In Malachi 3:10 God says, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!"
Tithing was important for the Temple in Old Testament days, because it was the design God had created to take care of the priests (who could not work while serving in the Temple), and to operate the ministry of the Temple. That translates directly to the Church today, where our tithes (primarily monetary giving) goes to pay the salaries of the employees of the local churches, and provides the means to operate the ministry of the churches in their communities.
Without the tithe coming in from all believers, the local church suffers, and the worldwide Church cannot live up to its full potential.
My pastor friend that I referenced in yesterday's post told me that most of his congregation give, but they don't tithe. I know other pastors who have encountered this, especially in the current recession. They end up losing income of their own, because the church can't pay them. The various ministries of the church get cut, because there isn't enough funding for them.
Let's do a little math. The average income in America is around $50,000. In a hypothetical church of 200 (50 families of four) making this household amount, the total gross income is $2.5 million. Of that, ten percent should be tithed, giving this local church $250,000 annually. That would be enough to pay staff, conduct all the ministries of the church, and have enough left over to expand or plan for the future.
On the flip side, if all these 50 families do are to drop $5 in the offering plate every week, the total income for the church would be $13,000 -- a difference of $237,000. Obviously, the $5 thing won't keep the lights on at a church. It wouldn't even feed one of these families of four.
These two examples are both extremes. Reality exists somewhere in the middle, but I used the extremes to point out the potential impact of tithing, and the devastating impact of the "$5 special."
Tithing isn't a hard issue to comprehend. God made it very simple to understand and to apply to our lives. And, He leaves the choice up to us. God won't be striking people dead for not tithing, but He can't bless the people who won't tithe. And, the reason he can't bless the people who don't tithe is because these people don't trust God with their money.
So, how does a person go from being a non-tither to tithing on the full extent of their income. I believe it begins with prayer. Since tithing is primarily a trust issue, you need to work on improving that trust relationship with God. This begins by studying the Bible (all of it, not just on tithing), praying to God, and applying the lessons God teaches you.
While you're in the process of building trust, you also need to start somewhere in your giving. If you struggle with letting go of your money, I suggest starting small, and set a time frame for the future.
If you're just getting into the giving spirit, try the $5 special for a few weeks to get into the habit of giving. Then, gradually increase that amount to $10, $20 and $100 dollars. As you adjust to a life of giving, you'll also adjust to living within your means.
These baby steps will eventually lead you to giving ten percent off of your net income. The tithe off of the net is actually pretty easy to do, since you see all that money coming into your account. It's easy to do the math off of what you actually brought home.
The big jump, and the leap of faith comes when you tithe off your gross income. You never see the gross, because taxes, retirement, health and other deductions come out of it first. This makes the challenge of the full tithe a little harder to swallow. I suggest that once you start tithing off of your net income, then you should also set a date in the near future (2-3 months) to start tithing off your gross income. This allows you to prepare for it, and determine in your mind that you'll make this leap of faith regardless what comes your way.
You'll need that determination. Just about everyone I have spoken with on their tithing experiences say the same thing. They didn't seem to have any financial struggles until they began tithing. But, once they made that committment to tithe, it seemed that things started breaking around the home. Gas prices jumped. Cars needed repairs.
Since tithing is a trusting-God issue, that makes it a spiritual issue. It should not surprise anyone that Satan would try to discourage you once you begin expressing your trust in God. Again, this is where the prayer time becomes very important. You need it to stay in contact with God, and maintain that trust and determination.
Last thoughts on tithing: It is not a get-rich-quick scheme that God organized. There is a tendency to read Malachi 3 and assume that the blessings are going to be returned in monetary form. God knows the heart of every person. He also knows our needs and desires.
If we seek monetary gain from our act of tithing, God probably won't grant it. Instead, your blessing will come in different areas. Perhaps a better job, an improved relationship with your spouse, greater ministry opportunities, etc.
Tithing is also not an approval system. I know this will be hard to believe, but there are people out there claiming a relationship with Jesus who will use their tithe as a weapon. If they approve of the decision the church leadership makes, they will give it. But, if they disagree with the direction of the church, they withhold their tithe as a way to punish the church and its leaders.
This type of activity is not only destructive to the church, but as Malachi 3 also points out, it is stealing from God. You are cheating Him of one of the things he asks. The tithe is not designed as a method of voting your approval. To use it that way, I believe, is an indication of an individual's true heart and reflects directly on their relationship with God, or should I say the lack of a relationship with God.
So, there you go. Tithing in a two-part nut shell. What do you think?
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