I don't go to church anymore. Well, not the kind of church that springs to mind when I type the word. I don't go to a building with a pastor and lifegroups and a preach and a pre-preach about how much blessing you will recieve if you give 10% of your salary. I used to go to a church like that but now I live with in a much more organic group of believers. We don't have formal meetings and we don't talk about God all the time but we do grapple with how to live as Christians a lot in a world where it often seems Churches are more intent on building business empires then pointing people to Jesus.
Since I don't go to Church anymore I've had to think about tithing. How it fits into Christian life and what God wants us to do with our money and our possessions. I figure since God actually wants our whole lives he wants 100% of our money and possessions too. Which can be come a little challenging when you realise that he doesn't want me just to give 10% of my (gross or nett) income away but he wants it all. Bye, new clothes every month, or fancy dinners out, since God can see other uses for it like clothing the poor or feeding the hungry (Ouch-even as I type this I know how far I have fallen).
For a while after I stopped going to church I would give some money away each month to various organisations I thought did good work with the poor. Then I started asking, "God, what do you want me to do with my money?" That's when things started getting a lot more interesting. These day's I don't give one lump sum to any organisation but I do find God encouraging me to be a lot more generous in my daily living. When I put a tip down for a waitress I'll feel him prodding me, telling me to give her a ridiculous sum or to buy diapers for a stranger in a supermarket or a meal for a homeless guy on the side of the street. These interactions with real people are a lot more valuable to me and my relationship with God then giving a sum of money (usually via EFT) to a group of people in a church who use 90% of it for lights, water and rent.
Hey,
ReplyDeleteTo tithe or not to tithe...(heavy one)
For me, it a heart matter, just like most things in the Kingdom. If you tithe coz of obligation and/or gateway for blessings, think again. Just as if u go to a cell group coz of obligation or trying to be a super christian, think again, do it coz you get Jesus out of it. I recently had a choice to leave my cell group coz i didnt get Jesus out of it but after seeking God about it, i decided to address the matter with the group and Cell group has never been the same. I have an interesting love-hate relationship with the church (hence i enjoy yo blog) but i've realised that ITS NOT ABOUT ME, its about the Glory of God. Be that as it may, God commands us to tithe, in the old and new covenant...how u do it?...seek God but mostly seek Him for why u do it?
Sihle
I love this idea and have in my own way come to the same conclusion, that acts and personal acts especially are so much more meaningful and powerful than obligations - even within our own families this idea can be quite potent and create and nurture a more consciously loving environment. There is always the difficulty though of how to act and what a person needs/wants. The attitude with which we give and charity in itself may be seen as offensive by some and even as objectification or patronising. I think what might be a good thing to consider is the long term - choosing to get to know a particulat person, maybe a homeless person, rather than giving random things or money to anyone who looks like they need it. That investment of time and energy, that focus and willingness would be more significant and potentially build a relationship, a friendship, encourage understanding between strangers and help us make deeper connections than what this beautiful idea alone can do. It would also make us go outside of ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, our vanity and it might even threaten to challenge the things we are most certain of and these poetential doubts can only serve to help us in our personal growth if we choose to struggle through.
ReplyDelete@Sihle: Thanks for reading my blog. Completely understand the love hate relationship. Think you may be interested in reading these two sites:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.acts17-11.com/dialogs_tithe.html and
http://74.84.206.112/11532196/
We are actually never told to tithe in the New Testament but to give our whole lives to God as an offering. Pretty interesting...
@Anonymous: Completely agree that relationships are at the heart of it as is creativity. I love feeling like God wants me to help someone and then asking him what the best way to do it is. Sometimes I've approached people directly and other times I've snuck an envelope of cash into a bag or jacket pocket. A lot of times our presence in a persons life is far more important then our money which is probably why God wants not just our money but everything!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links Wendy...
ReplyDeleteSihle
Hey, interesting topic.... I find this article by Sam Storms to be fair and balanced.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/article/are-christians-obligated-to-tithe-2-cor-8-9/