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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 you will not have room enough for it.
This promise is made in Malachi 3:10. I don’t know how much I believe it.
I recently heard a pastor say that if God isn’t in charge of our finances then there’s no way we can say that we’re fully committed to him.
I want to be fully committed to God. As it stands, I do not tithe like I know I should. I have a million excuses. Here are a few:
- 10% is way too much to be giving (when I made a good bit of money).
- 10% is way too much. I won’t be able to pay my bills (now that I don’t make jack squat).
- I’ll double up next week. This week I have too much to take care of.
- I can’t afford 10%, so I’ll just give a 20 dollar bill.
- I’m doing just fine. I don’t need God to “open up the floodgates.”
I am going to test God, just as he says I can. I am going to begin tithing, documenting my financial status, struggles, challenges, losses and gains. Eventually I will share my information with FriendlyChristian.com.
I’m excited to see what happens. If properly executed, I’ll find out if this promise is true, of if God’s word is just a load of crap. In case you’re wondering, no, I’m not trying to “pimp” God. My goal isn’t to become a millionaire.
Edit: I should add that I’m scared out of my freakin’ mind. I don’t make a whole lot of money, so I don’t have much to be “playing around with.” I’m not tryin’ to go broke!
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Bill, in my company we deal with debtors who squander their money on some of the stupidest things you can imagine rather than paying those essential bills. We always give the same advice. Pay your mortgage\rent first because that ties in directly with everything else and without a home all your possessions and bills are worthless. Next pay for food and clothing and this covers your basic needs. Then pay your utilities like gas, electricity and water. What you have left are your secondary and tertiary bills. Secondary bills are things like your phone, running costs for your car or other transport, they are essentials that you might be able to reduce. Tertiary bills are all the other stuff. Mobile phone, TV\cable, smoking, drinking, socialising, ballroom dancing lessons, etc. None of these are essential and you can cut them completely if you need to.
Giving to charity or your church is very much a tertiary expense. If you overspend and end up in debt (or more debt) then your money will not be going to charity but to the companies that you’ve borrowed money from. It is simply good sense to withhold payment for things that you cannot afford until you have sufficient funds to pay for them.
My advice is to put the money in a high interest account and pay it as a lump sum for a particular cause that you wish to support. That way you get to add interest to the fund and you can always draw on it if you fall on hard times. Or just keep it.
Better yet, send it to me.
Don’t squander your money on an omnipotent magic man. The dude doesn’t need it.
Okay, I’ll be serious here; like the other commenter said, this is not a priority expense. It’s more important that you can cover your bills. I’m sure your god would understand if it is in fact omniscient and omnibenevolent.
Random aside, I like the new look. It loads a lot quicker than the last one and I appreciate the clean minimalism.
hov,
I think your advice is FANTASTIC…for a person who isn’t trying to pursue Christianity. Christianity teaches that we return our FIRST 10 percent to God…hence the “testing,” ya know?
I’m interested is seeing the results of this testing. Are you?
Spook,
Thanks! I like the simplER look too. I still have to edit the colors of the comment box. I don’t think that blue matches too well.
Bill, I’m interested but slightly concerned. I suppose that I’ll just have to trust that you’re all grown up and you know what you’re doing.
Bear in mind that that standard was set before people had to pay rent, credit cards, electricity, health care, city taxes, state taxes, federal taxes, education, etc. Christians today have more money than the early Christians, and have to spend more money just to get by.
Also, I’m just curious: when you pay money to your church, do you know where it goes? Does it all go to charity, or is it all funneled inward to make the church itself better. I always gathered it was the latter for most churches, and that’s why so many churches are so nice (aesthetically). I’m thinking of something I just read on Tiffiany’s blog:
If that’s the case, I say don’t do it. That money can be better spent making sure you don’t personally end up in debt. If you can’t even help yourself how can you help others?
But if you’re determined to tithe, start small (yes ‘tithe’ means 10%, but if 10% is really too much for you, start with 5% or even 1% and see how that goes, and if you know you can manage more then work your way up) and give it directly to a charity whose work you like. Or if your church does spend some tithe money on charity, stipulate that your money go toward that charity.
I guess there may be a difference between ‘tithing’ and ‘giving to charity.’ But think about which God would appreciate more: possibly just helping a church propagate itself for the sake of itself, or directly helping people through charity? Are you trying to prove yourself to God as a member of your specific church or as a member of human society?
I messed up the blockquoting, dangit. Could you fix it and make it pretty, oh webmaster?
Really? What results of the test will mean what? What are you testing - current bank accounts minus current bills compared to future bank accounts minus current bills on a predetermined date?
You’re not giving it to God. You’re giving it to other people. Apparently, God:
1. Wishes for these other people to have the money
2. Is willing to subtly funnel money to you if you give them your money
3. Is unwilling to subtly funnel money to these other people directly instead of through you
It would seem to me much more likely that the people who are receiving the money are the ones who wish for you to give it to them. As long as the test is non-specific enough any results could be interpreted to reinforce what you already believe.
If this is truly a test - and the Bible verse you listed has God asking to be tested - I would recommend setting up some criteria for the test. What you’re going to measure and when, taking into account things you already know will influence your measure up / down, and what different possible results will mean.
Bah. The above should read “current bank accounts minus current bills compared to future bank accounts minus future bills on a predetermined date.”
Ben & Sara,
All I’m concerned about is doing my part (writing a check for 10%). Not that it matters, but I trust my church and fully support their giving/supporting locally and globally.
Ben,
Good call. You’re absolutely right, I DO need to set up some criteria.
Lemme reword my last comment…
It DOES matter. I’m 100% behind how my church spends money.
We started tithing a couple of years ago, and it has really changed everything. Around the same time, we decided to try and get out of debt (we were carrying around $30k in credit cards, $30k in a home equity loan, and $15k on one car). We thought it would be smart to stop tithing there for a whole to try and catch up, but we found something always came up and we never got to add that extra $4-500 a month to our credit card payment. Prayerfully, we decided to just jump back in and get back to our 10%, and in 20 mos we’ve paid off all but $16k.
It has taken a ton of hard work and lots of faith to write that check every week, but it’s been so worth it to see God’s faithfulness to us!
Bill,
I’ll be honest. I’m tithing for the first time too. I used to volunteer as a tithe b/c I didn’t have a job but God provided a job and now I’m nervous. Is it really what I should do? Where should my money go? To the church or to a faith based non-profit organization that God is in, either way I don’t think matters God’s there and He’s moving. I’m not really thinking about what he can do for me. I’m thinking for the church and the ministry. He already done so much for me in the job. I just pray that He calms my worry and anxiety.