The other evening...
I met with a couple of RCCers and the talk turned to tithing. They both pay their tithes, but were a little frustrated that they don't hear about it on a Sunday and were wondering what was going on with all of that.
So first off, let me state that we at RCC believe in the principle of tithing. We believe that God has made each and every believer a steward of all they are given. It no longer belongs to me, but rather to God and he allows me to use it. This is very true for the farm I live on and I try to teach my kids that...we are stewards of this place, and we need to do everything we can with all of God's stuff. Not only that, it is also our belief that God wants each believer to give back 10% of what they have to the local church they attend, and to give beyond that to missions or other areas of need. This is a heart attitude like we've discussed many times in the past.
If we truly believe that everything we have belongs to God, then it is really easy to give back to Him and what He is doing, but the biggest problem comes up when it is ours and we don't want to give when the popcorn bucket comes by. This is what I mean by it being a heart attitude. If our heart is right, our checkbook will reflect that with our giving.
The decision to tithe is a very personal decision. Unlike the decision to be baptized where it is a public confession that you follow Jesus, the decision to tithe is between you and God. Here at RCC we do not audit those who come nor those who are members nor even those who serve on the board of directors. This is a personal decision that we have to make between ourselves and God.
Now is the effect of that decision felt? You bet! RCC is run off the tithes (10% of the increase) and offerings (anything above the 10% not designated for other things like missions) that RCCers give. Our denomination does not support us financially and no funds come from anywhere but those who choose to give locally. So peoples' decisions to be faithful with their money has a direct effect on how the church is able to run. But that is not the most exciting to me...I am excited when people decide to step out and trust God with everything including their money!
So a story was relayed to me how another RCCer was given some advice that they should cease tithing for a while because they were behind on their bills. As I've said, tithing is a personal decision, but I certainly would not counsel somebody to stop giving their tithes because of other obligations. The tithe just isn't ours to mess with. We don't get to write out on the envelope what we want done with it...it's a tithe. Now if you are giving to missions and an offering above and beyond your tithes, sure if you can't do that any longer and can't find the money elsewhere, stop paying those, but I sure wouldn't want to mess with the tithe!
We live in an amazing land. Most everybody has at least one car, a television and probably a computer. Yet we say we have nothing and wonder how we could ever possibly pay our tithes. You realize eating at McDonald's one day a week for $5 is spending $260 every year there? Heck, if you subscribe to cable tv at $40 a month, that is $480 every year spent on cable tv! We purchase cars we don't have the cash to buy, so we make payments every month. We have our credit cards we pay every month. We pay our mortgage or rent monthly...then say we don't have any money rather than taking the hard look and wondering if we really are living outside our means.
So why don't we hear much about tithing in church on a Sunday morning?
Well, it is the belief of the leaders of RCC that this church's mission in this community is to reach out to those who have left church. There are so many reasons people leave church, but we want to provide a place for them to come in, spend some time singing to God, pray with us and hear from God's word. One of the big problems people have to send them back out the door to not be connected to God is hearing about money. They complain that
Now, after people have been to RCC a little bit, they will have heard us talk about these connection groups. These are our small groups where people can go to connect with other RCCers and spend more time talking about the message from Sunday and how they can actually use it in their lives. This is where people open up and share about themselves and this is where questions about tithing are asked.
We spent 10 weeks of Winter semester going through the Crown Financial series and discussing biblical principles about our finances. These CDs were played not only to the hosts and facilitators, but to everybody involved in a connection group. It was our hope that this would lay the foundation of doctrine for people to learn off of and to help folk with understanding how tithing works.
I've been thinking recently about the Summer electives we will be having and I'll have to check with the other Crown teacher and see if we will be offering the class over the break. It does cost $50 per couple for the materiel for the class and I like that because there is value in things we pay for...more information on that will be coming soon.
