We Get to Give

In Christian community, being generous has some different standards compared to people in the world. In many ways it’s the same, but there are some unique elements. One of those uniquely Christian generosity pieces is what’s known as the tithe. This is not a word in everyday language, so what is the tithe? It is giving back to God 10% of what he gives us. In other words, tithe means “tenth.” This idea is all over God’s Word, and here’s one of the places:

“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. (Malachi 3:8-12)

When we don’t give God the first, our tenth, then God’s Word says we are cheating him. Should we cheat God? This is probably not a good idea! When we cheat God we live with greater difficulty – a curse as the Scripture says. This is hard to accept, but we need to understand it’s not personal. It is just one of the biblical laws of life, the way things work in God’s economy. Now, the flip side is if we give the tithe back to God, then we are blessed. We are blessed so much that we won’t have enough room to take it in!

Let’s be honest. This is a difficult subject. Giving a tenth back to God of what he first gives us is not easy to do because life is expensive. Yet, it’s possible, and if we really think about it, 10% is a really great deal compared to everything God provides for us. Let’s look at this in a fresh way:

Imagine that you received 10 Amazon packages on your front doorstep. But these are not packages you ordered. The packages represent what God has given you for living this week. Every package is unique. These packages come with no instructions for the most part. You get to keep them and do with them what you please except for the first one. The first one has a label, “Return to Sender by Giving to His Mission.” This package goes right back to God. The other 9 packages you can do whatever you want with. You can open them up and enjoy their blessings. Or you can choose to deliver some of them to some other places. You can even take a few of them and upgrade them to bigger packages.

Now, how does the tithe sound? It’s safe to say that this probably makes the tithe look and feel a little different to us. In God’s economy, we don’t just “get to get.” We do get a lot, even when we are in hard times and God shows us his gracious provision. The thing is, we also “get to give.” This is the essence of Christian living. It’s what separates Christianity from all the other world religions. We get to give, and this is seen in the tithe principle. We get 9 packages for living and give 1 back to God. We still get a lot, but we also get to give. And by the way, the tithe principle is just the beginning. Followers of Jesus in the early church were known to give 20, 30 and sometimes 40% back to God. They understood just how much we get to give!