40 Days 40 Gifts Day 8

Today was payday. Which also means it is tithe day. Now usually I tithe out of habit or, if the month looks like it’s going to be a tough one, begrudgingly. This time I had to think more consciously about tithing. Why is tithing seen as an act of worship and dedication to God in Christianity and in most other major religions?

I also have somewhat mixed feelings about tithing. On the one hand I believe wholeheartedly in the power of the church to make a positive difference in the world and that it needs money to be able to do that. On the other hand tithing has for centuries been a form of worship that has been thoroughly abused by the church – starting in the times when the Roman Catholic Church sold indulgences (selling of forgiveness for a certain amount of money and ultimately stimulating the birth of the Protestant church) and being seen through to today’s churches which expect even the poorest of the poor to give generously if they wish to receive prosperity (prosperity theology). I think these attitudes towards giving are very dangerous for two reasons. Firstly they usually only benefit those asking their followers to give – you know what I’m talking about – the beautiful churches situated in spaces where people don’t have stable homes, pastors’ fancy cars driven past people begging on the side of the road. Secondly and perhaps most importantly, what kind of picture does this leave us of God? A God who only blesses us when we give? A God who counts the coins you put into the offertory bag? That’s not the God I’ve come to know and it’s not a God I want to worship.

So what is tithing about and why do I do it? There are a myriad of teachings about tithing but I want to focus on one today – the personal one. There is another tithe coming up before Easter so watch out for the social implications of tithing on Day 33 where I’ll look at why the power of tithing only becomes real when we all tithe and why prosperity theology doesn’t work in our modern day world.

Tithing is about walking with God daily. Let me explain. Traditionally tithing usually refers to giving 10% of our income to others, usually through the church. The teaching comes from Leviticus 27 entitled “Redeeming what is the Lord’s.” Leviticus 27:30 says “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord.” The 10% comes from the fact that tithe literally means ten. Later in Leviticus 27 we hear the instruction, “let every tenth sheep be dedicated to the Lord.” Giving a tenth of one’s income is difficult and I know I certainly don’t come close to giving a tenth of my income monthly. Giving a tenth of our income means we only have 90% of our income to meet our obligations. So why is this significant spiritually?

Firstly, it means we are recognising that the money we earn is not ours – it is God’s, earned by the fact that our abilities, our education, our skills that earn our income, the land off of which we eat are all God given. Giving 10% reminds us that this money is not ours, but is to be stewarded by us. Secondly, living off 90% (especially when many of us live off 120% of our income monthly) makes us feel the pinch. We have to trust that God will provide for us throughout the month. Now let’s not get this confused – this is not about testing God (more about that on Day 33), it’s about reminding ourselves each and every day that we are in God’s hands. It makes us just a little more conscious of what we have and how much we owe to God. When we are only living off 90% of our income then that pair of shoes we’ve been eyeing suddenly become less important. This means that when we are tithing properly we should not be living in debt. No point in tithing and then using the credit card to buy all of the nice things we can’t afford on our salary – if that’s the case we’re missing the point. Tithing is intimately tied to seeking a life of simplicity where we let go of our attachment to things and money to make way for God in our lives.

This is a tough task in our society of consumerism. Riches are held up, poverty is vilified. As Foster writes, “The modern hero is the poor boy who purposefully becomes rich rather than the rich boy who voluntarily becomes poor. Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry.” We live in a society that encourages us to accumulate, accumulate, accumulate (check out this video for a little more on how we are kept in this cycle: www.storyofstuff.com). Giving 10% of our income brings us back to reality. It goes to the heart of simplicity – to recognise that what we have is a gift from God and to know that it is God’s business to watch out for our needs daily (that’s why we pray “Give us this day our daily bread”).

LESSON 8: Tithing encourages us to “courageously articulate new more human ways to live.” It teaches us to trust in God daily.