Tithing -- Thursday 1-22

Thursday Assignment
Tithing – 1-22
Adam Fike

I have to admit that I believed like the majority of evangelicals in several of the ways listed in the article. I did understand that tithing meant 10% of one’s income, but I have heard the attitude that tithing is an indefinite amount. It is whatever you can give. I was shocked to hear that evangelicals give only 2.3% of their income on average. I thought the percentage would be much closer to 10% than that.
While it does not explicitly require in the New Testament believers to give 10% of their income, I think it is a standard amount that everyone should give. In the Old Testament, God required a tithe from the Israelites. Malachi 3:10 says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’” Even though we are not bound to follow this law, I believe it is a good law to follow. If we do not have a set amount to give, we most often do not give enough.
I was pulled into the “church is bigger” mindset. I have counted giving to a parachurch organization for my tithe several times before. I realize now that I was wrong. I am taking Ecclesiology now and am learning that how I have viewed the church has affected how I live my life in issues such as tithing. The local church must be upheld as the primary place to give. I admire parachurch organizations that hold to this value to the point that they even urge people to give to their local church first on their donation page.
I would most definitely rather give to a cause than an institution. It may be my generation, but I think that is how we as humans operate. We are willing to act and give to things that touch our heart. I think once the local church fully realizes this, we will take bigger steps toward communicating different ministries and the causes that the money supports. Along with that, we must also learn to thank more. Even though one’s giving should be done out of love in a relationship with God, church leaders ought to be grateful for the gifts. We ought to be grateful when people give out of love for God. I am sure God is grateful and pleased when people give generously out of love as well.
This article has inspired me to fight against certain attitudes of evangelicals, especially when I read the statistic that most local churches would double their income if everyone tithed. That is almost unbelievable. I think that at least more people will listen and heed the call to tithe when they are shown the grueling statistics and excuses people give for not tithing. It will also be important to tweak people’s theology of the church. We need to understand what the church is and how it runs.