Growing up in this church, I always saw people put money into a little plate – my parents would give me loonies to put in the offering plate – sometimes I did, sometimes it ended up in my pocket. It became routine as a child. In fact, the entire reason we do what we do for the children today is for that very reason – to model and teach our children the very basics of tithing – give to God.
At the tender age of 13, I got my first job flipping burgers at a local Wendy’s. I started getting pay cheques – so my parents taught me about tithing. They simply said – make sure you tithe, give 10% to church. So I did. I had no idea why, probably because as a young man I ate a lot of the cookies and someone needed to pay for those cookies – so I would feel no guilt eating 6 cookies every Sunday!
Some of us here today still think this way – maybe not so childlike – but we simply give 10% because we are supposed to and we give so that Ryan does not end up on the streets of Toronto.
But here is the challenge my dear family – Tithing has nothing to do with giving God money – God doesn’t need money. Everything on earth already belongs to God.
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord’s, and EVERYTHING in it, the world, and all who live in it;
100% of everything belongs to God. Yet He tells us 10% of everything is His
Deuteronomy 14:22 (NLT)
22 “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year.
If everything is God’s, yet He demands a tithe. Is God trying to finance something? Does he need me tithe to build the Kingdom? Do I eat all God’s cookies that he needs my help to finance it? Absolutely Not! He already owns 100%.
Therefore tithing is not for God’s benefit – it is for ours.
When God wants to use us, the first thing He looks for is our trustworthiness, not our talent (tithing is not a talent, it is trustworthiness). We said this at the start of the year, God has asked of our finances – but I believe that will just be the 1st He will ask of us.
When I first started as lead pastor of this church, we did a memory verse for the entire year that helped define who we are:
Matthew 22:36-39
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
We are a Kingdom Family: Genuine Love for God & Genuine Care for Others
What does tithing have to do with loving God? Let us let Scripture answer this question.
Deuteronomy 14:22-23 (Living)
22 “You must tithe all of your crops every year. 23 Bring this tithe to eat before the Lord your God at the place he shall choose as his sanctuary; this applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn of your flocks and herds. The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.
Tithing is not about raising funds – tithing is about who has our hearts. Money is one of the greatest threats to the gospel in the New Testament – we would be foolish to ignore it.
As a church family, we can see that many tithe – praise God! We can see the blessings on the people and on the house. But let us never let our guard down and let us keep asking God to search us for any unclean way.
In the Lifepspring email, there is a listening prayer template about finances – would you take a moment to engage it?
Blessings,
G