The History of Tithing in Evangelicalism
A look at tithing in history should provide some serious food for thought to anybody who assumes that opposition to tithing is rooted in stinginess, half-hearted faith, or lack of Christian commitment.
A look at tithing in history should provide some serious food for thought to anybody who assumes that opposition to tithing is rooted in stinginess, half-hearted faith, or lack of Christian commitment.
To put it in terms of debt, we seem content to continue spending on credit while our knowledge debt continues to grow.
What appeared to be financial bondage turned out to be financial freedom. For the first time in our lives, we didn’t have to wonder where the money would come from.
What we don’t realize is that, oftentimes, we become victims of financial slavery in this process, heaping on loads of debt and worry.
When I would see people being generous, it really baffled me. How could people let go so easily?
We should be responsible with what we earn and spend. We need to learn how to budget our resources.
How do we break the cycle of feeling like what we have is never enough? Maybe the answer isn’t found in our paychecks; maybe the answer is found in our hearts.
One Sunday I tithed 10% of my paycheck and I just had no idea how I was going to make it on what I had. It wasn’t a week later I received checks from five different places.
Although things shifted financially (or at least they appeared to through my eyes), the mindset of money dictating what we wanted prevailed.
Why is it okay for a businessperson at a booming company to drive her dream car but not okay for a pastor to drive his dream car?
My parents informed me that the purchase of the car left them without funds to pay for my church’s youth camp. It was inevitable; I needed to find work.
Tithing is a lesson in building our faith, not a giving contest. The more we do it, the more we grow and see God’s hand at work in our lives. We cannot possibly outgive God.