"Five Reasons You Probably Don't Yet Tithe"¹

Do you long to be closer to God?

Would you like to be free of financial worry?

Do you want to be more generous?

Do you want to grow in grace?  Experience joy?  Be blessed?

If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then you need to hear what I have to say today.  What I have to say may quite possibly be one of the most important messages you will hear about your Christian walk of faith.  I promise it will be the most challenging messages you have heard in a while.

We turn to this ancient word from Chronicles.  What is going on here is a major house cleaning.  Israel is in the midst of major religious reform, led by King Hezekiah.  First, they get rid of the idols people were worshipping all over Israel.  Then, they hire ministers and staff to take care of things at the temple.  The king reminds them of what God had commanded, of what had been written in their Law.  The king led the way in giving a big donation, but the people were reminded that everyone (to be faithful to God) was expected to contribute a tenth of what they produced.  People brought the first and best tenth of their livelihoods to the treasury.

There is no shortage of mention of tithing and giving generously in the Bible, and yet. . .

#5  We in the church have not talked about tithing.

We have skirted the issue.  People do not want to hear God is actually making demands upon their bank accounts.

This is an uncomfortable topic to preach on, and an uncomfortable one to listen to.  One of the ways we all deal with this is humor.  I bet you have heard the one about the Pastor's stewardship sermon entitled "Your Money or Your Life?"  This pastor had put a lot of time and effort into his sermon title, and it was, of course, printed in the bulletin.  His sermon was immediately followed by the choral anthem, "Take My Life."  That's how most people feel.

Many people say tithing is not talked about all that much in the New Testament, and that is true.  However, Jesus did have more to say about money than just about any other subject except for the kingdom of God!  If we actually look at what Jesus says about giving, the standard he mentions is much, much higher than 10%.  In some cases it is 50%, in others, 100%.  (See Mt. 19:21, Luke 3:11, Luke 12:33, Luke 12:48, Mark 12:44).  Many say that the Old Testament rules, like these in Chronicles, no longer apply to 21st century Christians.  Unfortunately, we do not get to cut out parts of the Bible we don't like.

#4  You probably have not been taught a theology of tithing.

We are confused about money.  We act like it's "ours".  We who have no trouble acknowledging the Creator God; we who have enormous gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as Savior, we forget that all we are, all we have, every accomplishment we have achieved, is a gift.  What do we have that does not already belong to God?  What do we have that was not given to us by God?

Tithing is a command, but it is a command for a reason.  God asks us to give generously and sacrificially, NOT BECAUSE GOD NEEDS IT, but because we need it.  We need to be givers!  We were created to give!  We need to put something first besides ourselves.  We need to look outwardly instead of inwardly.  When we do this, we are given great joy and peace.  We are given blessings we cannot anticipate.

Tithing is first and foremost a spiritual discipline.  We in the church are often so focused on "what the church needs."  We fail to focus on "what the giver needs."  Giving is fundamental to who we are as Christians! Giving significant portions of our money and giving significant portions of our time to the life and work of the church deepens our faith.  It helps us grow spiritually.  It changes us.  It changes us for the GOOD.  It is impossible to adopt these practices and not be changed.

#3  You may not manage your money well.

If you are saddled with enormous debt, if you are already spending beyond your income, obviously you cannot give back to God.  If you are in this boat, we are soon to offer another Financial Peace University class and you need to sign up and do it.  Get help so you can start to live more faithfully.

#2  Giving is not a priority or a discipline.

Do you write out a budget?  Is giving the first thing on your list?  Most people look at their money and their income and they say, "What can I spare?"

Giving is not a priority.  We spend too much on ourselves.  We have so many "needs" which are really "wants." Clothing?  A new car?  A new cell phone?  A new computer?  All of these fall into the category of "wants".

Some of the people who struggle most with their income are people who have ample income!  This is because we have become so accustomed to buying what we want, when we want, on credit, upgrading, improving, replacing, you name it.  When we spend like this, we simply cannot tithe.

What if, however, we give God our first fruits, a generous portion of our income first, THEN decide what to do with what is left over?  What will happen when giving becomes habitual, a part of who we are, not just an afterthought?  What will happen?  We will become more generous people and we will be blessed.  We will touch others' lives and we will please God.  We will become closer to God and we will know we are obeying God.

#1  Most of us simply trust in money more than we trust in God.

Isn't it ironic that our dollar bill says, "In God We Trust"?  Shouldn't it say, "In the Almighty Dollar we Trust?"  When we cling fast to our money, when we don't re-order our finances to give generously, our actions speak much louder than words.  When we say we trust wholeheartedly in God, but our faith does not impact what we do with our resources, our time and our money, we communicate a weak faith.

Tithing is a small but significant way we depend on God and 'let go' of our love of money.  Tithing is a guideline for giving.  When we give back to God, we should actually notice it!  It should be sacrificial!  We need to be giving enough that it forces us to rearrange our priorities.  We need to be giving so much that there are some things we must do without. 10% may not be enough for some of you; 10% may be too much for others.  Tithing is a minimum for people who have been blessed with many resources.  Tithing is too much if you are living below the poverty level.  Everyone can give time, and some may need to tithe their time rather than their money for a season.

There was a pastor who had counseled a businessman in his congregation about tithing.  For many years this man had tithed, and his business grew.  He became wealthy and he gave generously, and he was blessed.  He came to his pastor in anguish one fall saying he could no longer afford to tithe.  His business had grown so much, he said, that he had to put more money back into it and his overhead had increased.  The pastor said "Can I pray with you about this?"  "Oh yes, I wish you would!"  "Lord, please take business away from this man so he can tithe again."

George and I have not always tithed.  We had our reasons, just like I am sure you do.  It was a cost of discipleship I skirted for many years.

There was a time (before we had 'real jobs') when we had barely enough money to pay our bills, let alone give away 10%.

We gave 10% of our income to the church and various charities; we rationalized all 10% didn't have to be for the church.

We gave several significant one-time donations to a church building fund; we shouldn't have to tithe on top of that.

For a while we gave church 10% of our net income.  Then we decided we have to pay taxes off the whole amount; we should tithe the whole amount.

As our faith has grown, so has our giving.  Or maybe it was the other way around???

Do you want to be more generous?

Would you like to be free of financial worry?

Do you desire to obey God?

If your answer is "yes", you know what God asks.