Money talk. It’s never easy.

years ago, when wanda and i were just a young couple, we were challenged to live our lives with a sense of purpose. we were taught by people we admired and respected, to be open to living our lives for something greater than our own pleasure and comfort.

i remember one of the first (of many) times we heard tony campolo speak. back in the late 70’s, he was a christian “radical”…a political activist…a pastor…a college professor…an author and speaker. he still is today. before tony came along, i had never met a church leader that lived very far outside the traditional, conservative christian box i grew up in.

tony did. and the words he spoke that day rocked us…and though we didn’t follow his footsteps exactly, we took them to heart. deep to heart.

in a humble and unassuming way, he said between his pastoring, teaching and speaking, he probably made over $80k per year. in 1979! that would be easily 5-6 times that amount today… but it wasn’t what he “made” that was so shocking. it was how he chose to use it.

he said that some years earlier, before he started to make that kind of money, he and his wife made a decision about how much they needed to live on…to pay their bills and live a happy and healthy lifestyle for them and their young family. they determined that number was about $30k.

so they made a decision. they wouldn’t change their standard of living…even if they made more money. their thinking was, “why should making more money change what we decided our standard of living to be?” wow. that seemed so counter-cultural. so different than the american dream.

everybody i knew…including my own family…instinctively lived exactly the opposite. making more money was your ticket to raising your standard of living. it was your right. it was your divine right. it was what you were supposed to do with god’s “blessing”.

but tony pointed us to another option. another way of living. something that seemed much more biblical.

why not pick a standard of living…as low as you can, yet still enough to still live happy and comfortably…and then use the rest of your money (god’s money) on things of nobler purposes? why not live on a little less, so that more could be invested directly into god’s kingdom purposes? it made sense to us. and it’s how we’ve tried to live our lives the past 35 years.

it’s also why “tithing” doesn’t make sense to me. well…that and the fact that it was old testament taxation of the jews that is no longer required in the new covenant. here’s how it challenges my sensibilities:

if a family is living on $30k here in 2013 united states, it’s not easy. and “requiring”…or even expecting…them to give 10% of their income to the church could place a serious burden on them and their family. $250 a month is a huge amount to them!

on the other hand, if a family lives on 300k per year (what’s left over after taxes), a “tithe” of $30k per year to the church shouldn’t (i hate that word) place an undo burden on this family. they ought to be able to live comfortably on $270k, don’t you think? especially if they had made a decision to lock in their standard of living at, say…$175k per year. that would free up 125k per year…of god’s money…to be used on god’s things. amazing. why would they limit their giving to just a tithe?

how we spend most of the money we have (after taxes) is our choice. it’s nobody else’s choice. and we can always choose to spend less on ourselves and more for a greater purpose. always.

friends, i know this is not an easy discussion.

What’s up with this “tithing” stuff?

this is reeeaaally personal today.  hang in there.  we’ll get to march madness soon enough.

tithe.  it’s an old english term that means ten percent. tithe.  it’s a church term that means god…and preachers…expect you to put ten percent of your income in the offering plate every sunday.  or else.

back in the day,  i learned that giving my weekly tithe was what i needed to do. honestly, i’m glad i learned to do it.  i’m glad that wanda and i have always shared that same perspective.  

but don’t miss this.  through the years, ten percent has never really been our goal.  it’s always been like a starting point.  a place where our giving begins and moves on from.  for the most part, ten percent has been what we have always given to the general budget for the ministry of our church family.  other giving has always been above and beyond that.

for us, the ten percent starting point is never negotiated.  it is never questioned.  it’s never lowered.  it is never up for debate.  it just is.

do i think god requires it?  nope.  do i think that jesus would want me to give ten percent?  i honestly don’t think he thinks about it.  does it make me better than others?  hardly.  is god pleased when i give it?  i suppose, but it doesn’t occur to me to think about it.  will i be punished if i don’t give it?  please…

so why do i do it?

i suppose the primary reason i started giving ten percent to the general budget of my church family was out of legalism.  i can’t say i’m real proud of that, but it’s probably the truth.

i grew up in a church that always preached the tithe.  it was taught regularly and the inference was that god established it as a law in the old testament and jesus did nothing to abolish the old testament laws…so we should be expected to do at least as much as new testament disciples.  ten percent (the tithe) was the standard of excellence in discipleship.  it was the apparent benchmark of spiritual maturity.

hey.  it’s what i was taught and it was what i believed.  i come from an era that trusted authority and leadership in the church in a completely different way than we experience now.  i had a high respect for my parents and for the people who were in positions of influence…especially church influence…in my my life.  my parents modeled the giving of ten percent and taught me to do the same.  when i began to grow up, make money, get married, and live on my own, i followed their example.

now, honestly, i live such a completely different kind of life from my youth, it’s almost hard to remember.  my reasons for giving are much deeper, much stronger, much broader.  life is not as simple as it used to be.  i am not as simple as i used to be.  but frankly, the foundation is still there.  interesting…

i have almost a love-hate affair with the ten percent.  looking back, without being taught the discipline, i don’t know if i ever would have developed the habit of giving that i have in my life right now.  and without that regular pattern of giving, i don’t know if i would have ever experienced the grace to truly trust god to not only provide for every need, but to give above and beyond the ten percent with freedom and joy.

i guess the “hate” part comes from the inference that it is still a requirement from god.  and worse yet, a bar that all believers are to somehow shoot for.  giving ten percent is a time-honored tradition of the church and a sound financial practice (just ask your tax guy).  i’m not arguing this point.  it’s just that the tithe,   according  to scripture, is a little different than the tradition that has been passed down.

