Talking about giving is uncomfortable. No one ever talks about how much they give, just like no one ever talks about how much they make. But I think not talking about giving robs people of knowing about one of the most sincere forms of worship we have.
Before I came to NorthStar I never really knew much about tithing; giving 10% of your income to God. I thought it was one of those Old Testament rituals like slaughtering male goats or offering flour mixed with olive oil on an altar. I didn’t really think ordinary people (i.e. not rich people) gave that much in this day and age…I mean, who does that? So for many years I put my ten dollars in the offering envelope and sent it on its merry way. Even though I had a good job I actually thought that was a lot! But when I look back now I think God must have been thinking, “Are you kidding me? After all I’ve done for you? You pay Time Warner more than that!”
The Bible talks about people honoring God with their lips while their hearts are far away…I think that’s where I was. I could sing all the worship songs telling God how much I loved Him, trusted Him and wanted to give my life to Him, but was I sincere? It’s easy to say we trust God but do we really when our real trust is in the balance of our bank accounts? God wants all of us, not just the parts that are easiest to give.
Along with some of our friends at NorthStar, my husband and I made the decision a few years ago to start tithing. We thought, “Are we really going to put our money where our mouths are? Do we really trust God?” He says, “test me in this…” so we did and we haven’t stopped since.
But over the course of a few years the tithe started to feel like a bill…we pay God just like we pay everybody else and it stopped being an act of worship or a sacrifice. So we decided to up the tithe to 12%. I’m horrible at math and when I figured out how much that was I was kind of nervous. But we did it for a couple months and God was faithful in providing for us. I was happy to do it. For some reason this past month was harder. Between vacations and other large expenses it just seemed like so much. I kept looking at the amount and thinking, “Really? Is that what you really want? This is a real sacrifice…Are you really going to make sure we’re ok?” But I do want Him to know we trust Him, and so I prayed and then clicked “Pay Now” on the electronic payment.
About 15 minutes later I got an answer from God. My husband came home from work and said his company is going to start a kind of reloadable money card program to be used as gift cards or debit cards on all kinds of practical things like groceries and even gas…And the good news was they were going to give them to the employees preloaded at various amounts starting at $25. His was for $500.
Yes Really, God said.