131. Why the teachings on Tithing have failed the Local Church

I read an article recently and thought I’d revisit the teaching of tithing. I've actually written several posts on this subject as this topic directly relates to personal finance in a Christian's life. 

The letter kills but the Spirit gives life.   

1. Before even starting this post I’ll point out two passage I read recently:

  

”Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”- 2 Corinthians 3:5-6.

In case you missed it here it is again: The letter kills but the Spirit gives life.

Here’s the second verse that speaks for itself:

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, and do them.’” – Galatians 3:10

Is the tithe given as a command in the New Testament and is the tithe the standard to Christians today? The answer to both of these questions is no. 

2. Is the tithe given as a command in the New Testament and is the tithe the standard for giving to Christians today? The answer to both of these questions is no. The tithe was the standard for Israelites and directly related to the law. There were in fact 3 tithes in the Bible: One for the Levites and Temple paid yearly, a second for the feasts Israel celebrated paid yearly, and a third for the poor, widow, orphan, and foreigner to be paid every three years. This would result on average for a 23.3% tithe of the seed and flocks from one’s annual produce from the land. Notice this would only apply to land owners. 

See Deut. 14:22-27, Lev. 18:19-21, Deut. 16:16, Deut. 12:6-8, and Deut. 14:28-29

The book of Malachi was written at a specific time (around 430 B.C.) to a specific audience of Jewish people (Israel) who lived in a specific place (Palestine) prior to the exile to Babylon.  

3. Now, I'm sure some would say "Hold on a minute Jonathan! What about Malachi 3?" That is an excellent question. Before we go straight to our favorite passage relating to this subject and tear Malachi 3:8-10 out of context, let's look at the context of the entire book. For the sake of time I'll focus on two passages. But the rest of the book reads the same way. First, let's tart with Malachi 1:1. Who was the book was written to? "The Oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi."

Second, let's look at the actual verses prior to Malachi 3:8-10... Malachi 3:6 states: "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." 

Who are the children of Jacob? The answer still seems to be the same as it was in Malachi 1:1 - Israel. The book of Malachi was written at a specific time to a specific audience of Jewish people (Israel) who lived in a specific place (Palestine) prior to the exile to Babylon. 

Just because a person is not for tithing doesn't mean they are against giving to the local church.  

4. Please keep reading! Are you free to disagree with me? Sure. This isn’t a salvation issue. Just because a person is not for tithing doesn't mean they are against giving to the local church. I'll repeat that as some seem to have a hard time grasping the concept. Just because a person is not for tithing doesn't mean they are against giving to the local church. Several people have called me mean names and claimed I was a false teacher when I have shared my thoughts on this topic. Lol. One lady went so far as to say that I should start my own cult… Because I didn’t limit giving to a certain percentage of my income… All that to say, you are free to disagree but please be gentle. I'm thankful God’s not done with me yet.

Is the new standard for Christians generous and sacrificial giving? Absolutely! 

5. Is the new standard for Christians generous and sacrificial giving? Absolutely! The Bible talks about giving sacrificially on more than one occasion in both the Old and New Testament. One of the primary passages in the New Testament is 2 Cor. 8:1-9:15. There are others listed as examples below.

See Exodus 36:5, 1 Kings 17:13-15, Luke 21:4, Acts 2:45, Acts 4:34, Hebrews 13:16, 2 Cor. 8:2-4, 1 Tim 6:18

Stewardship is so much more than just giving 10% of our income to the local church.

6. Many Church leaders tell people to give their “tithes and offerings” and think it somehow fulfills their duty of teaching the local church about stewardship. Stewardship is so much more than giving 10% of our income to the local church. Our finances are just one aspect of the entire package God wants: time, energy, effort, love, and so much more. God wants 100%. He wants our very lives! Note: I think 10% or more is a good goal, but by itself it is an incomplete teaching. 

Let's be real. In the West, this teaching of modern tithing has failed. 

7. Let’s be real. In the West, this teaching of modern tithing has failed. The numbers speak for themselves. People are more in debt than ever in the West. Giving for many if not a majority of churches is down. Churches are closing their doors and shutting off the lights. In the U.S.A., less than 2.5% of evangelical Christians tithe (or give 10% to their local church). For comparison, about 3.5% of Americans tithed during the Great Depression era. 

