Tag Archives: Tithing

10.26.13 No Deposit, Big Return

   Don’t ask me why I get stuck on stats. I just do.  The stat that bugs me the most: how many people profess their faith in Jesus, but do not profess Him through their checkbook. Statistics show that approximately 20% of church members support 80% of the church budget. That’s just wrong. That means 80% of professing believers either don’t tithe or they tithe less than ten percent, rationalizing that they are giving in other ways. Yet God has called us to bring the “whole tithe into the storehouse,” which is the church (Mal 3:10). Instead of railing about it, which never solves anything, I have a possible solution. In fact, those of you who tithe faithfully are integral to it. First, some background to help you understand my approach. 

   In December of 1995 I moved from Iola, Kansas, to Hutchinson to establish a counseling ministry through Westbrook Baptist Church, and to join their staff as a part time Minister of Missions and Outreach. I needed introductions to the community pastors in order to get referrals and build my practice, which I knew would take time. I lived on a part time salary while the Lord slowly began to send clients my way. My parents were sweet during this transition, regularly checking up on me. I occasionally expressed that finances were tight, but I never asked for money. After all, I trusted the Lord to provide it. 

   One day I went to get my mail, and I noticed an envelope from my parents. When I opened it, I discovered a $10,000 check with a post-it note. “Please deposit this if or when you need it,” it read. “Love, Mother.”  All I could do was sit on the couch and cry. I was so overwhelmed by my parents’ generosity. I stashed the check in a kitchen drawer for safekeeping. 

   Have you heard the true story of children in an orphanage, who couldn’t go to sleep at night because they were afraid of waking up and not having food to eat? The orphans were well fed at dinner, but they went to bed anxious that there would be no food the next day. The caregivers figured out that if they put a piece of bread in each child’s hand when they tucked them into bed, they slept soundly. By the next morning, not one child had eaten their bread. The anxiety was eliminated knowing that if they got hungry, they had bread in their possession. They slept well! 

   I know how they felt. I slept soundly knowing there was a $10,000 check in the drawer that I could deposit at any time.  

   As my counseling practice grew in Hutchinson, so did my income. And as my income grew, the need to deposit my parents’ check waned. I never used it, but I also never forgot the love and generosity my parents modeled. Years later I was able to pay it forward. 

   A dear friend, a devout Christian who had gone through a divorce, was struggling with her finances as a newly single mother. She asked me if I would help her with her budget. I did so gladly. When we were putting together the spreadsheet, I noticed she wasn’t consistently tithing. Sometimes she didn’t give at all, and at other times she gave some, but not at ten percent, which is considered the minimum tithe. When I gingerly asked about this, she fought back tears because she knew she wasn’t giving her ten percent to the Lord. But she desired to be faithful to Him and to place her trust in the Lord for her finances. She wanted to begin again with a full tithe regardless of how tight her finances were. 

   The budget spreadsheet I built for her had a formula to multiply gross salary by ten percent. Since some Christians tithe on their take home amount, I decided to explain why I believed she should tithe on gross. I explained to my friend that when a company hires her for an agreed upon salary with benefits, they are simply taking part of her gross salary to pay for her health insurance, group life insurance, retirement funding, etc. I then  shared a hypothetical scenario. What if an employer decided that they didn’t want the administrative headache of paying the insurance bills for their employees each month? They would pass the task to her and give her the address where she can send the check. They would still pay her the gross salary, but then she would be responsible for paying her own premiums, or funding her own retirement nest egg. So whether the company is paying her insurance bills for her or whether she is doing it herself, it is still coming from her gross salary. She understood this explanation, and embraced my suggestion to tithe off of her gross salary. 

   I took one more step with her. Since she shared her income with me, I knew what her tithe check should be. I wrote a check payable to her for one month’s tithe and asked her to leave it in her wallet. I told her she had my blessing to deposit the check if she ever ran short of cash due to her decision to tithe ten percent on her gross salary.  

   Can you predict the outcome? I bet you can. My friend faithfully began tithing ten percent on gross. It was always the first “thank you” note she wrote when she was paid, and she never had a deficit in her budget going forward. God continued to bless her. 

   I heard from my friend about a year later. 

   “Guess what I found in my wallet?” she asked. 

   “Let’s see. I bet there’s a check with lots of whiskers on it!” I suggested playfully. 

   “Yep,” she laughed. “Do you want me to shred it?”  

   “Yes, please,” I said, and I asked her what she learned from the experience. 

   She told me that it was scary at first to tithe from gross, but she learned that God honored her trust in Him. I told her that writing a check for her to put in the wallet was easy for me because I knew the Lord wouldn’t fail her. I never felt the risk of her depositing the check. The Lord honors those who step in obedience with Him and show trust in Him.  

