It's a faith thing

Philip A. Gunther

The topic for that particular day was "The Christian and Tithing". As I led these new Christians through various Old Testament passages, they grasped the truth that tithing was something to which God attached great importance. Eyes glued to texts in Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Malachi, the class studied the Bible's revelation of this ancient practice. We next connected Jesus' words in Matthew 23:23 with what we had already gathered from the Old Testament. Jesus, I concluded, endorsed the continuation of tithing for His followers. And Paul directed Christians to give generously, with a joyful heart (II Corinthians 9:7).

Now that the biblical foundation had been laid, the discussion began. I fielded questions such as: "Should people tithe if they can't afford to?" "Should children be taught to tithe from their allowance?" "Should a Christian tithe to other organizations?" "Should we give our whole tithe to the church?" The questions were a real test of my limited understanding of tithing and how I lived it out in my own life.

Then a significant thing happened. A young husband in the group shared how he had known other Christians who had tithed faithfully whether they could afford it or not. He said that from their example he had come to see tithing not as a "practice" or "duty", but as an expression of faith. "It's really a faith thing," he said.

The whole group then chimed in, contending that if we say we believe God meets our needs and gives us all things, including the ability to make money, what possible reason could we offer God for not giving Him what is His in the first place---our tithe? Why would we think that in hard times, when money is short, He should be the first to take a "pay cut"? Shouldn't our tithe be an expression of our faith in God's ability to meet our needs? Is not our lack of giving a tithe in hard times a demonstration of our lack of faith in His providential care?

Later that evening, these maturing believers also testified that they had known Christians who had given a tithe, sometimes in very difficult times, and yet had felt privileged to do so. I learned that day that tithing is not just a routine practice of the Christian life. It really is a "faith thing".