Good Question: Money

Some times I am asked the money question by people who are new to their faith in Christ or maybe they’ve been flirting with the idea of trusting Jesus, but money is one of their hang ups.  I always have to remind myself to be patient with people in this area since giving to my church became second nature to me a long time ago and because so many of the people I know and respect do this with joy.  My answer to the non-believer on the concept of giving tithes and offerings to God (to his church) is, “please don’t.”  If someone isn’t a part of God’s family, or if he can’t give with the right heart, he shouldn’t give.  Here is why I gladly give to God:

1. Abraham gave a tenth of the wealth he accumulated to Melchizedek as a proper tribute to a great king (Gen 14.)  Throughout history any people who serve a powerful King as his servants and are governed by him, pay a tribute as a way to communicate their dependency and their loyalty.  When the tribute stopped it always meant war since it communicated that the people had chosen to rebel.  God is our King and our Lord and it is appropriate to give to him as a sign of his Lordship and our loyalty.  If I horde my money I am demonstrating selfishness and rebellion.
2. In the OT God’s people gave as an act of worship and trust in God.  This included the concept of cost – that offerings cost something to the person making the offering.  This  helped the person understand that forgiveness of sins cost God something.  This is very important for us to remember!
3. The concept of giving of the “first-fruits” of the land meant that a person believed God would provide for his family’s needs with the other 90%.  The Jewish laws also commanded a weekly day of rest, a 7^th year rest, and ultimately a Day of Jubilee (50^th year,) all of which were tangible ways to demonstrate trust in God just like tithing puts our “money where our mouth is.”   I can’t say I trust God and not demonstrate trust.  
4. The interesting thing about the tithes and offerings was that on the front end they are a tangible way for me to demonstrate my love for God, but on the back end, God uses those as resources to accomplish His will in the world.  Some of the offerings were used to sustain the Levites and Priests.  In other words, they sustained the national worship of Israel.  These offerings at times were also used to build.  King David and King Solomon collected offerings from the people that they used to build a truly magnificent temple to God.  Later, Ezra collected offerings from the people to rebuild the Temple during the return from exile period.  That idea didn’t go away in the New Testament, where Paul said that a minister is worthy of his salary – it is very appropriate to support those who lead his spiritual body (1 Tim 5:18.)
5. Lastly, the New Testament is replete with teachings about the importance of letting go of the power of money in our lives.  We are to make sure that money serves God’s purposes in our lives and that we are not serving money or debt.  The greatest way that I can demonstrate my power over money is to be able to give it away.  If I am not giving it away it controls me.  So, I give it to my church (not just because I’m the Pastor), and I give it to people in need, and I take care of my family and closest friends with money.  Only someone who hasn’t read or committed himself to the many teachings of Jesus and the NT writers on this topic could feel comfortable with living a life that isn’t generous. 

These are why I, and many people I know and respect give regularly to our respective churches.  Tammy and I don’t labor over writing checks in the hundreds of dollars on a monthly basis and we don’t even consider what other things we could be doing with that money – because in our minds and hearts, it’s God’s money.  Not just the tithe, it’s all his anyway.  We’re giving him some of it back for the reasons listed above.  I have never ever had someone who is a mature believer argue with me about this topic since it is so utterly clear throughout the Bible.  Not one person whom I respect as a believer who truly knows Christ has ever told me that they don’t give to the church and that they don’t wish they could give even more.  For those who haven’t yet come to this spiritual conviction, we must be patient and pray for them knowing that we were at this point when we first considered following Christ.  We pray because we know that there is an aspect of knowing and trusting God that they have not experienced yet but need to.