I grew up in church culture, and when I started making money in my teen years I wanted to thank God with some of what I made. I realized the body he gave me to work with, and all the profits I earned, ultimately belonged to him. So when I asked around the church, the standard of "giving to God" a.k.a. the church, the number 10% always came up. The debate was not over whether 10% was correct or not, but whether the 10% should come from the net or gross portion of your income.
This is something I want to write about, because as you may already know, Jesus actually addressed the issue of money more than almost anything else. He talked about it more than even Heaven and Hell combined. One of every seven verses in Luke's gospel talk about money. Over 25% of the parables are about money. The Bible puts greed on the same destructive level as idolatry. (Eph 5:5, 1 Cor. 5:11)
Jesus brought up the topic of greed more than the topic of prayer. "Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." - Luke 12
I will try to keep this post specifically to the issue of "tithing", as the topic of money is almost endless in it's applications, i.e. loans and lending money, saving and spending, giving and investing, greed and idolatry. I would really like to write about money as a whole; maybe another day.:)
Timothy Keller recently wrote a book titled 'Counterfeit Gods'; and it mainly focuses on idolatry and all the deceptive and ugly forms it takes. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=counterfeit+gods&x=0&y=0 I'm not a fan of many books, but this one is top notch.
So, why is this term often used when referring to giving money to a church? Where did it come from? Is it even the most correct usage of the word?
For a long time Israel was a theocratic state. Theocracy means that God and His law rule a nation. Theocracy does not mean a church, or a religious group is running a nation; however God did often choose to audibly speak to judges and prophets with specific instructions for the people of Israel. It was definitely still a Dictatorship with a capital and divine "D".
And during this time in history, when the Israeli government was directly run by God, God laid down certain laws concerning taxation for the people. These were not "freewill" gifts or offerings, and depending on each families source of income the tax could be comprised of money, livestock, land, produce, or time, etc.
ONE: Every year the people were to pay 10% of their yearly income to the Levite tribe (the God ordained priests at the time). This would cover all the expenses for them and their families as their priestly duties were full-time. - Leviticus 27, Numbers 18
TWO: Every year the people were to also put 10% of their yearly income towards the national festivals, aka the Festival Tithe. This would often be grain, fruit, meat, etc. that would be shared by everyone at the feasts during the festivals. - Deuteronomy 12
THREE: Every third year the people were to give another 10% of that years assets to the foreigners, poor, widows and orphans. Basically it was a God ordained welfare system. - Deuteronomy 14
After you total up these three main taxes you come to 23.3% of your yearly income to be paid as taxes. There were a few other taxes for the people such as every seven years they were to let the land rest, i.e. not work their fields. So this meant a total loss in their income for that seventh year. Another one was that every seven years all current debts were to be erased. They also were commanded to leave the corners of their field unpicked, as well as whatever was dropped during the harvesting process was to be left for the poor and widows to glean (Leviticus 19). These were non-negotiable taxes that the people were commanded to pay for the theocratic "government programs" to run. There was also a Temple upkeep tax (Exodus 30:13)
The people would also give free-will offerings out of their own heart's generosity. And there were times when the people gave unbelievable amounts on top of their taxes!
So as for where the 10% originally came from and applies to us today or even then for that matter, I'm honestly not sure what to tell you; as the New Testament says absolutely nothing about giving a specific amount to God or the church (as the laws about taxes I just listed apply only to Old Testament theocratic laws).
The New Testament does however specifically talks about paying your taxes to your government. Jesus even paid into the tax system that supported the Jewish leaders who conspired to kill him, and who also paid off Judas. So to be blunt, whether you agree with what the government does or doesn't do with your tax dollars is irrelevant. As believers that is not our concern. God ultimately signs off on every governing body so we are to leave it with Him. Another opportunity, if you will, to trust God.
So what does the New Testament say about giving of money? Well obviously God doesn't need money...
"The idea of God needing your money is comical." - J. MacArthur
And even though Christians crave specific rules to follow, the New Testament doesn't give us any commands about the amount, or percentage of money to give. But the New Testament does provide us a very clear picture of what God does want from us.
There is one story that stands out to me that puts the importance where it belongs in regards to how God views your money. Jesus was sitting by the treasury and was just watching people as they came by to give their gifts to God. Some wealthy people were putting in huge amounts of money; but one widow came by and put in 2 copper coins (today's equivalent would be about 5 dollars). This was all the money she had to her name. "Calling his disciples to Him, He (Jesus) said to them, 'Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they put all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.'" - Mark 12
If you don't want to give a lot of money, a small amount, or none at all, then don't!
All wealth ultimately belongs to God anyway, but we still struggle so much with loosening our grip of our stuff, time, and money. The act of giving is more for the giver than anyone else. "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
Your attitude towards money is a direct reflection of your heart's state before God. In Matthew 19 a rich man came to Jesus and was asking about how to get to Heaven. The man was very moral, and a standup citizen. From the outside he would have appeared to be very Godly. But Jesus knew exactly what was standing between this man's heart and God; his idol was money. He told the man to sell all his stuff, and follow him. All the man could do was walk away, because he was too attached to his wealth to do what Jesus asked.
