In our last post we discussed the principle of tithing, and its applicability to the New Testament Christian. We concluded that a tithe “can’t be required and applied the same way in the church” as it was in the Old Testament, and we gave three reasons why. First, the tithe in the OT wasn’t just 10%. Second, the tithes in the OT functioned in part as a tax (among other things). And third, God is clearly more concerned with the heart of the giver, than with percentages.

The principles of giving outlined in the NT emphasize cheerful, sacrificial, generous giving that is not dictated in its specifics (”not grudgingly or under compulsion” as Paul says in 2 Cor. 9:7). However, we also concluded in the previous post that giving can still legitimately be “quantified” in some way for the individual giver. The tithe (10%) is a logical choice as a starting point for what sacrificial and cheerful giving should look like, even if it is wrong to make tithing a mandate in the local church.

Of course, seeing 10% as a starting point may seem difficult or impossible to many Christians. Admitedly, it may be difficult. But is it impossible?

“Tithing…I can’t even pay my bills this month!”

The “difficult or impossible” question raises an interesting dilemma. If a principle of tithing should be applied in the church (and we have concluded that it should be), are there exceptions to a tithing principle for those who are “poorer” or even those having trouble making ends meet?

I am convinced that tithing (giving 10%) one’s income should be the starting point for Christians. It is like training wheels–start here, and you’ll get better at it over time. As you proceed in your practice of giving, you will be better able to define what is generous and sacrificial FOR YOU after that amount. But I am convinced that starting at 10% is what allows us to learn to ride the “giving bicycle” in the first place. And honestly, in our culture today, there is no valid excuse not to.

Randy Alcorn provides a healthy challenge in this regard. “When people tell me they can’t afford to tithe, I ask them, ‘If your income was reduced by 10 percent would you die?’ They say, ‘No.’ And I say, ‘Then you’ve admitted that you can afford to tithe. It’s just that you don’t want to.”

He’s right…it is not a matter of CAN’T for us…it is a matter of WON’T…and if we’re not seeing it that way, then we aren’t being honest with ourself, and with our own heart.

There certainly are some cautions to be heard as we consider embracing this “starting point” standard for giving.

First, we need to realize immediately that saying, “I must (and will) give 10%” can easily become a standard of self-righteousness. You could give your 10%, pat yourself on the back, and think smugly that your spiritual obligation has been met, and that God certainly recognizes how righteous and generous you are. Meanwhile, God could think that your proud, self-righteous heart is a a giant spiritual stinkbomb in His nostrils. The key issue always is the attitude of your heart. We can’t ever forget that or neglect the proper examination of our motives and attitudes.

Take off those training wheels, and get on the giving bicycle!

I need to say it again. The 10% standard, that specific percentage, isn’t really the issue. You can’t let that percentage, or that principle, loom larger in your mind that it should. It isn’t a law, it is a governing principle. You should desire to give even more. You should structure your lives in order to be able to give even more. Just like you shouldn’t be riding your bike with training wheels anymore, you should be seeking to learn what willing, cheerful, and sacrificial generosity looks like for you and be living it out (giving it out) consistently.

Here’s another way to look at it. Saying we should give a tithe of 10% as a starting point is somewhat like saying we should attend church. The Bible doesn’t say, “You must be in church every Sunday.” Does that mean I only have to go 3 out of 4 Sundays? 8 out 10? Maybe half of the Sundays is good enough. Surely, if I’m there half of the time no one could say that I am “forsaking the assembling of yourselves together” (Heb. 10:24)? But the real point isn’t the number. The real point is…BE THERE…why would you want to be anywhere else but where the people of God are, worshipping God together with His people, being built up and encouraged in this most holy faith!

It’s the same with giving. The point isn’t whether you give 10% or not. The point is, GIVE, AND GIVE MORE; AS MUCH AS YOU CAN! Why would you not want to make investments in eternity, why would you not want to show God He is worth more to you than material possessions, why would you not want to experience the joy and blessing of giving to Him and to others in need? Don’t miss out on that! Desire that your heart be more strongly tied to heaven, because that is where you are laying up your treasures. And then give until your treasures and your heart are both firmly rooted in their true heavenly home.

Bills, bills and more bills…I can’t seem to catch up!

I know there are those who are saying, “But I can barely make my bills as it is!” Well, the Israelites in Malachi’s day were thinking the same thing, and God had an answer for them.

