Can I Afford to Give?

“Can I afford to give?” People ask or hear this question frequently. It’s a simple and yet challenging question. My response to this question may surprise a few of you fellow bloggers and so I thought a healthy discussion is worth a few moments in this week’s Financial Behavior posting.

To answer this question accurately the word “give” must be broken down. Giving, or to give, is simply an act of taking something of yours and offering it to someone else without expecting anything in return (Gabe’s definition…not Webster’s). Giving is an unselfish act that anybody can perform and it can be done in a variety of ways. I can give my time, energy, finances, expertise, labor, emotions, and possessions to name a few. And while I want to clearly address the financial aspect of giving I don’t want to minimize the other areas that giving can take place while being very impacting. Let’s look though at the area of giving financially. There are two types of financial giving discussed in the Bible: tithes and offerings.

Tithe:

Despite what you may believe or how you may interpret the scripture, the tithe is not optional. It is a requirement for all Christ followers. Period! The practice was first discussed in Genesis 14:20 with Abram (later named Abraham), and becomes a constant theme through the Old and New Testaments. The scriptures I want to draw your attention to are Malachi 3:8-12 and Matthew 23:23. I know we are getting a little theological here, but trust me, it is completely applicable to the current issues facing our nation and each of you personally. What is basically stated in Malachi 3:8-12 is that the nation of Israel is under a curse because they have not been faithful in giving the tithe to the “storehouse” (modern translation the local church). The Lord called it “robbing God” and it was true. It wasn’t that God instigated a new practice that the people knew nothing about, it was an issue that they knew the command but chose not to follow it. The same is true today. It’s not that people haven’t heard of tithing before. The Bible is available to everybody and it is each person’s responsibility to pick it up, read it, and apply it to their life. Ignorance is no excuse. Another way of looking at the issue of tithing is to take Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:23:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

What’s Jesus saying here? Basically the religious people of the day were paying the tithe but leaving out the characteristics that a life with Christ is supposed to show: justice, mercy and faith. The opposite of this statement is just as profound and existent in our world today. Many people have taken up characteristics of a relationship with Christ, but refuse to consistently follow His commands when it comes to financial matters. Do you see the correlation here. Jesus wants all aspects of a relationship acted upon. All of this to say that tithing is not optional, questionable, or debatable. It is required and we must do it regardless of how we feel. And for all of you technical people who need Malachi’s “all the tithes” spelled out, it means all. Right off the top. 10% of your total income. Yes, that means your gross Income, NOT the net or after expenses and taxes are paid. Simple!

Offerings:

Most people have no problem understanding this one so I’ll make it brief. An offering is anything given above and beyond the tithe. And for those who may be a bit slower of a learner, this means that you don’t give an offering in place of your tithe or before your tithe has been given in full. With the offering it becomes more of a heart issue. The where and how much may change frequently. When a special need arises in a mission project, you give an offering. When a building campaign is under way, you give an offering. There are numerous types and ways of giving offerings.

So Can You Afford to Give:

So that’s tithes and offerings. Now to the question as to IF you can afford it. We’ve already nailed down the tithe issue. Like taxes, it doesn’t matter if you think you can afford it or not, its God’s so make it happen. You might have to change your finances completely around. So what, make it work or you’ll stay under the curse discussed in Malachi 3:8-12. And when you are faithful to your tithe the promises and blessings are amazing, just read the rest of the Malachi 3!

Offerings are a different story. I’m speaking to two groups of people now. Those with consumer debt and those without consumer debt. If you do not have debt you are in a great position when it comes to giving offerings. You are freed up to financially bless your church and the people you are around everyday. When special needs arise, you are there to help meet the need. What an awesome opportunity you have to be an answer to prayer! However, if you do have consumer debt you are not currently in a place to give offerings. Offerings are not the place for your money at this point. You may give your time, energy and other forms of offerings, but your money is committed to the people and vendors from whom you have borrowed first.

I understand those last few statements may have raised a few eyebrows and that’s fine. They were meant to. I’ve heard it preached hundreds of ways. “Give to get out of your debt”. “Plant a seed for the need.” I’ve even seen one ministry ask people to put a “faith gift” on your credit card! Crazy. Absolutely crazy. I back up my stance with one resource: the Bible. No where in the Bible is debt spoken of in a positive term. It is almost always associated with a curse, slavery, or bondage. God never associates Himself with these characteristics when it comes to living a life devoted to Him. It always just the opposite. Proverbs alone rattles off dozens of verses that link debt to characteristics opposite that of which a Christ follower is to imitate. Proverbs 22:26-27 says, “Do not be one of those who shakes hands in pledge, one of those who is surety (guarantees) for debts; if you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you” (NKJ).

God doesn’t want us in the bondage of debt. 2 Kings 4 gives a great account a woman who is faced with the loss of a husband and a lot of debt to clear up. When she follows the instructions of the prophet a miracle takes place and provision comes, but he instructs her to first “go, sell the oil and PAY YOUR DEBT; and you and your sons live on the rest.” He doesn’t tell her to swipe her credit card and then pray that God saves her. It’s debt first, then live the life on the left over.

Let’s say you are facing a $10,000.00 credit card bill that has been the accumulation of numerous purchases over the past year, most of which you probably can’t remember. At church there is a special offering being taken that will help support a mission project somewhere across the globe. You really want to support the work but you’ve got this bill that you haven’t paid. If, as Proverbs states, you have committed to US Bank Visa $10,000 then you are responsible first to US Bank Visa, not the mission project (remember, we’re not talking tithe here, just offerings). You’ve already decided before you showed up at church that the place you want your money to go is into all those purchases on your credit card. So take care of them first! If you don’t have the money to honor your first commitment (the credit card), how excited do really think God is if you make another one with Him? We can’t hide our financial issues from Him. He’s God and He can see it all. Our financial integrity and honoring of commits is just as important as a heart to give offerings to Him. And any “offering” being given at the expense of not fulfilling our previous commitment, our honor, is not really an offering at all.

I’ll conclude with this scenario that works every time. If everybody that has debt made a concerted effort to rid themselves of all debts and didn’t do anything until every debtor (lender) was paid in full, think of the savings in fees and interest and other finance charges alone that could be given in offerings. And if you really changed your lifestyle enough and stopped the habits that got you into debt in the first place, think of all the money each month you could put to work in offerings and other areas of generosity! It would be far more beneficial and much more honorable to God to live a lifestyle of good financial stewardship AND giving.