   So here is a possible solution that I think churches and/or small groups should consider to increase tithing. I think there are believers like my dear friend who are sitting in a pew or in a small group who desire to tithe, but need someone to mentor them and encourage them. Some may feel shame or embarrassment and need to know they are not alone. People genuinely worry that if they tithe ten percent that they will run out of money to pay their bills or debts. What if you as a small group member offered to help someone in your group succeed at tithing? Maybe your gift is helping others build a budget. Maybe you are the person who would love to write the check to have stored in a wallet. If we are standing on God’s word, I can’t see how any check would be deposited! In the meantime, followers of Christ would be growing in their giving, and more importantly, growing in their trust in God to provide for them.  

   This solution combines modeling generosity, demonstrating trust in the Lord, and mentoring others to help believers grow spiritually through giving. When believers start tithing with the safety net of a check in their wallet, they receive the gift of sleep at night while learning to trust God more. It’s like learning to ride a bike. Our parents put training wheels on the bike to help us get comfortable with riding before they let us ride on two wheels. If we intentionally mentored others in the area of giving, I think the stats on tithing would start to improve.  

   What do you think? Does this idea have merit? How would you tweak it?

 

Blessings,

Lee Ann

7.7.13 How Couples Can Reach Agreement to Get to a Ten Percent Tithe

     Some Christian couples don’t agree on how much to tithe to their church. I occasionally hear from a wife whose heart hurts because she knows she and her husband aren’t enjoying the blessings God promises to those who give a minimum of ten percent. I hear frustration when the wife describes putting in the offering plate an insignificant amount that isn’t close to ten percent of what they make. Or the wife is given an allowance for discretionary spending, and she would rather tithe it to please God than spend it on herself.

     I feel their anguish. I would feel miserable if I was short-changing God on the tithe each week. I wish there was a pat answer, but there’s not. The core issue is lack of trust in God’s Word to us. The resistant spouse does not believe in God’s clearly stated promises to those who give. Second, the Holy Spirit ultimately brings about the heart change needed in the resistant spouse. I have discovered a few ideas that you might try while the Spirit does His work.

     Randy Alcorn, a Christian pastor and author, offers these suggestions. Let’s assume that both spouses are Christians and that the wife wants to give, and the husband is resistant. Let’s also stick with the Old Testament teaching on tithing to keep it simple, which is ten percent. (The New Testament says we’re to give in proportion to what God gives us. See 2 Cor 8:12-15.) The following Scripture passages contain God’s powerful promises for those who give:

     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 there will not be room enough to store it.”

     Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

     First, Alcorn suggests that couples review these two passages and determine a trial period (three months, six months, or a year) to tithe a minimum of ten percent. They agree to “test God.” At the end of the trial period, they should process the experience. They might ask How did God bless us during this trial period? Did we miss His resources by giving ten percent? How did it feel to obey God and know that we were still able to pay the bills? Would we be open to setting another trial period to make sure this wasn’t coincidence that we’re still OK?

     Let’s assume that both spouses generate an income. Tell your husband that obeying God in the area of giving is important to you and that you believe you are missing out on His blessings by not tithing. Ask him if he would honor your need to give out of your income only, while you’re honoring his decision to not tithe on his income. If the wife chooses to work in the home, then she should ask her spouse permission to give something, even if it’s only $50. She can negotiate with him by agreeing to spend less discretionary income as a sacrifice to give to the Lord. She can also choose to tithe all of the allowance.

     Alcorn also recommends a process for couples to determine how much to give through prayer. This can be done at the time they build their annual budget. Here are the steps he suggests:

  1. Establish a prayer period in which each spouse asks God what percentage of their income to tithe (several days, one or two weeks).
  2. At the end of the prayer period, each spouse records on an index card the percentage they believe God shared with them.
  3. After reviewing the cards, decide if you’re going to start with the lower percentage or the higher percentage. If the percentage came out the same, then praise God!

     This process can be a springboard to increase annual giving until you reach the minimum of ten percent. You can also agree in advance that whatever percentage increase you receive in your salary will be reflected in your tithing.

     What if the husband’s resistance is so strong that he won’t budge on giving? Alcorn quotes I Peter 3:1-6, which instructs the wife to be submissive to her husband. You shouldn’t give money that he has forbidden you to give. However, be encouraged because the Lord knows your heart. He knows that you would gladly give ten percent if you could, and God will reward your heart attitude.

     Can you add some insights or ideas to help spouses who aren’t being given the freedom to tithe the minimum amount to the church? What can you share that will encourage them? 

Blessings,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Lee Ann

3.31.12 Is He First?

     Imagine having a favorite restaraunt that you patronize every Sunday. You enjoy the food, the ambiance, the great service, the variety of choices on the menu, and the wait staff who serve you. Envision how the owner of the restaraunt would feel if you just left the restaraunt without paying for your bill week after week. Is your first reaction, “Who would do this?!” That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Well, this scenario is not happening in restaraunts, but according to Barna’s research I shared in my last post, it is happening in places of worship across America. 

