A man gets the chance to ask God three questions. First, he asks, "God, what is a million years like to you?" God answers, "To me, a million years is like one second." Then the man asks, "God, what is a million dollars like to you?" God answers, "To me, a million dollars is like one penny." The man thinks hard about his final question, then his eyes get wide and he asks, "God, can I have a penny?" And God replies, "Sure. Just a second."
God has all the time and resources in the universe at his disposal, and God operates on a scale far beyond anything we could imagine. And since God is in command of everything in the universe, surely, he could spare a little for us, right?
Why Money Matters to Us and to God
If something in our lives is important, then you can bet God knows it's important too. And when we read the Bible, we see that God does, indeed, have a lot to say about money. It's a frequent topic in both the Old and New Testaments, and it's a popular subject of the teachings of Jesus. In fact, over one quarter of Jesus' teachings deal directly with our relationship to money.
Serving Two Masters
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
"Mammon" is not just our inanimate, impersonal wealth and possessions. Jesus talks about it as a rival God, one who can receive our love, devotion, and service. But if we love and serve mammon, we cannot love and serve God at the same time.
The truth is, we all have mammon, and we all need money and possessions in order to live. But if we're not careful, it's easy to find ourselves slipping into love for and devotion to our mammon because it's visible and tangible, unlike God, who is invisible and intangible.
The Best Way to Break Mammon's Hold
How do we break the hold that mammon can easily take on our hearts? The answer is simple, but it is not easy: The best way to break the hold that mammon has on us is to give it away.
Giving away the wealth and possessions that God has entrusted to us is the best way to train ourselves to love and depend on God rather than mammon. When we give, we're recognizing that everything we have is a gift from God, and God wants us to use it for his purposes. When we give, we're also placing our trust in God to provide everything we need, even as our material wealth appears to decrease.
Mammon is sneaky. It draws us in and tells us that it's our source of security and prosperity, rather than God. It tells us that if we will just hold onto it for ourselves, we'll have everything we need. But of course, the only place where we can find that kind of security is in God.
What Does the Bible Actually Say About Tithing?
If you've been around a church for any length of time, you've probably heard about tithing, giving 10% of your income to the Lord. And you've probably also heard people say, "That's not for us today. That was the Old Testament law. We're New Testament people. We aren't governed by that old legalism anymore. The only thing that matters is your heart."
So which is it? Does the Biblical tithe apply to us today?
The Old Testament Principle: Everybody Gives Their Part
In Leviticus 27:30-33, God establishes the tithe clearly: "All tenth-part gifts from the land, whether of seed from the ground or fruit from the trees, belong to the Lord; they are holy to the Lord." The tithe in ancient Israel served several purposes: it was a sacrificial portion dedicated to God, it supported the priests and Levites who had no land or herds of their own, it was shared as a communal meal during festivals, and every three years it provided for the poor, the fatherless, and widows.
Remarkably, even the priests and Levites, those who received the tithes, were commanded to give a tithe of what they received. As Numbers 18:25-28 records, God told Moses to instruct the Levites: "When you receive from the Israelites the one-tenth portion that I have given you from them as your inheritance, you also must present a gift offering to the Lord from it, a tenth from the one-tenth portion." Everyone who had the means to give was commanded to give, no exceptions.
The New Testament Principle: Giving with a Generous Heart
In Acts 4:32-35, we see the early Church in Jerusalem living out something remarkable: "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had... there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."
The New Testament principle is about moving from behavior modification to heart transformation. Followers of Jesus provided for one another in ways that went far beyond a mere 10%. God's power and presence were so alive in their community that they were radically generous with one another because they recognized that everything they had should be available for God to use.
Tithing Trains My Heart to Be Generous with Everything God Gives Me
So where does that leave us? Does the Biblical tithe apply to us today, or is giving from the heart what matters most? I think the best answer is a resounding, āyesā!
