My wife and I volunteered at our a church awhile back for an organization that helps struggling families regain their feet. It was a Saturday where most of the families were able to leave and go to do their own things. These families were in this program for a variety of reasons. Some just made extremely poor financial decisions, some were divorced and the spouse got all the money, and some were just in bad shape. The catch of the program was that the families had to be fully committed and abide by all the rules. These families hopped from church to church and stayed over night. They had counseling sessions and were only allowed to leave to go to their jobs. Once a family had been in the program long enough, they were allowed to leave on the weekends. But one family didn’t have anywhere to go. It was just a mom and daughter.
Kacie and I spent a couple hours chatting with the lady and playing games with the young girl. They never went to church but we ended up running into her at service the following day.
We asked her how she liked the service and she said it was good except for one thing. She was not familiar with tithing and was very uncomfortable when they passed around the basket. She noticed others throwing in money and checks and she didn’t have any money to give. None. So she shared with us that she gave the only thing of value that she had, a nice pen. She may have debated about it in her mind or she may have just tossed it in having faith that God will provide for her.
Here I am, debating about if I want to even give this week and this lady literally gave one of the very few things of value that she had. It was deeply impacting for me.
Luke 21:1-4 ESV
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
I personally believe the church puts too much effort in saying that you have to tithe 10%. And most people don’t even consider an alternative, they just write a check for 10% and call it good. Of all the verses about tithing, very few discuss an actual amount. Many of them don’t even say that it has to be a financial offering.
I want to encourage you to take some time with God and pray about what He wants you to do. It could be to tithe financially, it could be to tithe your time, it could be to give to the church, or it could be to give to another charity that you are passionate about. Whatever it may be, I think the right thing for you to do is to make sure you are following God’s plan in this very important aspect of Christianity.