Not only is the doctrine of tithing failed the local church, the other side of the coin is that Americans (Christians included) are drowning in debt.  

8. Why are Christians less generous today? The teaching on the tithe is only partially to blame. But let's look at this for a moment. The doctrine of the tithe is part of the Old Covenant based on the law. The law just points out our need for grace, mercy, and hope that only be found in our Savior Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant is conditional on how we perform. The New Covenant is unconditional and is all about how God has performed for us by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Not only has the doctrine of tithing failed the local church, the other side of the coin is that Americans (Christians included) are drowning in debt. According to this article the average American household in December of 2014 owes over $15,600 in credit card debt, over $32,200 in student loan debt, and over $155,100 in mortgage debt. 

The wrong motivation for giving is pride, guilt, greed, pressure, gimmicks, and power. 

9. Let’s switch gears to talk about motivation for a minute. The wrong motivations for giving are: pride, guilt, greed, pressure, gimmicks, and power. Right reasons for giving include: gratitude to God, recognizing God owns it all, compassion for others, desire to serve God and our church, love for God and others, passion for reaching the lost, desire for our faith to grow, desire to glorify God and expand His Kingdom. When we give out of love and gratitude rather than fear and guilt, our giving will naturally increase.

Given the opportunity, I believe Christians following the Holy Spirit's guidance will rise to the calling of giving generously.

10. Given the opportunity, I believe Christians following the Holy Spirit's guidance will rise to the calling of giving generously. Think of it this way. If you have a charity banquet and tell people that the cost to attend per person is $30 what will you get? You will get $30 per person. On the other hand, if you tell people that the dinner itself costs $20 and the attendees are welcome to donate as much as they want towards the cause, what will happen? You will get people giving to the charitable cause $50, $100, $150 or more, nine times out of ten. Why? Because you didn't set a cap or a limit on their giving. Many people view the tithe as a cap or a ceiling on their giving!

Perhaps you're thinking: “Talk of sacrificial giving is a bit heavy. May I have some good news?”

11. Yes! The good news is God will never love you less for how much you give. On the flip side, God will never love you more for how much you give either. God’s love is NOT dependent on YOUR giving: your tithes, offerings, gifts to ministries, to evangelists, to missionaries, or anything else you can think of. Salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ are both free to us without money or cost. There’s nothing we can do to earn salvation. We as Believers don’t give to be saved or to earn God's approval. Instead, we give sacrificially BECAUSE we are saved and BECAUSE we want others to be reached for the Gospel. 

As Christians, giving should be a part of our DNA!

12. Give! Whether you give to a local church, your neighbors in need, the local music radio station, your favorite charities, or something else, give! As Christians, giving should be a part of our DNA!

I leave you with something I read recently by a guy named Tristan:

So it is perfectly fine for a Christian to choose to give a freewill offering to God of a tenth of their income (as did Abraham before the Law – Genesis 14:18-20). But if a Christian sees tithing as making them more committed, more mature, more deserving of God’s favor, more righteous, or in some sense more approved before God than those who don’t tithe, then that Christian is treating tithing as a Law – and in so doing, undermining the cross of Christ.

What do you think about giving, tithing, and stewardship? Leave a comment!

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130. Book Review: Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life

I was given the book “Living Well Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life” by Ruth Soukup by a friend this year.  The book cover was cute and I thought "Great, another book that tries to tell people some hidden secrets to financial freedom." I honestly thought this would be yet just another good addition to a growing list of personal finance books I recommend.

However, I really believe this book is fantastic! It is one of the better, real, and life-changing books out there. For anyone thinking of reading this book full disclaimer: This is not a Christian book but yet it is full of Scripture references and points to Biblical truth.

Ruth Soukup is very transparent with the life challenges she faces. The book is warm, earnest, honest, and vulnerable. Ruth allows the reader a glimpse into her own struggles with clutter, generosity, contentment and overcoming those struggles.

While many books I have a hard time connecting with the author, Ruth quickly seems to become our new best friend. She is encouraging, real, and understands life’s struggles. 

Ruth provides strategies and encouragement for:
*Living with contentment in a materialistic world.
*Getting more done around the house and in life in less time.
*De-cluttering your life!

*Re-evaluating your spending habits and spending less than you thought you could.

*Cutting the grocery bill significantly.

