Acts 2:44-45 states, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
Giving. Tithing. Stewardship. Say these words around a church and you’ll evoke enough emotion to think a mutiny is about to occur. Why is this the case? Well, we all work hard for our money, and the idea that we should give some of it away to the church (or anyone else for that matter) is a bit intrusive.
Perhaps, a change in perspective is what’s needed. The attitude above is that the money is ours. The thought is that we earned it. That is where the mistake is made. When we surrender our lives to Christ, we give Him EVERYTHING we have. Money seems to be the one thing we have the hardest time relinquishing control. You see, I’m not going to just talk about tithing here. That would actually be too easy. Just like I believe teaching and prayer must be accompanied by action, the same applies here. I don’t think giving stops with the checkbook or PayPal.
I’ll have to tell 3 stories here to connect all the dots. Apologies in advance. I struggled with writing these 3 stories down, as they are deeply personal and not ones I tell, because I do not ever want to brag. I believe that God led us down these paths, and now they connect a testimony of God’s grace in our obedience along these lines. I trust that you’ll give praise to God for these stories, not to me.
When I was young, any time someone in our community was in need, my Dad would quietly see to it that their need was met. He never asked for recognition or repayment. In fact, he would be offended that I’m even telling this story on him, but I doubt he’s going to read my blog. (And, Dad, if you do…take this as me showing respect to you for how you raised me.) He would have given you the shirt off his own back if he thought you needed it more than him. Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t rich. I grew up on a family farm, but we always had everything we needed. Dad knew if there was a need, and he clearly took to heart the verse above.
When Brandi and I got married, the 2 other stories developed in the first year of our marriage. We made out a budget, and figured out we could just make ends meet with our 2 hourly college jobs. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough money to tithe as well in that budget. Brandi was adamant that we needed to tithe. (A tithe is a tenth of your wages according to the old testament. It was actually a tenth of your crop in those days.) She was also adamant that it needed to be off the gross amount, not the net. I was incredulous. We could pay rent or we could tithe. Simple as that. She won that argument and we started writing tithe checks. I immediately got a job that paid more. Eventually, we were able to tithe one year the same amount we had made that first year of our marriage. God had honored our decision to be faithful in this area with blessings far beyond our dreams in that little 800 square foot apartment at 19 and 20 years of age.
That same year, with money still very tight, a family in our church had gotten into a bind and needed some cash. We had $800 in our savings account. We had $2,000 on our credit card. I told Brandi we needed to give them the money. She said “no way.” I won that argument, and I don’t really remember ever caring about that debt as it got paid off pretty soon thereafter.
So, in the end, we learned together that we’ve given everything to Him. And He sometimes asks us to do things that we feel are unreasonable. That can be money. It can be time. It can be possessions. It can be very personal. Please approach your attitude of giving from the perspective that He already has it. He just wants you to have faith enough to take the risk for His glory.
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