I'm talking about money.
Read on if you dare.
Yes, these are economically unsettling times for all of us.
Everyone has been affected in some way by this financial depression.
But that doesn't change the fact that we've been called to obedience to our Lord.
Tithing is a bit of a controversial topic. This is mostly due to the fact that a majority of Christ followers would rather not talk about finances and would prefer to be left alone in their sin. Yes, I went there. NOT tithing is a sin. It is direct disobedience to the God we call Almighty. If I were you, I wouldn't mess with that.
Check out Malachi 3:6-10:
6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
Umm, hello???? This is completely relevant to our nation...right now. We are in sin--we are robbing God. Sure, we drop a few coins in every once in a while OR maybe we even give $20 regularly. But if we are not giving at least a tenth of our (gross--first fruits) income to the Lord then yes, I'm afraid you ARE robbing God. Because of our selfishness and greed, we have given the Lord no other choice than to curse our nation. We are reaping the harvest of our disobedience.
Disciples of Jesus, I charge you to run from your lukewarm behaviors. Either you love God with ALL of your heart, all of your money, all of your life OR you don't--in which case He doesn't know you. Do you trust the Creator of this universe, of chocolate, of C# minor, of childbirth, of wind to care for YOU? If he takes care of the birds through winter and creates lilies in all their glory, how much more will he provide for ME and you?
I dare you to take the Lord's challenge. Will you bring the WHOLE tithe into His house? Even when you're not sure if you can afford a gallon of milk this week or whether or not you'll get another paycheck? Will you trust him?
I promise you, out of my own life's testimony, he is faithful. Give when you think you cannot and God will surely open the floodgates of heaven onto your life. And you will know it was His provision and you will give HIM the glory--because that, my friends, is the whole point of our lives.
Tithing has worked in my life--giving back to God what He entrusted me with in the first place always results in blessings I could not have imagined. Join me.
This post is participating in Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.
I agree - tithing is completely necessary and biblical, but I wanted to mention something I recently discovered and talked about with a pastor of mine and previous w/ a chaplain.
ReplyDeleteThe 10% isn't actually part of the new covenant. it was implemented to compensate the priests because they had no other income and were looked at more like state workers than clergy. the 10% mandate was more of a tax and less like an offering. it wasn't just 10% of first fruits, but 10% of everything - land, food, income in any and every sense.
In the New Testament church, money that was given was given to support the poor, needy, widows, and orphans...not pastors or building projects, or church functions.
Not tithing at all is robbing God. What has been given us is already Gods, so you're right, we need to be offering everything back to Him no matter what. But today, because of Jesus, it's more about pressing in to Him to see what and how much He would have you give where.
I agree. I don't think Tithing has ended for NT Christians. God has blessed us abundantly. I am happy to give back to Him and His work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this!
LaVonne is spot-on. Tithing isn't something that was fulfilled through Jesus. In fact, three of the four Gospels quote Jesus:
ReplyDeleteThen Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, and Luke 20:25). There's a reason for this.
If you make a budget, put this as line item #1. You wouldn't consider not paying your cell phone bill or dropping the internet service. Is God less important to you than those things?
I've even heard some people make the statement, "if I had more money, I'd tithe."
It's a lie.
While they have honest intentions with the statement, they're justifying away the fact that they are likely being irresponsible.
If you make $10 and tithe $1 of it, you will likely continue to tithe 10% when you make $500,000. but the converse holds true, too. If you do not make it a point to follow the rules about tithing when you have little, you won't make it a point to tithe when you have more.
I agree! We can't afford NOT to tithe!
ReplyDeleteMy church asks members for an annual pledge, but I prefer to give anonymously. What I do is make my pledge at the largest possible amount I think I could give in one check in January, and I give that check then so that my pledge is fulfilled and no funds are wasted sending me reminders to pay my pledge. From February to December, I put cash in the offering plate.
Some years I've feared that my pledge check would overdraw my account, but it never has. The most I've had to do is hold a few bills right up to their due dates instead of pay them when they arrive. Twice my January bank statement showed electronic deposits that I'd forgotten were going to happen, once my car insurance accidentally delayed its autopayment, and once I'd made an error in my checkbook register in my favor--always, I wind up having enough money to cover my gift.
My plate offerings used to be $5 a week, unless I didn't have $5 in change, in which case I'd put in a $10 or $20. Three months ago I felt called to start putting in $20 every time (or all the money in my wallet if <$20) but wasn't sure I could afford it. I did it anyway. I HAVE SEEN NO CHANGE IN MY FINANCES. I'm not sure how it works, but we still have enough money for everything we really need.