*Cleaning the house more efficiently.

*Along with a whole lot more!

I was first introduced to Ruth’s blog www.livingwellspendingless.com at the end of last year through a personal finance group on Facebook. I was particularly interested in Ruth’s series on “31 Days of Living Well & Spending Zero”. In October of 2012 Ruth went on what is often called a “No Spend Challenge” or a “Pantry Challenge”. 

My family personally took the “No Spend Challenge” in October 2014. I realized these ideas needed to be shared with others. So in December 2014 I created The No Spend Challenge group on Facebook. 

Today, there are over 3500 members and while we primarily use Ruth’s blog for The No Spend Challenge we also do various challenges throughout the year. So far this year there’s been a physical fitness challenge and a minimalist challenge. People are paying off their debts, cutting their expenses, living frugally, funding their emergency funds, and so much more! 

What fantastic personal finance books have you discovered lately? Leave a comment!

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129. The Debt Snowball

If you have been reading Total Money Makoever by Dave Ramsey we recently started Chapter 7 in the Dave Ramsey - Total Money Makeover Facebook group. 

Okay time for the exciting part! Paying off your debt with The Debt Snowball!

So how does the debt snowball work? Once you have your baby step One $1000 in the bank you pay off the account with the lowest balance first:

1. Create a list of all of your debts: credit cards, car loans, student loans, mortgages, etc… (Note: You probably need to exclude your mortgage from the list until you have the other debts paid off)
2. Next to each one write down the total balance owed.
3. Re-order these from smallest to largest debts (use Excel to make this simpler.)
4. Pay the minimum payment on all of the debts – except the smallest one.
5. Put every extra dollar you can find towards paying off that smallest debt. (For an example let's say we have the following debt. We have $125 to put towards our first debt assuming we pay the minimum payments on all of our other debts. See below!)

6. Celebrate like crazy when you get that first debt paid off.
7. Take the amount you were paying towards the first debt and put towards the next smallest debt. Do this until this next one is paid off. (Now we have $175 to put towards our second debt assuming we pay the minimum payments on all of our other debts. $25 minimum payment plus the $150 from our original payment on Credit Card 1. See below!)

8. Celebrate again!
9. Continue this process until each one is paid off!

Of note if you ever use your $1000 fund you need to pause your debt snowball or debt reduction. Then get your emergency fund back up to $1000. Then continue with your snowball.

The reasoning for using this method is to get small wins. Money is emotional. A few small wins builds momentum and motivates people to keep going!

There are other ways out there such as paying the highest interest first (known as the debt Avalanche Method). We will be using and promoting the Debt Snowball (lowest balance first)in this group. Small wins build momentum! But whatever you decide knock out that debt!

Was this helpful? Which method works best for you and your family? Leave a comment!

Source I used.

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128. SAFE Goal Setting

You'll recognize the logical structure of SMART goal setting for its dependence on left-brain logical and analytical processes. But what if you're more right-brain, creatively oriented? That's where SAFE comes in. SAFE is an acronym for a creative goal setting process especially useful for right-brain-oriented people. But left-brain, analytical and logical thinkers will also benefit from using SAFE.

The right side of our brains furnish our big-picture processes, helping us grasp total situations, reach overall insights, and see creative, alternative solutions. The right side also houses our faith-based spiritual thinking. These strengths are very powerful, so it makes sense that we can use them to our goal achievement advantage.

SAFE stands for…

•See the end result

•Accept the end result

•Feel the end result

•Express the end result

See it, Accept it, Feel it, and Express it!

See it: Picture the future as it will be when your goal is achieved. See it in great detail and full color. If your goal is weight loss, see yourself standing in front of a mirror at your new weight. And looking good! See yourself being admired by others for your new appearance. Put yourself in clothing you might never wear now, but looks good on the new you.

Accept it: Accept means that you open yourself to attaining the goal AND you are 100% certain that it will occur. This is critical to goal attainment because it ensures that you have no doubts. You may not know exactly how you'll achieve your goal, but you have no doubt about achieving it; it will happen and you know it. There's some faith and magic at work here, so open yourself to the power of the Universe to bring you what you want.

