I have a love/hate relationship with understanding Biblical truths. I love coming to a better understanding of God's will; I hate discovering that I may have been wrongly understanding (and purporting!) God's will.
I was taught at church and by my parents (who were taught the same at church, I'm sure) to tithe to your local church and, if able, to give love and thank offerings above the tithe to other worthy causes.
Now this has always been easy for me -- not always financially easy, but mentally easy. If I was giving ten percent, I was giving enough.
But I recently read "Tithing Today," a free, short, downloadable book by Gary Arnold (find it here: http://www.tithingbook.info/), and am considering that what I understood as the rule isn't quite the principle that Jesus taught. Mr. Arnold describes in (great) detail the rules and regulations of the Old Testament tithe, which was an obligatory payment, and contrasts those with Jesus' New Testament teaching to give generously and "not under compulsion" -- in other words, a freely bestowed gift rather than a mandatory payment.
It's been very eye-opening, and as of yet I still haven't quite figured out if/how this is going to affect the way Wade and I give (he's in the midst of reading the booklet right now, so we'll have some discussion later on).
One last thought here, a quote from Mr. Arnold's book that struck me as poignant and frighteningly convicting:
"I believe that God is more concerned with how much we keep for ourselves than He is with how much we give."
I'd love to hear people's thoughts on tithing and giving, especially if you choose to read the booklet and have comments on that as well!
1 comment:
That is some GREAT food for thought, Kerri. I have been thinking about the same things lately. I'm just not finding a Biblical basis for the "conventional wisdom" on how we've been raised to tithe. I also don't find a Biblical basis in giving 10% to the church first and foremost, and that any giving that helps out other people, charities, the community in general, etc. would be above and beyond that. I am more than willing to admit I might be wrong on that, but I would like for someone to point out specific Biblical teachings on that subject if they felt that I was in the wrong.
I REALLY like what you said about how much we keep for ourselves being of more concern than how much we give. After all, if a billionaire gives a million dollars, that sounds like a lot of money...but was any kind of sacrifice required? Doubtful. By contrast, if someone has $20 and gives $10 of it away, that required a huge sacrifice.
I try to keep the term "sacrificial giving" in my mind when I'm deciding how much to give. In other words, if the amount I'm giving does not require any sacrifice on my part, I personally do not feel it is enough. I believe Jesus called us to sacrifice some of our worldly comforts (but not all of them) for the sake of the Kingdom, as well as helping others with tangible needs.
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