Tithing is a heart issue

I remember a few years ago, I sat in a staff meeting at church and heard these scary words:  "Don't spend any more money this year or we will not be able to meet payroll."

You could hear a pin drop when the pastor said those words.  All the assistant pastors and support staff just sat there and someone finally asked the question:  "How bad is it?"

We had enough money to keep the lights on, buy the last bit of Sunday School curriculum we needed and meet payroll for the rest of the year but not much else.  There would be no raises or Christmas bonuses.  All other spending had to be approved by the financial team.

Thankfully, we were close to the end of the year.  As the pastor uttered these words, we were a few days away from Thanksgiving.  Six weeks of no spending and we would be OK because certain accounts opened up in January.  It was one of the few times in ministry I got scared that the church might just shut down.

What precipitated this action?  Why did the church all the sudden face a financial crisis?  In a word: tithing.  People just weren't tithing, and as a result, the ministries of the church had to survive without spending additional resources.  When we don't tithe, the ministries of the church, along with the impact we have on the community, decline.

In Malachi 3:6-12, God pauses in his discussion of justice to give an invitation to the Israelites.  He asks them to test him in their tithes and offering.  God wanted to bless Israel, but as long as they withheld from him, he would withhold from them.

He was angry because the tithe covered the expenses of the priests, the temple, the holy festivals and provided for the poor. Without appropriate tithes, the worship of God would suffer.

It's the same today.  When we don't tithe (which is 10 percent of our income), the ministries of the church suffer.  Budgets get cut and expenses get trimmed.  Eventually staff are laid off and before long, a church loses the impact it has in the community when it can no longer help the needy or provide basic programs and services to lead people to Christ.

Tithing isn't something we do to gain favor with God or just as an obligation to come to church.  Tithing is a heart issue.  God questions us: do you trust me?  If we do, we'll tithe.  As we tithe, the church is blessed and we are too.  Not financially, but spiritually.  God loves to bless his obedient servants.

So the question remains:  Do you trust God?  If so, do you tithe? 

God expects a tithe.  He expects his followers to be obedient to his word. He expects their trust.  And, to be quite frank, tithing and trust go hand-in-hand.  It's how ministry gets done.