kingdom, and leading others into it, rather than a temporary indulgence here on earth. Seek God in prayer, and ask Him to set your priorities and values. It will be a great release. For the love of Jesus, |
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Love
God, neighbor and enemy. 