Have you ever considered that perhaps the reason you have trouble making ends meet is because you have put YOURSELF first instead of GOD? That perhaps your unwillingness to LET GO of material possessions is the very reason you can’t seem to HANG ON to them?

We need to look at God’s warnings and promises, because this is exactly what the Israelites were thinking in the day of Malachi (when they were neglecting their giving). They hadn’t put God first, they weren’t heeding God’s warnings, and so they weren’t experiencing God’s blessing.

Remember, the point we are trying to see and live by is the principle of sowing and reaping. Giving generously invites God’s abundant blessing. And remember also what God told the Israelites in Malachi. You are ROBBING GOD by withholding your tithes, and because of that, you are experiencing a curse on your prosperity.

Malachi 3:8-9 - “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!”

The solution was to repent, and to bring to God what He required and desired, and as a result they would invite God’s abundant blessing.

Malachi 3:10-12 - “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts. “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.

When you give to God what He deserves, then He will open the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows! He will rebuke the things that stand between you and the fruitfulness of your fields, so they won’t destroy the work of your hands (3:11). You’ll be blessed so much that the nations (the people) around you will be jealous, and won’t understand–they’ll just know you’ve been blessed, and you can give God the glory.

What good is a purse with holes?

The opposite of receiving this blessing is also true. You can experience unexplained loss as well. Haggai reminded the Israelites of this principle at an earlier time in their history. They were not giving themselves completely to the Lord’s work. Instead of investing in rebuilding God’s house (the temple) like they were commanded, they were making luxurious houses for themselves. God told them that this lack of faithfulness was the direct cause of their fruitlessness and lack of prosperity.

Haggai 1:3-6 - Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes .”

Isn’t that just how our lives feel at times–like our purses (our bank accounts!) have holes in them? We think, “I should have enough, but I can’t seem to keep up. I sow a lot, but I harvest little. I work hard, but I never seem to have enough. It seems like my pockets, my purse, my wallet and my bank accounts have holes in them. the money goes in, but it just seems to go through them like a sieve. Where does it all go!?”

God is in control of those things. And when we give generously to Him and to His kingdom, there is a promise of reward. This reward is primarily a heavenly return on our investment. But there is also a promise of blessing now, in some fashion, from the hand of our gracious and sovereign God. The admonishment to “test Me in this” (Malachi 3:10) still applies to us. We don’t do it with a demanding heart, or with specific expectations or requirements. But we can give humbly and sacrificially, knowing that God will provide for our needs if we do.

This “return on your investment” isn’t just OT blessing either!

This isn’t just an Old Testament principle (and no doubt, some will object to such a specific application of an OT passage). The Apostle Paul taught this principle too, and in the very context of generous giving to the work of God’s kingdom.

Philippians 4:15, 16, 19 - You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; 16 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs…19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 9:6-11 - Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; 9 as it is written, “He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.” 10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; 11 you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.

God is in control of these things. God says in Malachi, “Test me in this.” I am convinced, based on the New Testament passages above, that this same divine admonishment should ring true to your hearts today. If you do this (give generously, not grudgingly, but sacrificially, as you purpose in your heart), then you will find that “giving generously invites God’s abundant blessing,” just as we have said. And the Apostle Paul agrees. “God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that…you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor. 9:8).

May God give us the grace to do just that. To test Him in His goodness and providential grace. To stop robbing Him of what is rightfully His, and of that which belongs to Him fully anyway. And positively, to participate in this great privilege of expressing how worthy He is of our worship and sacrifice, and to experience the promise of His blessing now, and the hope of great reward in the life to come. He will do this, as we invest in eternity, in the kingdom of God, in the building up of the church, and in the mission of seeing His name glorified among the nations.

I know many people who have done this for years, and they could give testimonies of God’s gracious provision and abundant blessing over the years. Praise Him for His faithfulness. His Word is true, and many of God’s people know it in this specific way.

But others of you have not been faithful in this, and need the challenge and hope of God’s promises! Don’t withhold the tithe. By all means, and quickly, commit yourself to giving sacrificially and abundantly, and as the Lord has prospered you, and even “out of your poverty” (2 Cor. 8:2), as the Corinthians did, and through your commitment prove the faithfulness and goodness of God.

He issued the challenge Himself - in Malachi. And either His promises are true, or they are not! Seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all the things of life that you need, will be added to you (Matt. 6:33). May God give us grace, and prove Himself, as we pursue being faithful in our little, or faithful in much.