Is God Worth a Tenth?

"There are few subjects on which the Lord's own people are more astray than on the subject of giving. They profess to take the Bible as their only rule of faith and practice, and yet in the matter of Christian finance, the vast majority have utterly ignored its plain teachings and have tried every substitute the carnal mind could devise; therefore it is no wonder that the majority of Christian enterprises in the world today are handicapped and crippled through the lack of funds...Does God leave us to the spirit of gratitude and generosity, or has He definitely specified His own mind and particularized what portion of His gifts to us are due to Him in return?" A.W. Pink (emphasis added)

Well, does that brief but revealing paragraph leave a nasty taste in your mouth? Does it sour your stomach? Are you rolling you eyes, thinking, "Oh great, another judgmental, on-a-pedestal-looking-down-on-the-rest-of-us effort to make me feel guilty about not giving every last penny of mine to the church"...? Are you already thinking, "Yeah, this is exactly what I was expecting it to be. What else can I spend ten minutes reading. I'm sure there's something else out there"...? If so, good. Stick around. Your conscience is begging for you to keep reading. I want you, my dear reader, to stop and think about this question. Think about the question long and hard before you make up your mind. Think it through, come up with an answer, and then we'll move on.

Is God worth a tenth of your income?

It is not difficult to count the number of times I have heard a pastor preach on the subject of giving. If an unfortunate firework accident were to result in the loss of nine of my fingers, I would still be able to show you on one hand how many times I have heard a sermon about tithing. Perhaps nothing unsettles the pews more than a exposition of Biblical passages regarding the subject of generosity, giving to the poor, or tithing. I have heard far more sermons on the far more uncomfortable subject of sexual immorality than I have heard teaching and admonition behind the pulpit upon the subject of converting earthly treasures into heavenly ones.

Perhaps no subject causes more strife and admonition from church members than this. Everything is fine and good, but don't you dare mention the "t" word. Maybe nothing burns more bridges than a pastor, elder, or deacon gently approaching a member about their lack of giving. As soon as a church starts preaching or teaching about tithing and giving, many members pack up their bags and look for a different church that's interested in more than just what's in their pockets.

Is Christ's bride, the church, a gold-digger? All they ever want is you money. What would they ever need your money for?

Why are they always trying to get you to give more money to them? You work hard for your money. You have a family to provide for. You have loans to pay off. You have a mortgage, a car payment, school loans, and a dozen more different bills. You give what you can, but things are tight right now. I mean, have you seen the economy lately? I just heard on the news that China's economy is about to surpass the American economy as the best in the world. You wish you could give more, you really do. And honestly, once things pick up at work, you get that really nice promotion you've been working so hard to obtain, then you'll have enough to start giving more to the church. But until then, you gotta focus on priorities. Right?

Is God worth a tenth of your income?

In later posts I'll extract gems out of Scripture that show that tithing is not really optional, but regardless of your exegetical position on whether or not the tithe is required of the New Covenant Church, what is your answer to the question? The question doesn't require an exhaustive understanding of Scripture, but rather, it only requires a heart regenerated by the Spirit. It's not a trick question, but rather, it is straight-forward and to the point. Either God is worth a tenth of your income or not. So, on which side of the coin do you land?

I'm not making you uncomfortable; you're making yourself uncomfortable.You know the answer to the question. You don't need dozens of Biblical passages to convict you of the correct answer. You know that God is worth far more than a tenth of your income. You could never place a price-tag on the gift that Christ has given you. God's grace is priceless. The sanctification of the Holy Spirit is greater than much fine gold. But until somebody proves to you, without a shadow of a doubt, that God requires a tithe from you, then you will keep your purse closed and only give according to what you think your checkbook can spare.

Are you starting to see it, now? That love of mammon deeply engrained in your heart? That love of what you cannot take with you over the love of that which can never be taken away from you? That idolatry rooted in the love of money?

Be honest, is God worth a tenth of your income?

Then why do you get mad anytime someone in the church tries to remind you that He is? Why is it so upsetting to sit through a sermon about tithing and your need to give a tenth of your income to Christ's bride, the Church? Why is it so disheartening to be reading this blog by another deacon and employee of a non-profit challenging you to review your giving habits? Why do you want to stop reading? Why do you keep reading?

Yes, I am a deacon at my church. Yes, I am an employee of a non-profit organization that completely relies upon the generosity of others to care for and feed the homeless. That doesn't change what the Bible teaches about tithing. If you think that I have an ulterior motive, you have me all wrong. I just don't want to see churches struggling to provide for their pastors and I just don't want to see non-profits that seek to minister to the poor struggle to balance their budget at the end of the year. That's all.

I don't understand why the majority position in the church today on the subject of tithing is: Prove to me where it says I have to tithe in the New Testament and then I'll start tithing. How can a Church that believes that God redeems sinners by the most precious blood of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, not struggle to render what is Caesar's to Caesar year in and year out, yet constantly refuse to render to God what is God's week in and week out? In fact, for many, the only reason they give to charities is so that they do not have to render as much to Caesar. How can a denomination full of people that call themselves "reformed," pride themselves in their knowledge, care for, and defense of every doctrine of Scripture, and are stringent observers of setting aside a seventh of their week for worshiping God refuse to give God a tithe regularly? It's baffling.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV)

Thank God Christ had a completely different perspective on giving up His riches for our sake!

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:21-22 ESV)

Jesus didn't tell the rich young ruler to do something that He Himself hadn't already done from an infinitely grander scale. Christ humbled Himself to become a man and die man's death so that He might redeem sinful men from their sins by His resurrection. How many of us are just like the young man, having heard another sermon on tithing or giving we go away sorrowful for we have great possessions? Salvation is priceless, but is it worth a tenth of my income?

And so, I'm beginning a series of blogs on tithing. I am going to start reviewing several passages of Scripture that speak about tithing in an effort to convince you that God does require a tenth (a tithe). But before I do so, I just wanted to try to put it all in perspective. Why do we require proof from Scripture before we change our giving habits? Why must it be forced out of us?

Honestly, it had to be forced out of me too. I was not a cheerful giver, and I gave a tithe for the sake of giving the tithe. That's not what God wants from us. It's not about money. It is about faith. No one is alone when they find it difficult to sell what they possess, give to the poor, store treasure in heaven, and follow Christ. After all, the disciples response to Jesus' requirement of the rich young ruler was,"Who then can be saved?" How can we possibly take the tangible, physical riches that we possess and lay them down hoping that we are investing in a far greater treasure in heaven by using our money for God's glory? Jesus answers, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (v. 26).

So, before you start to read the next blog in this series, I want you to consider this:

Does God require ten percent of what is yours or does God allow you to keep ninety percent of what is His?