To everyone’s amazement, Sam Houston—Texas’ colorful soldier and politician, came to a saving faith in Christ. Shortly after he committed his life to Christ, he was baptized. And after his baptism, Houston publicly stated that he wanted to pay half the salary of the local minister. Someone who heard him was quick to ask the question: “Why in the world would you want to do something like that?” To which Houston responded, “My pocketbook was baptized, too!”
Like Sam Houston, we may now understand that the Christian life cannot be separated from our giving. It’s like I stated a few weeks ago … we will never become fully-developing disciples of Jesus Christ, unless we also become fully-developing stewards of all God’s entrusted to us. Stewardship is simply a part of our discipleship… That being said, where in the world are we to begin? Where do we start?
Well, a logical place to start is where God started with his people in the Old Testament (Lev. 27:30): “One tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD and must be set apart to him as holy.” One tenth of anything is what scripture calls a ‘tithe’; tithe means ‘a tenth part.’ Ten percent was given back to God; there were free-will offerings too, but the 10 percent was mandatory for God’s people…
Proverbs 3:9 encourages us in this way: “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part [first fruits] of everything you produce.” The ‘best part’ is always what comes off the top. So, God’s people always gave first, not last. BUT … as you might suspect, God’s people didn’t always do what God asked. So, when they were disobedient in this area of their life, God sent a prophet by the name of Malachi and here’s what he said (Malachi 3:6-10, NLT):
“I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. 7 Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’ 8 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”
That, folks, is from the Old Testament, but Jesus validated the mandatory tithe—even on small things (Matt. 23:23). And even though there’s little mention of tithing after the Gospels (just Heb. 7:2-9 and Abraham’s tithing), it seems implied due to Jesus’ teaching throughout. Folks, here’s something you need to know: Every New Testament example of giving goes far beyond the tithe; however, none falls short of it. And Jesus never lowered his expectations (Matt. 5:27-28). So, how do we get started? Well, understanding that we’re talking about a life of FAITH and taking major steps of faith, here’s where we start:
BEGIN WITH THE TRAINING WHEELS. The act of tithing, folks, is the training wheels for those who want to learn to give … God’s way!
Nearly every study indicates that American Christians give on average between 2 and 3 percent of their income (2001 Barna Research report):
Among Christian adults, there was a 44 percent rise in those who gave nothing last year (2000).
Compared to the year before, the mean per capita donation to churches dropped by 19 percent.
1/3rd of Christian adults said they tithed in 2000, but a comparison of their actual giving and household incomes reveals that only 1/8th did so…
It’s no wonder church finance meetings are stressful! But, seriously, isn’t it troubling that in this wealthy society … these are the realities? Whatever the Church’s been teaching about giving, either it’s not true to scripture, the message isn’t getting through, or we’re being disobedient! That’s what it boils down to. Let’s go on…
Folks, know that the ‘tithe’ is God’s historical method to get us on the path of giving as God wants us to. The ‘tithe’ isn’t a destination that’s reached either; rather, it’s a gateway to the joy of generous giving (over and above the ‘tithe’). Here’s another way of saying it: Tithing isn’t the ceiling of giving; it’s the floor, it’s not the finish line; it’s just the starting blocks. You get the idea; so, for just a moment, let’s take a look at our scripture for today…
Here’s what see in Malachi: God had no other choice than to show his people one example of their failure of turning back to him—their failure to tithe and make offerings to him. Now, this is not to imply that this was the only area where God’s people failed, but it would serve well enough for those who were unconvinced they’d turned their backs on God; they were cheating God of the ‘tenth’ that belonged to him! And, all throughout the history of God and God’s people, this was the standard (i.e. Melchizedek, the priest of (Jeru)Salem, and Abraham in Gen. 14:20, Moses and the law in Lev. 27:30). Offerings then (when we speak of ‘tithes and offerings’) were special gifts for special purposes given voluntary over and above the tithe (Ex. 25:2-7), so ‘tithes and offerings’ are two different things…
So, Malachi says that the Israelites cheated God by withholding not only their mandatory tithes, but also their voluntary offerings. By giving less in their freewill offerings than God expected, they were cheating God. And, if they—as God’s chosen people—could cheat God with insufficient freewill offerings (less than God expected of them), don’t you think we could do the same today?
