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I just finished listening to a Taunton Vineyard (UK) sermon podcast about personal finances and I have to say it was the BEST teaching I have heard about money. It was powerful, real, honest, and compassionate. Give it a listen – believe me, it is nothing like you have ever heard before (well, nothing [...]  Meeting of Abram and Melchizedek (painting circa 1464–1467 by Dieric Bouts the Elder) Sorry the long delay between parts…something about having a day job and a family. Today I would like to take a look at the history and purpose of tithing as seen in the norming norm of the Christian faith (i.e. the Bible). Spoils of WarStarting at the beginning of the book, Abraham (then known as Abram) is the first person we see who give a tenth (the mathematical meaning of the word “tithe,” like Rocky mentioned in early comments) of anything to anyone. This event is preceded by Abraham’s victory over the warring king of Elam, who raided the town of Sodom and took Abraham’s nephew Lot as a slave (Genesis 14). After his victory, Abraham begins the journey back home (he was north of Damascus by that time). Along the way he stops at the city of Salem to visit with the king of Sodom who came out to greet him. During this visit, Abraham gives 10% of his war spoils (slaves, money, and goods) to Melchezidek, the king of Salem and a “priest of God Most High” (Gn 14:18-20). Why Abraham did this is unknown as the Bible does not say. It could have been because of a Mesopotamian custom of the time to give ruler of the land a 10% tax on one’s goods. Then again, it could have been just because Abraham heard God say to give Melchezidek some money as he did not want anyone to say that they made him rich (Gn 14:22-24). We simply don’t know.
In reading through the comments, I realized that the issue wasn’t so much about whether or not people should give of their funds (I think all those commenting would say, “yes, giving is a good thing”). It had to do with the question of whether or not a Christian is “required” to give. Unfortunately, the use of that word brings in a ton more questions and baggage as one could rightly ask what else a Christian “required” to do is:
The simple fact is that Christians have debated all of these questions for centuries and, most likely, will continue to do for one’s answer depends heavily on where one starts. The Place From Where I StartI start from a view that Jesus is the King of Kings and that His rule and reign is Supreme. His Kingdom is breaking into this world today and will continue to break into it until the end of time when God will set all things right and He will dwell with His people on a new (or renewed) earth. This Kingdom of God worldview impacts how I read the Bible and how I obey – or put into ‘shoe leather’ – the message of God. Continue reading Tithing Revisited – Part 1National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) recently announced a surprising notice concerning tithing (a $5 word for giving 10% of one’s income). In a nutshell, the NAE found that 58% of their board members believe that the Bible does NOT require tithing. Note that the NAE board is made up of a 100 people who [...]  The Death of Ananias, by Masaccio Now, with that said (click here for the first part of the series) – there are some biblical principles that we as followers of Jesus need to be aware of: Jesus is Lord of all – including our moneyThis is the main reason why the Bible encourages people to give financially. Pretty much everyone knows that people will spend money on things that they value. Therefore, if you want to know what someone values, look at where the majority of the funds are going. As follower’s of Jesus, we are to give our entire lives to Him. What we do, where we live, what job we have – all of these are decisions He makes. The same is true with our money. As such, we give a tithe to the Lord as a statement to the King that all we have is His. Here’s a tid-bit, the word ‘tithe’ means a tenth. However, this is not really a diehard number – is it just a handy number that is used to help folks out. Lord willing, you will be giving the Lore MORE than 10%!! Breaking the Power of MoneyJesus said that we could not serve both money and God. Yet, most of us try to serve both…. About five years ago a pastor friend suggested that I read Richard Foster’s book, The Challenge of a Disciplined Life (originally published as Money, Sex, and Power). In this book, Foster made a point that will stay with me till I die. He said (my paraphrase):
Practically, this means not asking whether or not we have enough money to buy a new boat – but whether or not God wants us to have a new boat. Asking, not whether or not we enough money to go on a mission trip, but whether or not God wants us to go on a mission trip. Continue reading Ananias and Sapphira: Dealing With Money (Part 2 of 2) Good Morning everyone. Today is going to be interesting…mainly because we are going to be dealing with one of those passages preachers avoid. It is not a simple passage; but it is in the Bible so we are going to talk about it. Let us read Acts 5:1-11
So what is happening here? What is the Lord saying? As you can imagine, there are many different lessons to be learned from the mistake of Ananias and Sapphira. The lesson that God brought to my heart this week comes from a conversation I had with a member of the local community. This community member felt that churches – like this one – were simply ‘bank accounts’ used to acquire money for a few people.  Raphael, 'The Death of Ananias' 1515-16 Unfortunately, this is a view that a lot of people outside the church have – and even more unfortunately, there are abuses within many churches that make these concerns valid… This, however, does not mean that we as a church are to shrink back from what God has spoken. No – we are speak the words of the Bible and draw closer to Him. This is why I am willing to jump out of the frying pan this morning and into the fire. Today we are going to be talking about our attitude towards money. Did the air just drop a few degrees in here? Don’t worry – I’m not going to tell you what to do with your money – that’s God’s job, not mine. I’m just going to talk about our attitude. Let us turn back to the book of Acts. Continue reading Ananias and Sapphira: Dealing With Money (Part 1 of 2) |
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