Giving should be something a believer wants to do. He or she will be keeping their eyes and ears peeled for opportunities to give. There are times when that isn't the easiest, or the path of least resistance. If you know you should give something of yourself (money, time, skills etc.) to someone and you choose not to, that is sinning. "If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is a sin for them." - James
Without going into a whole other topic, the issue of Christians being in debt, lending and borrowing money is something I want to touch on. The Bible specifically speaks against co-signing for a non-family member for anything. "One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbour." - King Solomon (wealthiest man to ever live) Prv. 6:1, 17:18
If you are in debt, it completely takes away your ability to help others. Emotional debt, spiritual debt, and time debts will also keep you pinned down in your life. I.e. If you are married and are struggling in that marriage, you are basically incapable of helping another couple who needs help at that point in your life. Or if you have slacked in your walk with God, your advice and council to those who need it will be very watered down with worldliness, being of very little worth.
So work hard in all areas of your life. At work, put in the effort as if your boss was Christ himself. Focus on the effort, not so much the paycheque or physical rewards of you effort. Let God bless you as He sees fit! This way you will be in a position to do God's will by helping others when the time comes.
Your confidence and security can not be found in anything other than Jesus Christ. The first (or oldest) book in the Bible to be written was the book of Job. Job was definitely a blessed business man. He wrote this during his great time of suffering: "If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, if I have gloated because my wealth was great, and because my hand had secured so much;..."
The "death toll" of men and women which the pursuit of money has devoured, in my opinion, is higher than almost any other sin. Because in its simplest form, it is idolatry. Anything that takes the place of Christ, is an idol.
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Timothy)
What is more important in this life between loving a chubby bank account, or a heart that is right before God? The Bible doesn't say anything against having lots of money (many Christians in the Bible were very wealthy, i.e. Abraham, Joseph of Arimathea, Job, Noah, Lydia, King Hezekiah, Solomon, etc.), only against loving it. The state of your heart towards money, in Biblical theory, should remained unchanged regardless of how many, or how few worldly assets you have. But this does usually get more challenging when more zeros follow the first number in your pay cheques!
Yet ivory tower banking tycoons are far from the only ones who can struggle with idolatry. Idols that can be standing in the way of having a generous heart and a correct perspective on giving could be your time, pride, laziness, public image, and of course your bank account and your stuff (Be it the latest ipad, next planned vacation/trip, newest vehicle, or the modern style in clothes on your back-> large ticket "items" can sap your mental, emotional, and physical energy just as much as the smaller priced "items", and no one is exempt from this).
The Bible refers to giving away parts of yourself much like investing. If you invest a lot, you will reap a big return. If you only invest a little, you will only get a little back...
Jesus promised this in Luke 6, "Give, and it will be given to you." And Solomon wrote, "Honour the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and vats will brim over with new wine."
And in Paul's second letter to Corinth - A.D. 55...
"So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: 'They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endured forever.'"
On a personal note, over the last three years (2009-2011) Christa and I have had most of our lives taken away by her health. This has obviously put us in a precarious financial spot. Our families, relatives, and friends have been unbelievable in their support, and unlike most with these types of health issues not currently covered by HealthCare, we have not had to go into debt over Christa's Lyme disease + co-infections.
Help has come in the form of generous cheques, cooked meals, flowers, and huge amounts of time given running errands we couldn't do ourselves at the time. And also a lot of gifts that were only meant for us to enjoy and have fun with.
But here's the thing; up to a few years ago Christa and I have always been the ones in the position to help others in different ways. So we have had to really keep our pride in check as we learned to accept these gifts with a thankful heart. Knowing that not only are we blessed by them, but that those who gave are also blessed by helping us. Who are we to say no to help, or to be unnecessarily uncomfortable in accepting food? It has definitely been humbling, but in that, we have learnt a little better how to give, as we will one day be in that position to give to others again. We have now been on both ends of the act of giving, and the purpose of both sides is to give glory to Christ.
So to summarize this post on giving:
If you only want a small return on your talents, time, and money, give only a little away. And if in your heart you don't really want to give anything at all, then just keep it. But if you are sincere about giving, and don't necessarily think first on want a substantial return you'll get, give lots away, and you shall be blessed! Hang on to what God has entrusted to you with care, but at the same time, loosely. Be very wise with it and give carefully; but fully realize that it isn't your time. It isn't your talents. It isn't your money. It never was. It is all on loan as a tool to use in your one life.
The New Testament completely does away with the idea of giving a specific amount, and places all emphasis on the heart of the giver, not the amount or a percentage (personally, I would much prefer exact numbers and regulations to deal with, but God knows I would try to find a way around them:)). No, what God wants, is a heart that has bent its knee to Him, and Him alone.