The Apostle Paul encouraged voluntary giving, yet also described such giving as ‘obedience’ when writing to the Church in Corinth (2 Cor. 9:13). Folks, God has expectations of us even when our offerings are voluntary; to give less than God expects … is to short-change God! Let me talk for a moment now about … how tithing works…
First off, God doesn’t expect all of us to give the same amount … and that’s the beauty of tithing. We’re to give in proportion to how God’s blessed us (Deut. 16:10, 16-17). But, some say (and sincerely so): “We’ll take this tithing thing gradually. We’re going to start with 3 percent.” But folks, let’s get honest with ourselves here: when it comes to our relationship with God, either we’re going to be obedient … or we’re not. God will bless our obedience. God will not bless our disobedience… (10% is ‘the tipping point of faith’.)
Now, let me remind you again about starting to tithe (which you’ve probably already figured out by now): It takes faith. The question is, how much do you have? How much do you trust God? God already knows the answer to that by the way we give … but that’s the question we need to ask ourselves…
Folks, as your pastor, I want you to be blessed by God. I don’t want you to miss out … of anything God has for you! And, needless to say, God feels the same. Your being blessed … is God’s desire for you!
When God’s people were robbing him by withholding tithes and offerings, what did God say (Mal. 3:10, NLT)? “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!” But as human beings we still come up with excuses, don’t we?
Some have told me over the years that they can’t afford to give. After observing their giving habits, I understand why; they can’t afford to give … precisely because they’re not giving! Let me explain… The prophet Haggai (1:9-11, NLT) tells God’s people who had short-changed God:
“You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. 10 It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. 11 I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”
If we give to God what’s due him first, then we’ll have God’s blessing to help us be responsible in the rest of our life too. But when we withhold from God to cover other things first, we cheat ourselves of God’s blessing. It’s no wonder we don’t have enough sometimes, especially as a church. It’s a vicious cycle, and—again—it takes faith—obedient faith—to break out of it! Here’s another step in beginning to give God’s way:
DECIDE THAT GIVING NOW IS IMPORTANT. Decide that being obedient NOW is important…
People ask, “Should I give now, or should I hang on to it, hoping my investments pan out and I’ll have more to give in a year or two?” Well, my answer usually comes in the form of … two questions:
How soon do you want to receive God’s blessing?
Do you want to be sure your money goes to God’s kingdom, or are you willing to risk that it won’t?
When we stand before God, I don’t believe God’ll say: “You blew it when you gave me all that money before the stock market peaked.” In Matthew 19:29, Jesus says: “And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” 100X as much… Folks, God can produce far greater returns on all we give to him … than Wall Street or real estate ever can. So, DECIDE THAT GIVING NOW IS IMPORTANT! And finally…
LIVE AND LOVE LIKE ONE WHOM GOD’S ENTRUSTED MUCH TO. Jesus said (Luke 6:38, NLT), “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” The more you give, folks, the more comes back to you—God’s way (which could be financial or in other ways—God’s choice); God is the greatest GIVER in the universe, and I’ve always been taught that you can’t out-give God!
And God has given you considerable material blessings; have you ever asked yourself ‘why’? The Apostle Paul tells us (2 Cor. 9:10-11, NLT)…
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. 11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that…
So that what? How will Paul finish this sentence? Here’s what he says…
…so that you can always be generous….
Paul’s relating the 6th and final Key to the Treasure Principle, and we’ll end on this:
TREASURE PRINCPLE KEY #6
God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
So, there it is … and I’m not asking anything of you that I haven’t already been doing for most of my life. I learned to tithe off an 8th grade paper route … and have been tithing ever since. Jane and I have both been tithing for the past 36 years of marriage. And, yes, if you were wondering … we’ve been giving the first 10% of our income back to the church ever since the day we got here. And God’s been good. We wouldn’t have it any other way! Remember:
Tithing is like a toddlers first steps: They aren’t his last or best steps, but they’re a good start….
And once you learn to ride a bike, you don’t need training wheels anymore … and once you learn to give, tithing will no longer be an issue…
Folks, remember ol’ Sam Houston? When he finally gave his life to Christ, he gave it all! Do you remember? Even his wallet was baptized (and that’s the hardest thing for human beings to let go of—to trust God with)! What is it, today, that’s keeping you from taking a step of faith toward tithing? If that’s God’s historical standard for his people and their giving, shouldn’t we be doing the same? With obedience comes blessings—God’s blessings (what’s best for us). What are we waiting for? Do you want to be a people blessed by God? Do you want to be a church blessed by God? The choice is up to us…