I believe the tithe applies to us today, not in some legalistic "tithe or else" sense, but because it gets us started on the road to generosity. Tithing is an act of trust. We're trusting that God has given us 100% of what we have, but God only asks for 10% in return, and God can provide everything we need with the 90% that's left. Tithing is a place to start, not a place to stop.
Three Qualities of Biblical Giving
So what does this look like practically? Here are three qualities that should characterize our giving:
Planned. The Israelites knew that whenever they brought in a harvest or counted their herds, the first tenth of everything belonged to God, before they even started counting. Giving that first 10% to God also gives us a plan for the rest of our budget. If our tithe didn't come first, we wouldn't know where to start planning how to use all the rest of our money.
Consistent. The Israelites didn't think, "I don't want to give my tithe this time, but I can make up for it later." They gave consistently, with every harvest and every addition to their flocks and herds. They didn't pick out the best for themselves and give God the leftovers. Whether your income is steady or variable, you can decide ahead of time: "Whenever I get paid, I give the first portion of it back to God, no exceptions, and I trust God to take care of me with the rest."
Sacrificial. In 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, the apostle Paul describes the church in Macedonia who gave sacrificially to support the struggling church in Jerusalem, hundreds of miles away: "In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity...they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people." They told Paul it was a privilege to give. He couldn't have stopped them if he tried!
Sacrifice is meant to be joyful. It's the defining characteristic of our worship. Sacrifice draws us closer to God as it loosens our attachment to the things of this world. It's about giving God something good in order to receive something better.
Putting It Into Practice: What Is Your Next Step?
In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, Paul writes: "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. What Paul is emphasizing is that what's most important in our giving is the posture of our hearts. If we're focused on "what's the least I have to do" instead of "what's the most I can do, because giving brings me joy," we're completely missing the point.
So here are some possible next steps to prayerfully consider:
Give something. Going from giving nothing or giving sporadically to giving something consistently is the biggest step you can take. The amount doesn't matter. What matters is learning to trust God in a small way so you can learn to trust God in bigger ways.
Give a percentage. Maybe your next step is to give a smaller percentage, 3%, 5%, 8%, and make a commitment to grow your giving toward a tithe in the months and years ahead.
Give a tithe (10%). The tithe is the Biblical baseline for giving. It's not a place to stop, but it is a mark to aim for.
Give from your abundance. If you're already tithing, you're just getting started with generosity! God keeps giving generously to you, and you're learning to be more generous with everything God gives you.
Whatever your next step may be, I want to encourage you to prayerfully consider it and courageously take it. Trust God with something so you can learn to trust God with everything. This is a prayerful decision between you and God. But don't let the question go unanswered. What is your next step?
Reflection
Take a few quiet moments with these questions.
Where does mammon have a hold on your heart right now? Is there an area of your finances where you find it hard to trust God, a fear of not having enough, a reluctance to give, or a tendency to find your security in what's in your bank account rather than in God?
What does your giving currently say about where your trust lies? Not as a guilt trip, but as an honest reflection, does the way you give reflect a heart that trusts God as your provider, or does it reflect a heart still holding tightly to mammon?
The Macedonian church gave joyfully out of poverty and called it a privilege. What would it look like for giving to feel like a privilege in your own life? What would need to change in your heart for that to be true?
What is your next step? God isn't asking for a perfect giving record, he's asking for the next step of faith. Is it giving something consistently for the first time? Growing toward a percentage? Reaching the tithe? Giving from your abundance? What is God whispering to you?
Prayer
Generous God, thank you for giving us your very Son so that we might have life. Forgive me for the times I have trusted in my money more than I have trusted in you. Forgive me for letting mammon whisper lies about where my security comes from. Train my heart through the practice of giving to trust you more completely with every single area of my life. Show me my next step, Lord. Give me the courage to take it. I want to sow generously into your kingdom, and I trust you to provide everything I need. In Jesus' name, Amen
