The Treasure Principle, Revised and Updated by Randy Alcorn

Author:Randy Alcorn [Alcorn, Randy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

TRAINING WHEELS

Maybe you believe exclusively in “grace giving” and disagree with the church fathers and others who taught that the tithe was the minimum giving requirement for Christians. But it seems fair to ask, “God, do You really expect less of me—who has Your Holy Spirit within and lives in the wealthiest society in human history—than You expected of the poorest Israelite?”

Since the majority of Christians don’t believe in or practice tithing and instead embrace “grace giving,” whether or not they use the term, let’s consider what this actually looks like.

Studies over the past decades indicate American Christians give on average between 2 and 3 percent of their income.20 In fact, “More than one out of four American Protestants give away no money at all—‘not even a token $5 per year.’ ”21

A 2013 study found that those who do tithe compose “only 10 to 25 percent of the families in the church, but they often provide 50 to 80 percent of the funding.”22

There’s often a wide disparity between what churchgoers think they give and what they actually give. “A quarter of respondents in a new national study said they tithed 10 percent of their income to charity. But when their donations were checked against income figures, only 3 percent of the group gave more than 5 percent to charity.”23

Isn’t it troubling that in this wealthy society, what’s inaccurately called “grace giving” amounts to only a fraction of the First Covenant standard? Whatever we’re teaching about giving today is either not true to Scripture or the message isn’t getting through. Or we’re not being touched by God’s grace, which inevitably moves hearts to give.

Tithing is God’s historical method to get His people on the path of giving. In that sense, it can serve as a gateway to the joy of true grace giving. It’s unhealthy to view tithing as a place to stop, but it can certainly be a good place to start.

Tithing isn’t the ceiling of giving; it’s the floor. It’s not the finish line of giving; it’s the starting blocks. Tithes can launch us into the mind-set, skills, and habits of grace giving.

Malachi 3:8 says that the Israelites robbed God by withholding not only their mandatory tithes but also their voluntary “offerings.” By giving less in their freewill offerings than He wanted them to, they were robbing God. Setting aside tithing entirely, if they could rob God with insufficient freewill offerings, can’t we do the same today? Surely God hasn’t stopped caring about His people’s giving.

Paul encouraged voluntary giving, yet also described such giving as “obedience” (2 Corinthians 9:13). God still has expectations of us, even when our offerings are voluntary.

Of course, God doesn’t expect us all to give the same amount. We’re to give in proportion to how He’s blessed us (Deuteronomy 16:10, 16–17).

Some say, “We’ll take this gradually, starting with 5 percent.” But if you believe God hasn’t lowered His minimum giving standard, that’s like saying, “I used to rob six convenience stores a year. This year, by His grace, I’m going to rob only three.

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