Theme: Tithing
Task: To help God’s people make this the year of their tithe.
Title: Help for Becoming the Tither You Secretly Desire
Time: November 12, 2006
I am so very excited to be able to preach today. I get to proclaim one of the most exciting activities in the Christian life. I get the privilege to share with you something that I consider as fulfilling as anything I’ve experienced in the Christian life. In fact, I place it right up there with my conversion experience. It is quite liberating, exhilarating and fulfilling. I’m speaking about the act of tithing.
Yes. Tithing. I think it’s one of the lost joys of the Christian life. It is a wonderful experience. And yet there is a lot of resistance to it. I can say that because I used to resist it with the best of them. I resisted it well into my third year of full time ministry. I know what’s it like to budget and pay all the bills and see what was left over which was never enough to amount to a tithe. Besides, I needed a few dollars cushion in case something came up.
I know there’s resistance to tithing because of a study by the Barna Research Group in 2002 that reported that 3% of Christians tithed, which means that 97% of Christians resisted (Barna.org). The average American Christian now gives between 1.8% and 2.5% of their income to the Lord. Resistance.
And yet, in spite of that resistance I sense that a lot of Christians really want to tithe. [S] If that’s you, then I want to help you become the tither you secretly desire. And I think a good place to start is by affirming five biblical truths. The person who affirms these truths will be very close to becoming the tither they desire.
[S] Affirmation #1: Affirm what God’s tithe is and is not.
Genesis 28.20-22 reads, “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” [S] And Deuteronomy 14.22 reads, “Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.” [S]
“Tithe” is literally translated as tenth. In the ancient Middle East when a nation was conquered in war, the people of the conquered nation had to give the conquering king one tenth of their possessions. Under King David and Solomon a tenth of ones income became the standard national tax for Israelites (1 Samuel 8.15-17). Israelites were also expected to give one tenth of their crops, produce and cattle, etc., to the Temple to support the Priests and the religious life of the nation.
A tithe involves giving one tenth of one’s income to the Lord. But, that’s not what every Christian has been taught. I had a conversation with someone the other day who told me they tithed. But then said, “I don’t give ten percent, but I tithe every week.” That person had been taught that tithing was about giving on a consistent basis regardless on how much it was. For example, they have been taught that if a person makes $2,000.00 a month and gives $50.00 a month faithfully to the Lord, that they were tithing. That’s a myth. A tithe for a person making $2,000.00 a month is $200.00 a month. [S] If it’s a tenth it’s a tithe. If it’s not then it ain’t.
[S] Affirmation #2: Affirm that God still supports the tithe.
I read a blog the other day where a young adult Christian believed that tithing is not a valid New Testament practice. It was part of the Old Testament law and therefore not applicable to New Testament Christians. One of his reasons was that the New Testament is somewhat silent on the subject when compared to the First Covenant. But listen to what Jesus had to say about the matter in Matthew 23.23.
[S] “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
Jesus did not condemn the tithe! Jesus did not say the practice of the tithe was obsolete or should be ignored. In fact, Jesus said just the opposite. Jesus said to show more mercy while not neglecting the practice of tithing. He wanted them to practice the tithe alongside the practice of mercy. [S]
Gilbert Davis served as director of church relations for Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. When he was a seminary student at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth he was stopped in the hallway one day by an elderly gentleman he had never met before. The first thing the man asked the young minister was, "are you studying to be a minister?" Gilbert replied that he was, and the man asked if he might talk with him a few minutes. He said “sure”. Sitting down in an empty classroom the man asked Gilbert whether he preached tithing in the student church he served on weekends. Before he could reply the man shared with him the value of tithing and why he and others should tithe and then invited Gilbert to become a tither himself. Gilbert responded, "But, sir, we are Christians now. We are New Testament people not Old Testament. We are not under the law, we are under grace." To which the wise man replied, "Young man, if you can show me anywhere in the New Testament where it says that less is expected of a Christian under grace than of a Jew under the law, I will be glad to subscribe to your position."
[S] Affirmation #3: Affirm that the tithe belongs to God. “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD? it is holy to the LORD.” (LEVITICUS 27.30)
According to this passage my money doesn’t all belong to me. God lays claim to a tenth of my income which means that it is not mine to do with as I please. It belongs to God. The implication then is that spending God’s tenth on myself is like using someone else’s money without their permission.
That is why God used the language he did in the book of Malachi when the Israelites resisted tithing. Malachi 3.7-10 reads, “Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my laws and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, “How can we return when have never gone away?” “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?” You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.”
Why did God have to say it like that? Why wasn’t he more positive? I think God wanted to shock the Israelites into acknowledging that the tithe is not there’s to do with as they wish. It really is God’s and they desperately needed to affirm that. And that leads right into the next affirmation.