If I've left you with any questions on tithing or RCC's position or you just want to comment, you can comment here to send me an email
So first off, let me state that we at RCC believe in the principle of tithing. We believe that God has made each and every believer a steward of all they are given. It no longer belongs to me, but rather to God and he allows me to use it. This is very true for the farm I live on and I try to teach my kids that...we are stewards of this place, and we need to do everything we can with all of God's stuff. Not only that, it is also our belief that God wants each believer to give back 10% of what they have to the local church they attend, and to give beyond that to missions or other areas of need. This is a heart attitude like we've discussed many times in the past.
If we truly believe that everything we have belongs to God, then it is really easy to give back to Him and what He is doing, but the biggest problem comes up when it is ours and we don't want to give when the popcorn bucket comes by. This is what I mean by it being a heart attitude. If our heart is right, our checkbook will reflect that with our giving.
The decision to tithe is a very personal decision. Unlike the decision to be baptized where it is a public confession that you follow Jesus, the decision to tithe is between you and God. Here at RCC we do not audit those who come nor those who are members nor even those who serve on the board of directors. This is a personal decision that we have to make between ourselves and God.
Now is the effect of that decision felt? You bet! RCC is run off the tithes (10% of the increase) and offerings (anything above the 10% not designated for other things like missions) that RCCers give. Our denomination does not support us financially and no funds come from anywhere but those who choose to give locally. So peoples' decisions to be faithful with their money has a direct effect on how the church is able to run. But that is not the most exciting to me...I am excited when people decide to step out and trust God with everything including their money!
So a story was relayed to me how another RCCer was given some advice that they should cease tithing for a while because they were behind on their bills. As I've said, tithing is a personal decision, but I certainly would not counsel somebody to stop giving their tithes because of other obligations. The tithe just isn't ours to mess with. We don't get to write out on the envelope what we want done with it...it's a tithe. Now if you are giving to missions and an offering above and beyond your tithes, sure if you can't do that any longer and can't find the money elsewhere, stop paying those, but I sure wouldn't want to mess with the tithe!
We live in an amazing land. Most everybody has at least one car, a television and probably a computer. Yet we say we have nothing and wonder how we could ever possibly pay our tithes. You realize eating at McDonald's one day a week for $5 is spending $260 every year there? Heck, if you subscribe to cable tv at $40 a month, that is $480 every year spent on cable tv! We purchase cars we don't have the cash to buy, so we make payments every month. We have our credit cards we pay every month. We pay our mortgage or rent monthly...then say we don't have any money rather than taking the hard look and wondering if we really are living outside our means.
So why don't we hear much about tithing in church on a Sunday morning?
Well, it is the belief of the leaders of RCC that this church's mission in this community is to reach out to those who have left church. There are so many reasons people leave church, but we want to provide a place for them to come in, spend some time singing to God, pray with us and hear from God's word. One of the big problems people have to send them back out the door to not be connected to God is hearing about money. They complain that
All church wants is my money!and use that as an excuse to leave. We don't want them to have that excuse. We want to help people to come into a place they can feel comfortable in and spend some time connecting with God and with people.
Now, after people have been to RCC a little bit, they will have heard us talk about these connection groups. These are our small groups where people can go to connect with other RCCers and spend more time talking about the message from Sunday and how they can actually use it in their lives. This is where people open up and share about themselves and this is where questions about tithing are asked.
We spent 10 weeks of Winter semester going through the Crown Financial series and discussing biblical principles about our finances. These CDs were played not only to the hosts and facilitators, but to everybody involved in a connection group. It was our hope that this would lay the foundation of doctrine for people to learn off of and to help folk with understanding how tithing works.
I've been thinking recently about the Summer electives we will be having and I'll have to check with the other Crown teacher and see if we will be offering the class over the break. It does cost $50 per couple for the materiel for the class and I like that because there is value in things we pay for...more information on that will be coming soon.
If I've left you with any questions on tithing or RCC's position or you just want to comment, you can comment here to send me an email
posted by Pastor Tom at 9:22 PM
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