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This morning, our pastor donned a red bandanna around his face bandit-style, showed the kids an actual handgun, and told them a story about thieves during the children's sermon. Then, he read to them the verse in Malachi 3 that asks the question, "Will a man rob God?" and attempted to connect the abstract concept of robbing God to the children's understanding of an old West bandit.
As I was still contemplating this approach, our youth minister and two of his staff arrived on stage, dressed as stereotypical accounting nerds with flashy briefcases, and the intro beat to the "Apple Bottom Jeans" song began playing overhead. As the youth dudes opened their briefcases to put on backwards baseball caps, sports jerseys, and a little extra bling, they began rapping about the importance of tithing.
At that point, while thoroughly entertained, I really wanted to raise my hand and ask if I might be excused since my tithe check was already written and ready to be passed into the offering plate. Instead, I pulled out my phone and texted a few friends regarding all that I had seen and heard. (And, there was more to come! We concluded the service with a song from a men's quartet about giving. I wish I could personally interview any first time guests in our congregation this morning!)
This evening, I was with a group of close friends, celebrating birthdays, and this morning's service was the topic of conversation for most of the night. Those of us who were there described it vividly for those who missed it. We even checked to see if the rap had been uploaded to YouTube yet! And, we laughed ... a lot!
But, in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about a statistic that was shared this morning. According to Bro. Al, a full 50% of church attenders give absolutely nothing on a regular basis. And, across the board, the data from the Southern Baptist Convention says we give an average of just 2%. As we laughed this evening, I couldn't help but wonder just how true those statistics held even in that room of people I love.
I'd like to have some fantastic story to tell you about learning to tithe. But, I was a very blessed little girl who was taught tithing from a very young age. It never occurred to me not to give to the Lord.
What I can tell you is that I've never been wealthy. As a grown woman, I've never consistently had excess in my finances. I've never written that check and not wondered how the Lord was going to stretch the other 90% to make it all work out. Notice I didn't say "if" the Lord was going to do it, but "how." He always does it!
I tithe because I enjoy knowing that my finances do not manage me. I tithe because it's a regular exercise in faith. I tithe because I know that the Lord will do far more with my measly 10% than I could. I tithe because tithing is one of the few places in scripture where God invites His people to test Him. Check out Malachi 3:10, "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."
I tithe because I can't afford not to.
1 comment:
I found your pastor’s actions quite disturbing and also the reaction of the congregation even more shocking. These actions show people who have not spent time to study their bibles as they ought. Why did he need to brandish a gun in front of KIDS for? I feel so sorry for those kids; they now have a very wrong perception of tithing through the instrument of fear! Where in the bible is today’s church instructed to tithe?
This doctrine of the tithe is a false doctrine that we need to stamp out of the church with all fervency. It is based on misapplication of scriptures, something the Lord does not take kindly to. According to the Bible, the tithe was never 10% of anything. It was a TENTH of food and livestock from within the land of Israel. In other words, if a farmer in Israel had 10 sheep, the tenth one was the tithe and God instructed the children of Israel to count every TENTH and offer it as a tithe without checking to see if they were good or bad. If a farmer had 9 sheep, he could not tithe because there was no tenth!
The tithe was instituted as a form of taxation system by which the Levites and the less privileged within the land of Israel were taken care of. They were to be collected by the Levites ONLY at a place the good Lord had designated. Never in scripture are we instructed to tithe money!
Your perception of Malachi 3: 10 is kinda skewed. God was addressing the priests who were living at the time of Malachi. And it was not a command to today’s church to tithe nor was it a promise. In today’s church we are only encouraged to give what we can afford cheerfully, be it 1%, 5%, 10% or 100%. No percentage is put forward as a benchmark.
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