[S] Affirmation #4: Affirm that God’s tithe is sacred.
“‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD? it is holy to the LORD…The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the LORD. (Leviticus 27.30-32, NIV)
This passage really struck me. Because the tithe belongs to God the tithe is holy and sacred. I’m not sure I’ve ever really perceived the tithe in that light. Doing so changes the way I think about tithing. The first tenth of my income is different than the rest and therefore should be treated differently than the rest.
Over the years I have taken my act of tithing for granted. It’s become second nature like paying the cashier at the grocery store or sending off a monthly payment. But according to this passage it is more than making a payment to God. It is Gods and as I offer it to him there should be a sense of reverence associated with it. Instead of dashing in and throwing some money at the altar like a kid throwing a dollar bill to a sibling saying, “Here’s the buck I owe you” I see an image of one who is to bring their tenth to the Lord in a very humble state; a walking up to the altar and laying it before God and backing away without looking up. The believer who can affirm that tithe in this manner is closer yet to becoming the tither they desire.
[S] And the final affirmation: Affirm that God blesses those who tithe.
Listen to what God said to encourage the Israelites who were experiencing resistance to tithing. [S] “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. (Malachi 3.10, NIV)
God wanted the Israelites to know that they would be better off after tithing than they would if they never tithed to begin with. God wanted them to know that he would bless them. If they tithed he would see to it that there fields and cattle produced more than enough to make up for what they tithed. Tithing was a win-win situation. [S]
Now I don’t think God’s blessings are limited to the financial. Because I know people who tithe faithfully even though live in poverty. And yet they’ll tell you that God has been faithful and true in blessing them with peace of mind, with finances that come out of nowhere that is precisely the amount they need to pay a bill of some sort. They see God bless them through other’s generosity. And they would tell you that they wouldn’t trade tithing for anything.
Believing these five affirmations will take you to the verge of becoming a tither. But one thing remains and that is to act upon those affirmations. I wish I could tell you there was a Staples easy button when it comes to tithing. But, there’s not. But I can tell you that the actual act of tithing may not be as difficult as you think either. [S] I want to give you three examples of how others have become tithers with the hope that you might be able to say, “I could try that.”
[S] The first example is what I refer to as the Brewster approach. I have a friend who told me that he didn’t start tithing until after he retired, but how he wished he would have started earlier. He always wanted to tithe but he didn’t think he could make it financially if he did. Then one day in retirement he decided enough was enough and initiated a plan that would fulfill his secret desire to be a tither. Using his contribution statements and his income forms he figured out what percentage of his income was going to the Lord’s work. It was average, about 2%. He didn’t think he was ready to jump right into a tithe, so he made the decision then and there to increase his giving 2% a year so that at the end of three or four years he would be tithing.
[S] The second model for becoming a tither is the Experimental approach. In Malachi the Lord said, “Test me in this” and see if you aren’t better off than you ever thought you could be while tithing. In a sense the Lord was saying experiment with this and see what happens.
In this approach a person simply commits to tithing from an upcoming paycheck. It’s not a long term commitment, but short term, one paycheck. Identify a pay period in the near future that you will target to tithe from. Invert your budget. Make the first check you write the Lord’s tithe. And then realign your budget accordingly with what is left over. Try this once. And when you discover that all of your needs are still being met and that God has blessed you in other ways, you make the decision to try tithing another pay check until you’re convinced that Gods promise to bless you is trustworthy and you make it a long term commitment.
[S] And finally, there’s the Sold Out approach whereby a person says, “You know, I affirm all those truths, and now it’s time to act upon them.” And you just do it.
A side note for those of you who still use checks. I invite you to make God’s tithe [S] payable to “God” instead of CUMC. You’d be amazed at what that does to one’s perspective on giving God his tithe. I’ve done that and I’ve never been told by a bank or a church not to do so.
[S] John was a good member of the local United Methodist Church. But, he struggled with the concept of tithing. One day he shared his doubts with his minister. “Pastor, I just don’t see how I can give 10 percent of my income to the church when I can’t even keep on top of our bills.”
I’ll make deal with you said the pastor. “If I promise to make up the difference in your bills if you fall short as a result of tithing, do you think you could try tithing for just one month? The man paused. “Sure, if you promise to make up any shortage, I guess I could try tithing for one month.”
“Now, what do you think of that,” said the pastor. “You’d be willing to put your trust in someone like me, who possesses so little instead of your Heavenly Father who owns the whole universe!”
The next Sunday, John started tithing and has been doing it ever since. (Developing a Giving Church, pg.185, Stan Toler).
What about you? What decision are you going to make in regards to becoming the tither you desire?
