HOPE! - What is Tithing to Me?

What is tithing to me?

To be honest it’s not something I think about all that often. Both of my parents are Nazarene pastors, and growing up they taught me to tithe. They taught me to give 10% of all money I received to the Church. Whether I earned that money by working or received that money as a gift in a birthday card, I always tithed 10% of that money to the Church.

I may be unusual, but this was never a struggle for me. And it’s not because I’ve always been some guy who had more money than he knew what to do with. Most of my life so far has been spent living under the poverty line. When I was a kid, my dad would only get one meal a day, and that meal was a free lunch that the daycare he worked for provided for him. He didn’t eat the rest of the time. He went without to make sure that his family had enough. But it was just enough. And at the same time my parents worked as volunteer children’s’ pastors, and they always tithed (often more than 10%) to the Church. Even when it hurt. And so sacrificial giving was modeled to me from an early age. That’s why tithing isn’t a struggle for me today – because of my parents’ example.

Now did I ever wonder if I could find better ways to spend my money than the church could?

Certainly.

But the thing is – it was never really my money to begin with. Everything belongs to God.

Now could the different churches I’ve belonged to done a better job at allocating how the money they received through tithes and offerings was used?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Would I be better off keeping that money?

Certainly not.

Why do I say this?

Because money has a way of getting the better of you if you let it. Again, I’m probably an odd-ball this way, but I’ve never had a desire for money in and of itself. I’ve never wanted to be rich. I’m far more interested in the artwork on these green pieces of paper than I am in the green paper itself. I’ve always had a subtle hatred of money throughout my life. Maybe I’m weird that way. But I think a lot of it has to do with what I’ve seen happen to people who ended up loving money more than they loved God. I’ve seen people lose their homes. I’ve seen it split up families. I’ve seen it used over and over as way of promoting prejudices and even racism.

So, Pastor Daniel, why do you think money is bad?

I actually don’t think it’s bad at all. It’s just something I don’t care that much about. I understand the importance of money. I know that it’s necessary. Even referring to money as a “necessary evil” seems somewhat extreme to me, because I don’t see money as being evil. Like all parts of creation, it can be used for evil if we choose to worship the creation instead of the Creator.

Which brings me back to – it’s all God’s stuff anyway.

I need to trust him with everything. Not just 10% either. But all of it. Not just money. But my entire life. My entire self. It’s a trust issue.

If I ask, “Can I spend my money better than the church?” then I’m really missing the point… because it isn’t my money – it’s God’s. it isn’t my life – it’s God’s. And we know that God has proved himself over and over again to be both a generous and faithful God to us. We know that he will never leave us or forsake us. And if I can’t trust God with the money he let me borrow, how can I trust him with other things that aren’t so temporary – like my soul?

It’s all about trust. Tithing has not been an issue for me. But I do struggle with trusting God with all of myself. We all do. We are often like Peter, when Jesus asks us to do something, we ask, "Well, what about those other people? What are they doing?"

And like Jesus says to Peter, he says to us, "What about him? You follow me."