We have been talking about tithing in our 2by2 couples bible study at church using Randy Alcorn's book "Money, Posessions & Eternity" as a guide. Its so interesting to hear how many interpretations there are on how to tithe. Our class is comprised of newly engaged and married couples, so most of us are between the ages of 18-30...amazingly, everyone my age does not necessarily think the way I do. Haha - big surprise!
The following are some of the ideas that have been brought up in our class, and I'm not saying my thoughts on each are necessarily right. I just know that for me, I have to figure out how to honor God with our money even when we don't have any.
"We'll tithe when we're older and more established financially"
I have learned that tithing is more difficult when you have more money, so I suggest getting into the habit of tithing while you're still making dirt! In 6th grade, I did a fundraiser at school and won three drawings from this box of money that had 100 $1 dollar bills, 50 $5.00 bills, 10 $10.00 bills and 2 $50.00 bills. Out of my three chances, I miraculously pulled out both fifties and a one. $101.00 was A LOT for me to tithe on that weekend at church...but I did, and it felt great! My parents helped us with this concept by paying our allowance with dimes. The 10-10-80 plan, give a tenth, save a tenth, and you have 80% left over for anything else.
"We're planning to invest all the money we would tithe so that we can give more later"
I was a little confused by this one. I understand the idea behind it, being able to give more in the long run, but what if you die? Will someone else know that the huge stockpile of money in your account was your tithe? Also, what about the churches that are really needing to meet their weekly budget, because your tithe now would probably really help them now. This idea doesn't work for me. I would think about investing like this in an "above and beyond my tithe" sort of way. Again, just my personal opinions.
"We tithe to a church we don't go to"
This was something I struggled with all through college and even after we got married. It's so easy for me to tithe to Granger because I know all the awesome things Granger is doing with my tithe. I really had to get it through my head that I should give where I go to church. Since making this switch and tithing to the church we attend each week, God has really changed my heart about it. THIS video helped too!
"We'll tithe when we're older and more established financially"
I have learned that tithing is more difficult when you have more money, so I suggest getting into the habit of tithing while you're still making dirt! In 6th grade, I did a fundraiser at school and won three drawings from this box of money that had 100 $1 dollar bills, 50 $5.00 bills, 10 $10.00 bills and 2 $50.00 bills. Out of my three chances, I miraculously pulled out both fifties and a one. $101.00 was A LOT for me to tithe on that weekend at church...but I did, and it felt great! My parents helped us with this concept by paying our allowance with dimes. The 10-10-80 plan, give a tenth, save a tenth, and you have 80% left over for anything else.
"We're planning to invest all the money we would tithe so that we can give more later"
I was a little confused by this one. I understand the idea behind it, being able to give more in the long run, but what if you die? Will someone else know that the huge stockpile of money in your account was your tithe? Also, what about the churches that are really needing to meet their weekly budget, because your tithe now would probably really help them now. This idea doesn't work for me. I would think about investing like this in an "above and beyond my tithe" sort of way. Again, just my personal opinions.
"We tithe to a church we don't go to"
This was something I struggled with all through college and even after we got married. It's so easy for me to tithe to Granger because I know all the awesome things Granger is doing with my tithe. I really had to get it through my head that I should give where I go to church. Since making this switch and tithing to the church we attend each week, God has really changed my heart about it. THIS video helped too!
"We've been tithing to so-and-so nonprofit organization instead of our church"
This is a sticky one for me too. Your money is being given, so that's the point, right? There is something about giving our tithe at church that makes me feel like I'm giving directly to God. My heart is in the right place when I am at church. To be brutally honest, when that $30 a month gets automatically withdrawn each month and goes to our sponsor child...I don't really think about it, is't that horrible? I love that we do that, but for us that's not the tithe.
"We don't tithe to so-and-so church because the Pastor has a nice car, so he is obviously taking money out of the offering for himself"
This makes me want to puke for two reasons. First, because you could be right...the pastor could be stealing from the offering. And secondly, you could be totally wrong, you don't know the story behind the car he is driving. It could be that someone in his congregation blessed him with that car as an "above and beyond their tithe" gift. That pastor could have been driving a broken down mini-van for the last 20 years...and then was blessed with a better vehicle...okay, you get the point. I'll stop ranting. You can read more of my thoughts on this HERE.
On a side note, A few weeks ago I came across this site that really gave me a lot of perspective on money. www.globalrichlist.com will tell you where you are financially compared to the rest of the world. It's a great tool for any pastors or teachers out there who are talking about money.
6 comments:
If you really want both sides of the study which Alcorn teaches, I suggest you read my 19 point essay opposing tithing and my rebuttal to Alcorn's presentation. At least you will be fully informed. Russell Earl Kelly, Ph. D. www.shouldthechurchteachtithing.com and rebuttal of Alcorn in Section 2 of 3 of the site. May God bless you.
I've always been taught that if you tithe and are giving your money towards God's purposes in this world, you can give to Christ-centered charity organizations or churches. The choice is your's...so long as you have thoughtfully prayed about it. We give more in that direction since we don't really have a church that we can really call home. So, the one about the sponsored children, I think that definitely does count as tithing and that it shouldn't be limited to only the church. Let me know if you think I'm wrong here.
I will have to say I agree with Amber. In two parts. One in the bible it states that we are to tithe to the church the 10% and then anything else we give to missions or whatever else is to be above and beyond that. Secondly on being judgmental about the pastor. He is giving of his time and life to serve the Lord in the capacity of the church. I have been there. And you can see an influx in giving when for example the lottery is at high stakes or different things. It's amazing how people base how much and when they will tithe. I will admit I did go through a phase where I did not tithe and it seems I was less happy when I did not tithe than when I did.
I think that there is something to be said about giving to the Church (big "C") but find it difficult to say that this should take the place of giving to a local body one is a part of. The Bible teaches that where our treasure is, there our heart is also. Some people have difficulty seeing themselves as responsible for the larger picture - the poor in the rest of the world for instance. It might make sense for us to tithe to organizations that put our hearts toward this bigger picture of the Church. On the other hand, if one is giving first of all locally they are much more likely to care about how that local church is playing their part in the big picture and practicing responsible stewardship. (Because we care about the things we put our treasure toward, whether that treasure is our time, talent and/or money). If the local church is doing it's job we should feel confident that our local tithe has globabl impact.
A friend I respect teaches that Biblically we have 2 options when it comes to tithing: 1. the Old Testament teaching, which is giving the first 10%, OR, 2. the New Testament teaching which is to give ALL that we have and are.
Sarah & Tara! I totally agree, if God has layed it on your heart to give to a certain organization, then that's what you need to do!
I don't believe the tithe is an obligation for the new testament church. I believe we should give sacrificially. I don't believe in giving selfish excuses either. I also don't believe that we don't have to answer to anyone but God and the Spirit about our giving.
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