the children of israel were required to tithe.  in fact, they were required to give multiple tithes…as much as 23% percent and even beyond.  it was similar to our system of taxation.  it was not a matter of the heart…and it wasn’t a matter of choice.  it was demanded and there was a consequence if the demand was not met.

when jesus arrived on the scene, the jewish requirements for tithing were still in place.  but jesus brought a redefining of jewish legal requirement:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  Matthew 5:17

historically, the church has emphasized that jesus did not abolish the tithe.  but my problem with this is how the church has gone about picking and choosing which of the laws we are still going to conveniently require and which of the laws we are going to let slide.  and if we’re going to require them, why aren’t we really requiring them?  ah, law…so much more to say.

let me make this clear.  if you believe the ultimate goal set before you is to give ten percent of your income to the local church, somebody has sold you a lemon!  if you think that god is somehow pleased when you let go of a percentage of your money, it’s time for a fresh perspective.  jesus did not come to abolish the law of tithing.  i think he came to explode it!

that’s why you’ll never hear me make reference to “tithing”.

jesus came to give us all a brand new take on what it means to know that god is the creator and owner of everything, including every dime we think belongs to us…and what it means to live underneath the his lordship…and what it means to seek the kingdom of god first…and what it means to put our money where we say our hearts are.

the real question is not what percentage i put in the offering plate, but what percentage stays in my bank account.

what do you think?

10%…another look

i have almost a love-hate affair with the ten percent.  looking back, without being taught the discipline, i don’t know if i ever would have developed the habit of giving that i have in my life right now.  and without the regular pattern of giving, i don’t know if i would have ever experienced the grace to truly trust god to not only provide for every need, but also to live with the freedom to let go of money.

i guess the “hate” part comes from the inference that it is still a requirement from god.  and worse yet, a bar that all believers are to somehow shoot for.  giving ten percent is a time-honored tradition of the church and a sound financial practice (just ask your tax guy).  i’m not arguing this point.  it’s just that the tithe, according to scripture, is a little different than the tradition that has been passed down.

the children of israel were required to tithe.  in fact, they were required to give multiple tithes…as much as 23% percent and even beyond.  it was similar to our system of taxation.  it was not a matter of the heart, it wasn’t a matter of choice.  it was demanded and there was a consequence if the demand was not met.  

when jesus arrived on the scene, the jewish requirements for tithing were still in place.  but jesus brought a redefining of jewish legal requirement:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  Matthew 5:17

historically, the church has emphasized that jesus did not abolish the tithe.  my problem with this is how the church has gone about picking and choosing which of the laws we were still going to conveniently require and which of the laws we were going to let slide.  and if we’re going to require them, why aren’t we really requiring them?  ah, law…so much more to say.  i’ll save it for later.

let me make this clear.  if you believe the ultimate goal set before you is to give ten percent of your income to the local church, somebody has sold you a lemon!  if you think that god is somehow pleased when you let go of a percentage of your money, it’s time for a fresh perspective.  jesus did not come to abolish the law of tithing.  i think he came to explode it!

he came to give us all a brand new take on what it means to know that god is the creator and owner of everything, including every dime we think belongs to us…what it means to live underneath the his lordship…what it means to seek the kingdom of god first…what it means to put our money where we say our hearts are.

the real question is not what percentage i put in the offering plate, but what percentage stays in my bank account.

what do you think?

10% again

i suppose the primary reason i started giving ten percent to the general budget of my church family was out of legalism.  can’t say i’m real proud of that, but it’s probably the truth.

i grew up in a church that always preached the “tithe” (more on that in a couple of days).  it was taught regularly and the inference was that god established it as a law in the old testament and jesus did nothing to abolish the old testament laws…so we should be expected to do at least as much as new testament disciples.  ten percent (the tithe) was the standard of excellence in discipleship!

hey.  it’s what i was taught and it was what i believed.  i come from an era that trusted authority and leadership in the church in a completely different way than we experience now.  i had a high respect for my parents and for the people who were in positions of influence…especially church influence…in my my life.  my parents modeled the giving of ten percent and taught me to do the same.  when i began to grow up, make money, get married, and live on my own, i followed their example.

now, honestly, i live such a completely different kind of life from my youth, it’s almost hard to remember.  my reasons for giving are much deeper, much stronger, much broader.  life is not as simple as it used to be.  i am not as simple as i used to be.  but frankly, the foundation is still there.  interesting…

it makes me think…not just about money, but about everything.  why is it so difficult to trust the judgment and direction of those older and wiser?  why is it so easy to dismiss the patterns and practices of our elders, when it comes to discipleship?  why do we trust our own impulses and logic when it comes to following jesus, instead of taking the baton from the previous leg of the relay and carefully pass it on to the future?

10%

somewhere back in the hard drive of my past, i learned that giving ten percent of my income in the offering plate each week was what i needed to do.  i’m glad i learned to do it.  i’m glad that wanda and i have always shared that same perspective.  

through the years, ten percent has never really been our goal.  it’s always been like a starting point.  a place where our giving begins and moves on from.  for the most part, ten percent has been what we have always given to the general budget for the ministry of our church family.  other giving has always been above and beyond that.

the ten percent starting point is never negotiated.  it is never questioned.  it’s never lowered.  it is never up for debate.  it just is.

do i think god requires it?  nope.  do i think we are under the same laws of the old testament?  no way.  do i think that jesus would want me to give ten percent?  i honestly don’t think he thinks about it.  does it make me better than others?  i wish.  is god pleased when i give it?  i suppose, but it doesn’t occur to me to think about it.  will i be punished if i don’t give it?  please…  

so why do i do it?  i think i’ll tell you over the next few days.  i hope you stay tuned.