What is Tithing?

Every group of people has their own language or dialect. In English, there are many dialects, for example, British English, American English, and Australian English. They are all English, but hardly the same. As a matter of fact they are quite different in some cases and you can be left wondering what was just said. I spent almost ten years in the US Navy. We could write a note for someone with no words on it at all, just acronyms, and another sailor would know exactly what it said, yet a civilian would just see a lot of meaningless letters.

The church isn't much different. We have our own language at times. We sometimes use words that have little to no secular world equivalent. We have dubbed this Christianese, and many in the church have tried to overcome it by making sure church only terms are not used in public settings so that the unchurched will understand what is being said. Unfortunately, there are some words that do not have a secular counterpart or translation that can be used and we are forced to explain. One of those words is tithe. We, in the church, seem to let this one roll off our tongue, and yet most people outside the church and many new followers of Jesus Christ have no idea what it means.

Tithing is simply giving to God what is God's. It goes with the belief that everything we have, we have because God has given it to us or provided a means for us to acquire it. A tithe is a tenth. In other words, when we tithe, we are to return 10% of what we received back to God. It's not a tax. It is kind of a tribute and a way for us to show our obedience to God. We shouldn't focus on losing 10% of what He has given us, we should focus on being able to use and manage the 90% we keep.

What is tithing not? There are a couple of things that tithing is not. It's not an investment. Once we give the tithe to God, we give up control of it. It is no longer ours. We should not be looking for a return. God does not play you wash my back I'll wash yours games. He just commands us to give our tithe to Him. It is also not an endorsement of a particular church or ministry. We don't vote on how much we liked a speaker or agree with a particular ministry by tithing. Once we give, it is between that ministry and God what happens with the resources tithed to it.

The tithe is given to the local church. I often hear people say they tithe to para-church organizations. The Bible tells us to bring our whole tithe into the storehouse. Not part of it. I believe if everyone in the church actually brought a full tithe (full 10%) into the church, other para-church organizations could be easily funded and staffed with volunteers by local church bodies. It has been said that if every professed follower of Jesus Christ in America actually gave a full 10% of income, the American church would have an extra $168 billion each year. We could eradicate world hunger with that.

We don't give to get. The Bible does promise blessings to those who give. However, we do not give to receive. If that is our heart's motivation, we will be sadly disappointed. The follower of Jesus Christ is to give joyfully. There are prosperity preachers out there that seem to preach that there is a formula that the more you give, the more you will receive. If that is the reason you are giving, I believe you will be sadly disappointed and quickly disillusioned.

Now I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb. We here in America love to give to an urgent cause or a present need. We are great about pulling out our checkbook or giving online with our credit cards when our heart strings are tugged. Many non-profit marketing folks bank on your soft heart strings. But there is more to tithing than just money. We should also give of our time and our talents. We are given approximately 17 waking hours each day. How much of that time do we give to God? If your devotion time in the morning is 30 minutes, that's 3% of your awake time. The average American spends 3 to 4 hours watching television. I'm not against television. However, I am against living an out of balance life. Let's say you have 30 minutes of devotions (reading your Bible and prayer) daily and 60 minutes in church on Sunday. You've given God a total of 3.8% of your time for the week. You can do better than that. Spend a couple of hours volunteering at the church, or local shelter. The same goes for your talents. Have you ever seen a preacher with a tool belt? It's can be a scary proposition. We all have talents we can use for the Lord in a way of giving. But, giving of our time and talent does not release us from giving a full tithe (10%) of our financial blessings as they come in.

Do you really want to make a difference in the world? Do you really want to see this world changed? Give more. Give an offering, which is what is given above the 10%. You will be blessed in amazing ways. They may not be financial, but they will be blessings.

So friends, I encourage you to truly experience a blessing and be a blessing, give your tithe to God via your local church body. Then give of your time, talent and treasure above the 10% God asks for in all sorts of places and make a real lasting difference in this world.