Feel it: Goal attainment is more about attracting what we want than chasing what we want. Attraction is strengthened by combining the mental power of thinking about the goal (seeing and accepting) with the emotional power of the feelings you'll have when the goal is achieved. As you visualize yourself having achieved the goal, allow yourself to feel the accompanying emotions. The stronger the emotion the stronger the attraction to the goal.

Express it: Use your full powers of expression to cement your end result in place. Describe it verbally, telling yourself all about it. Write about it. Describe in vivid detail every aspect of how your life looks after the goal is achieved. Capture your feelings in words, too. Draw it, paint it, create a collage that describes and depicts it. Place your writing and pictures where you'll see them every day.

Using SAFE brings into play the full power of your brain, primarily building on right-brain strengths, but using left-brain functions too. Using SAFE in goal setting harnesses your full creative powers.

If you're naturally right-brain dominant, using SAFE will build on your strengths.

Are you more right-brain or left-brain dominant? Thoughts on this methodology?

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127. The No Spend Challenge – January 2015: 31 Days Later What We Learned

I can’t believe it’s February! We just finished up our No Spend Challenge for January 2015. Our goal was to save 20% of our regular budget. We are happy to say we saved about 21%! We were relatively happy with the results of this challenge.

Would YOU like support during YOUR No Spend Challenge? Join the Facebook group with over 2300 members: “The No Spend Challenge”. When we started the No Spend Challenge at the beginning of January we had 1300 members!

What we did:

*We ate primarily what was in our fridge, pantry, and freezer.
*We bought very minimal groceries such as milk, eggs, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, etc.
*We ate out 4 times but spent $25 total!
*We were blessed to have family come over with food for meals and also to eat meals with friends or family.
*We spent $0 at Starbucks. We did have a few gift cards we used up though!
*We didn’t buy anything at the mall or department stores.
*We didn’t buy any movie rentals for the month on Amazon or RedBox!
*We bought no home décor.

*We avoided $1 toys at Target
*What was excluded from this challenge: Mortgage, Utilities, Netflix, Giving, Health related expenses, Sinking funds, Diapers, Wipes, etc.
*We gathered a pile of things to give away.
*The blender died and we felt it had to be replaced.
*We really spent a lot of money with online purchases related to the Facebook group: Dave Ramsey – Total Money Makeover. Totally worth it though in helping people on their journey to get rid of their debt, find financial freedom, and change their family tree!

What we learned:

*Some things we thought were needs are actually wants.
*We CAN resist the urge to impulse buy when we have the motivation to do so.
*Instead of a 24-48 hour wait time to evaluate big purchases this was like a 31 day wait period to evaluate large purchases.
*Surprisingly, $20.00 worth of gas lasted for almost three weeks with the civic!
*Probably not a good idea to start a No Spend Challenge the same month we decide to start a group with weekly giveaways.
*January is the first month of the year which means we haven’t met any of our health insurance deductibles. 
*January all of us got sick and had to go to the doctor. We made two visits to the doctor during the month! 

Highlights of Savings for the Month:

*We spent less than $375 for groceries and eating out for the month. Typically, we’d spend double that amount or more!
*We enjoyed some free meals with family, friends, and with our local church.
*We spent $100 for the entire month in gas. Typically, we’d spend double that at least!
*We were able to continue to pay ourselves a car payment for our next vehicle purchase.
*We continued to save for the kids college, vacation, and car insurance coming up.

For Fun…

*Went to the local Zoo a couple of times with our paid for membership. We ate before going so we didn’t buy any food or souvenirs while there!
*We went to the local public library a few times. One time we got to hear firefighters talk about fire safety and the kids got to climb in the fire truck!
*We went to the local Science and History Museum a few times during the month with our paid for membership. We ate before going so we didn’t buy any food or souvenirs while there!
*We went to friends’ houses to play games and the kids got to play together. Had a blast!

January 2015 No Spend Challenge? Done

Conclusions…
Overall this No Spend Challenge, while more difficult than the one in October 2014, was still a good experience. We highly recommend this challenge to others to try out at least once. It has helped us re-evaluate our financial and family priorities.

Maybe January wasn’t the best month to do this challenge. Still, we’re going to take a good portion of what we saved and apply it to our mortgage. The rest will go to giving and savings.

What about you? Have you tried a No Spend Challenge? What did you learn and how much did you save?

#NoSpendChallenge

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Follow me on Twitter! @JWKEagle

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