Tithing and Miracles

Have you ever thought about how much faith in God it takes to tithe to your church? Tithing is where you give the first tenth of your income to God because according to the Bible, it belongs to God. To tithe, you have to trust God and you have to trust your church. In other words, if you do not trust the leadership of your church, then you will not “Bring the tithe…” Mal. 3:10 (NLT). In my 16 years of being a pastor, I have met many people who have been hurt by a church in some way. Perhaps, the hurt was caused by some disappointment or a decision they did not agree with or a moral failure by one of the leaders in the church. Once trust is broken with a church, it is really hard to rebuild it in the life of a Christian. One way this mistrust manifests itself is in a refusal to tithe. The person might give a tenth of their salary to a charity or a para-church ministry, but they cannot bring themselves to actually “tithe” to their church family. Why? Because of a lack of faith.

The issue of tithing is always faith. And if there is lack of faith, it actually hinders God from working in the church. Jesus tried to minister in his hometown of Nazareth, but was hindered by the lack of faith of the people. “And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.” Matthew 13:58(NLT).

Obviously, no one wants to hinder God’s work in the church, but that is ALWAYS the fruit of unbelief. The more faith we have as a church in our church, the more miracles God can do through our church!  Tithing is one huge way we demonstrate faith in God and faith in His working through the church. The less faith you have in the church, the less God can work. Unbelief ties God’s hands. And a refusal to tithe is a tangible demonstration of a lack of faith.

So, what do you do, if you find yourself struggling with a lack of trust in the leadership of your church?

1. Take time to reflect on what the issue is. Ask yourself, what is the root of my mistrust?

2. Realize no one is perfect. No church is perfect and there are no perfect pastors, church staff, elders or church members.

3. Ask yourself, should love cover it? If it was an issue from a past church, most of the time, you just have to move and stop dwelling on the past. If it is an issue with a current church, then move on to #4.

4. Deal with the issue. Go to your church’s Board of Elders and/or pastoral staff and talk about the issue. Remember, the beginning of healing is revealing your feelings.  If not dealt with, offenses have a way corroding your attitude and outlook toward everything.

What can we do to develop an even greater faith in God’s work in and through the church?

From Ownership to Stewardship

As a takeaway from last Sunday’s message titled, “Reach Deep,” we handed out envelopes with either a $1, $5, $10 bill included in each one.  I shared that nothing we have really belongs to us.  God has only given us gifts to manage.  I also mentioned that stewardship is “growing and protecting the Owner’s assets with fierce intensity” and that if we applied this perspective to our daily lives, it would be a game changer.

Everyone received the envelope and the challenge to take whatever amount you were given and grow it, add to it, invest it and use it to make a difference in someone’s life and then share your stewardship story or plan with me.  You can email or snail mail me your story or leave a reply to this post in the box below.

I cannot wait to hear your responses!