"fat Wallets, Empty Lives"

“Fat Wallets, Empty Lives”

Luke 12:13-21

Last week there was a reader’s poll in The Chattanooga Times Free Press that caught my eye.

The question asked: “Do you tithe to a church?”

Now what is a tithe?

A tithe is giving, at least, ten percent of your yearly income to God.

So, giving, say, 4 or 5 % of your income, while it’s a good start, is NOT a tithe.

Again, a tithe is 10% or above.

Knowing that 80% of Christians—at the most--only give, on average, 2.5% of their income to the Church, I was curious to see what the result of the poll would be.

Sure enough, the next morning when the poll results were in 50% of responders said they tithe to a church.

If that were truly the case, things in this world would be much, much different.

For example, if that were true, here’s just a few things the Church could do with that kind of money:

--We could relieve global hunger, starvation and deaths from preventable diseases in five years.

--We could eliminate illiteracy in five years.

--We could solve the world’s water and sanitation issues

--We could fully fund all overseas mission work and still have $100-$110 Billion Dollars left for mission work in our own backyard.

Those are some amazing numbers!

Numbers like that can invoke a lot of guilt, which isn’t really the point.

The larger point is what would happen if believers were to increase our giving to a minimum of 10%?

The global impact would be beyond phenomenal!!!

And it’s really not very difficult.

For example, every month, before we have even gotten our paychecks, my wife makes a budget.

And the first thing in that budget is that she takes out 10 % of each of our paychecks—right off the top—for our tithes to our two individual churches.

For those of you who may not know, my wife is also a pastor.

So, she tithes to her church; I tithe to Red Bank United Methodist.

I never have to ask my wife if we have enough money to tithe to the church this month.

It’s already been figured into the budget.

And we’ve never missed it.

Now, are we lavish spenders?

No.

Not really.

But we certainly don’t want for anything.

And, as far as our finances go, we have peace, knowing that God is getting 10% right off the top.

But, of course, I always want to give more.

And, sometimes we do.

When it comes down to it, giving is a heart issue, not a money issue.

And those who are blessed the most when Christians tithe are the Christians themselves.

Because when we tithe, we are saying: “I trust God, and I am putting God first in my life” or at least, “I am trying to.”

A few years ago, the Boston Globe ran an article that asked the following question: “Does money change you?”

The article stated that “most people are convinced that gaining a lot of money wouldn’t change who they are as people.”

But is that true?

The article went on to report:

“As a mounting body of research is showing, wealth can actually change how we think and behave—and not for the better.

Rich people have a harder time connecting with others, showing less empathy to the extent of dehumanizing those who are different from them.

They are less charitable and generous.

They are less likely to help someone in trouble.

And they are more likely to defend an unfair status quo.”

The article goes on to say: “If you think you would behave differently in their place, you’re probably wrong: these aren’t just inherited traits, but developed ones.

Money, in other words, changes who you are.”

The article went on to summarize research studies which found that even the mere suggestion of getting more money—a technique known as “priming”—makes people less friendly, less sensitive to others, and more likely to support statements like, “some groups of people are simply inferior to others.”

The article noted that “If you win the lottery and you want to avoid becoming an insensitive lout, there is a simple solution: ‘Give most of it away.’”

In any event, the Bible is not telling us that we shouldn’t work hard and seek to be successful.

We most certainly should do these things.

But as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism put it: We are to “make all we can, save all we can, give all we can.”

If some of the early Christians, like Barnabas for example, weren’t people of wealth they wouldn’t have been able to give in order to help alleviate the suffering and hunger pains in the stomachs of their brothers and sisters.

In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, Jesus is starting to gain a lot of followers.