Where's your 10%?

I'd like to offer up some thoughts on tithing.

I'm not good with church. I've been to five churches in my lifetime and I've never been truly comfortable at any of them. I know that I am not alone in feeling this way. Something may be awry in the churches that I've been too; But I'll lay down my money (quite literally) on the assumption that the problem is within me.

I don't think anyone will ever be perfectly happy with their church. You will always be bothered by some small piece of doctrine, an off-key singer, the number of times you have to stand-up in the service, or whether the deer pants or panteths for the water. If you view tithing as a tax, paid to the church out of a sense of guilt or duty, you will likely struggle with giving. Why would you want to give your money to a church that does ______ wrong?

Let me offer an alternative viewpoint: It's not your money.
You have a job that could have been given to someone else.
You have your health when it could so easily fail.
You have a gifting in certain areas, without which you would certainly fail.

God gave you the opportunity, the freedom, and the capability to work and earn money to support you and those whom you love. The money was given to you. Tithing is an acknowledgement of this

God has explicitly asked for 10% of my income to be given back as an offering of trust and thanksgiving. Even in those moments when I have felt completely disenfranchised with the church in general, I continued to enter my pay-cheque in to my budget sheets at 90% of its face value. On those occasion where I haven't darkened the doorway to a church in months, I would have a growing tally in my cheque-book for the amount that I owed upon my return or move.

As I see it, the key to tithing is that you no longer have that 10%. It is an act of thanks for what He has provided, and an act of trust that He will continue to provide. My priority is that the money goes to do some good in this world. Whether my money keeps Kraft Dinner in my pastor's pantry, pays for a room at a local woman's shelter, or feeds a family in the third-world, the money has to leave my coffers and help someone else.

I can't help but comment on what I see as the miraculous nature of tithing. I've seen countless examples of people whose tithing knocked just enough money out of their wallet to put them at risk of going without food, gas, power, etc.. They still tithed, taking that leap of faith that their needs would be provided for. In many cases, even before any plea had gone out to family, friends, or a congregation, a perfectly-measured gift arrived just in time to cover the need. The thing is, even if they had gone hungry, I know that these people would have been happy to do so. I tithe when it is easy and I tithe when it is hard and I will continue to do so through whatever I may encounter in life.

Even if you want nothing to do with God, there's something to be said for the act of self-sacrifice. It really helps focus the mind on something beyond your daily life. I honestly think that everyone should "tithe" as it can be a life changing experience both for you and for others.