     According to Barna, thirty to fifty percent of active church attenders are patronizing their favorite house of worship, enjoying the fellowship, hearing the Word of God preached well, experiencing a loving atmosphere, appreciating the variety of ministries available to their families and the staff who serve them week after week.  You guessed it.  When the worship experience is over, they walk right out the door without giving anything financially. That’s disconcerting if these attenders are really believers. Barna’s research also reveals that this lack of giving is not exclusive to any one denomination. In fact, the lack of giving feels like an epidemic that has swept many churches across many denominations. How do these attenders justify not giving?               

     There are a multitude of hypotheses. Some attenders may not have a Christian upbringing. They weren’t taught God’s command to give a tenth to their local church. Some may feel their debt keeps them from giving. Others may rationalize they are giving their time and talents in ministry, so giving isn’t required, or optional. Some think their giving to outside organizations satisfies God’s requirement to give. Some may understand they should give ten percent to the local church, but fear or lack of faith in God to provide for the rest of their expenses keep them from giving. Regardless of their rationale, it doesn’t change the fact we have a gross deficiency of giving in the local church. Another fact remains. God feels robbed when we don’t give our tithes according to Malachi 3:8. The Lord accuses the Israelite nation of “turning away from his decrees and having not kept them.” Either we have a bunch of unbelievers who aren’t giving (in which case they’re excused because they don’t know any better), or we have a large swath of believers filling the pews who are either ignorant or ignoring God’s decree while not understanding the blessings of giving.                

     The Lord challenges the Israelites to bring their tithe into the storehouse (the local church). In Mal 3:10 He says, “Test me in this, 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.” His decree comes with a reward! But the flipside is also true. The Lord says in Mal 3:9 to the Israelites, “You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.” In verse 11 you see what the curse looks like, unless they follow through and honor God with their tithe. It says, “I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit.” The Lord implies He will not bless their livelihood if they keep withholding the ten percent belonging to the Lord. When I read this passage, I wonder, “What do these attenders not get about the blessings of giving that await them if they would just do it?!” God is just waiting to  “pour out so much blessing that you won’t have room to contain them!”               

     This boggles my mind. Yes, I know this is a reflection of their spiritual condition. But the larger question is, “How do we help them respond to God’s command?” I have heard pastors preach wonderful sermons on the requirement of giving. They work hard to motivate and inspire giving without guilting people, but they still don’t see the change. In the meantime, half the congregation is attending without giving while enjoying the benefits of being connected to a local body of believers. I wish these attenders would connect there is an expectation to give because God has asked them to tithe.                

     Why did I spend so much time on the subject of honoring God with our tithes? There are two reasons. First, if the desire of our heart is to be a generous giver just like God, then our generosity has to start with God.  Give generously to God first, others second. What that means is give God a “thank you” note of 10% of your income wherever you’re actively attending before considering generosity toward others. He deserves that even if He had never asked for it! Everything I write to hopefully inspire a lifestyle of generous giving should never be construed to be in lieu of the tithe. Any living giving I describe should be above and beyond our minimum 10% “thank you” note to God. Thus, as I share my living giving vision, it needs to be understood that the blessings of God will be all over our giving as long as we are not robbing God His tithe.  I know without a doubt my life has been filled with many blessings because I have not short-changed God.                

     Second, I don’t want anyone left behind in becoming a generous giver. So if you don’t tithe, I am getting ready to be your top cheerleader! I will be writing a series of posts for the sole goal of helping you succeed in tithing and bring you on board. One fun way to begin is to start sharing our stories. I bet tithing believers reading this post share my desire to help you experience the blessings God is waiting to pour out on you if you would risk with Him!  

     By way of this post, I am calling upon tithers to help these attenders with your story. When did you begin to tithe, and how did you see God bless you when you obeyed Him?  Perhaps you used to be one of the attenders who struggled to give a tithe. What was your rationale at the time you weren’t giving? What helped you turn the corner to start tithing?  Did your spouse drag you into it, only to discover God’s blessings later? Did you feel a conviction to tithe? Have you ever regretted tithing? 

     I am inviting all tithing believers to pray about sharing your story of how tithing has blessed you. If you feel God is leading you to do so, you may leave a comment through the blog site or email me. Your story can be one sentence, or as long as you want it. Five minutes of your time to type up your story can change the life of attenders who are struggling to honor God with their tithe. It is my prayer that enough of you will share your story so I can publish a separate post of your testimonies. I will be glad to give you anonymity if you request it.  Our stories have power because God is right in the middle of them.  Let’s be an encourager.  May God bless you as you share your story to inspire those who need to take this very important step to be generous to God first, others second.  

Blessings,                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Lee Ann