The Ultimate Indicator

“Scripture teaches that people with the spiritual gift of giving are challenged to earn as much money as they can, live frugally, and flow as much money as possible into God’s work in this world.”
–Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership, p.110.

There is perhaps no area within the church that I am more passionate about then the area of giving.  Therefore, I will apologize in advance if any of what I am about to share rubs the reader the wrong way.  But, in my humble opinion, this is one area in the church that needs major work.  Let me be blunt, you cannot be a disciple of Jesus and get this wrong.  As Jesus says in Luke 12:34, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I occasionally hear complaints from fellow believers that “every January our church does a financial series.”  Sometimes those people even go on to justify that it is because “the church needs our money.”  Duh!  Last time I checked, the church isn’t AIG and it isn’t going to get any of the bailout money.  So naturally it is funded by its congregation.  But to leave giving to just funding the church, or even to limit it to purely financial matters, misses the point.  For the remainder of this post, I want to share with you my thoughts on a few aspects of giving:

Financially:

The Bible doesn’t mix its advice with this.  If you consider yourself a Christ-follower you are commanded to give 10% of your income to the local church.  Period.  There is no debate.  Sadly, this doesn’t happen nearly enough.  In fact, it has been estimated that if EVERY Christ-follower gave the FULL 10%, the local church would have the funds necessary to put a HUGE dent into global poverty.  While the cynic may roll their eyes at such a statement, the Christ-follower should find such statements horrifying.  How can you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, and not give the FULL 10%?  For the life of me, I’ll never get it.  

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.  I would gladly sit down with the strictest of accountants and have them look through my records to see if I give the full 10%.  In fact, tithing has become one of the cornerstones of my faith because God has shaped me through it.  Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t easy to start tithing.  For example, when I took my current job a little over a year ago, my income went up.  This is a good thing, but when I had to write the first tithe check, I found myself hesitating for a second because it was much larger than I was use to.  For the first time in my life, I realized how it might be difficult for someone making a large sum of money to tithe.  The sinful side of me could see how one could rationalize a certain dollar size being enough.  But tithing isn’t about dollar amounts; it is about where your heart is?  Think about it, if God is who we believe God is, couldn’t He raise trillions of dollars for the church in a snap of the fingers?  I believe He can.  So if that’s the case, what’s God after?  The clear answer is that God is after our hearts.  As the first commandment tells us, God wants to be first in our lives.  This is especially true with our resources.  If money is not your god, then you better be able to prove that by giving the full 10% (dare I say more…).

One last thing: I’ve often heard debate regarding whether or not we should give God the first 10% before or after taxes.  I must confess that I haven’t always been right on this.  But through a great series at Christ Community Church I realized that such questions really don’t need to be asked because God deserves our best.  Therefore, I started giving God the first 10% BEFORE taxes.  Yes, that means my take home pay is smaller, but the change in my attitude did wonders for my walk with God.  I dare you to do the same.

Time:

Besides tithing, the disciple looks for ways in which they can give financially to other ministries.  Personally speaking, I sponsor two children from Children’s International and World Vision because impoverished children are an issue I’m passionate about.  I’ve also been fortunate to form relationships with leaders from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and have become passionate about it, which has led me to financially supporting it.  But, giving doesn’t stop here. 

God also wants our time.  I must confess that this is an area that I haven’t always excelled in but I am strategically improving.  Between leading a small group, serving at the local church, and hopefully (prayerfully!) getting the opportunity to serve ministries like FCA through lay-leadership positions, I plan to serve God by giving Him my time.  Once again, the way we use our time is an indication of where our heart is with God.  Just think about what the church could do if more people gave their time to worthwhile ministries.  Such thoughts are why I am getting more into the game. 

Final Thoughts:

 Obviously, this list is not exhaustive.  There are many reasons to tithe, give to other ministries, and to give your time.  The point is that the disciple does so because God comes first.  I’ve often said that the ultimate indicator of what you treasure is your checkbook because we typically spend money on the items we value (outside of the necessities of course). 

Remember, I am not a pastor and my pay check is not determined by whether or not you tithe.  But I am taking up the pastor’s fight anyway because I am so passionate about this subject.  I dare you to start tithing.  Your relationship with God will never be the same.