To Tithe or Not to Tithe?

 

I've been trying to restrain myself from writing any article about “Tithing” since I started blogging. Because if “practice what you preach” is a law, then I would have already been jailed for its violation.

The harsh reality is that, tithing is a misplaced practice and problem among many people, even those earning six-digit income in a month or in a week!


This thing called Tithing
Like most people, I would never run out of gas for my stubborn car named excuses. “I barely have enough for this month”, “I'll give my Tithe next pay day”, “I have so many bills to pay first”, “I'm not yet rich, let the rich donate!” and the list goes on. These were just some of the many excuses I used to tell myself. I'm sure you have your own, too!
 

What is Tithing and why do we need to do it, anyway? “Tithe” is what we give to God to glorify him. Okay, let's not complicate things. Let me just explain it using this simple story:

Juan is a “tambay”. Juan has nothing. Juan is nothing.

One day, Greg, a rich OFW who owns a mango farm in a province came home for a month-long vacation. So Juan dragged himself to the house of Greg to ask for some pasalubong. But Greg told him, “Juan, you're like my own son. And it's a pity to just give you some chocolates. Instead, I'll let you manage my mango farm.”

“Wow! That's so kind of you, Boss Greg!”, Juan exclaimed with joy! “But how do I get paid?”, he asked. “We'll split the profits. Since I'm abroad and my son, Junior, is still studying, you'll be in charge of everything in my farm -- so you deserve the bigger part for your hard work. How about we split it 90/10? You take home 90% of the profits from the mango sales and just give me 10%?”

You don't need to know what Juan answered to Greg's offer, right? (He took it, of course!)

Time came when mangoes were harvested and sold to the market, and Juan was rejoicing as he counts all the money he just earned!

Junior was summoned by his father to the farm to ask Juan about the 10% he and Greg agreed. “You know what, Junior? I have never worked harder my entire life than working on this farm. Would you believe I even worked harder than a carabao? I go to work before the sun shines, and go to rest only when the sun sets. Where was your father all those times? And here you are, asking me to give him something he was never part of. So, tell me, Junior, why should I give your father 10% of the profits? Tell me!”

Junior: “Uhm, because he owns the farm?”

You think Juan was unbelievable? I hope you got the point. Juan is you and me, that 10% was the so-called “Tithe” that should be given to Greg, the Owner of our farms. How many times have we used Juan's excuses?

Why should I?
The following excerpts from Chinkee Tan's “Till Debt Do Us Part” nailed it:

Do you believe that God owns everything?

Do you believe that it is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth?

Do you believe that God is your partner in the business?

If you believe that He is your partner, once the profit comes, how should you divide your profit? 50/50?

You see, God is so good, fair and just that He didn't ask for 50%.

He asked for only 10%.

How many times have we robbed God?

Then it hit me, as I recalled that most (if not all) books about personal finance I have read has the same chapter, paragraph or a few pages that discuss and promote tithing. Was it the reason why we're not financially blessed as we could be? Was it the culprit to our losses on our businesses and unexpected expenses? Was it one of the secrets to becoming wealthy?

Chinkee Tan might have the perfect answer:

I started to give. The first income I received was P10,000, so I gave 10% of

it, which is P1,000. Then true enough, God's promise came. God allowed me to earn P50,000 the following month. My previous earning multiplied by 5. Wow! It worked! The 10% now amounted to P5,000. I then realized there was a huge increase in my giving. I could buy a lot of things for P5,000 at that time.

I started to hesitate and think aloud and started a conversation with God. “Lord, since I've given you P1,000 last month, can I just give you P3,000? It's still a big increase compared to my last month's giving.” God agreed! How did I know that He agreed? He never answered back. Silence means yes, right? Yeah! I was right. Then, I gave the envelope to our church.

On the same day, I rented two laser disc videos but forgot to get them from my car when I got home. For the benefit of the people who weren't born yet during that time, laser discs are just like DVDs but five times bigger and five times more expensive. Laser discs were expensive, so what we used to do was to just rent them. Because I left the laser discs inside my car, they were directly exposed to the heat of the sun. The weather that time was extremely hot. The hot weather then destroyed and deformed both discs and permanently damaged them. Because the discs were damaged, I couldn't return them. I had to pay for them.

Do you know how much a laser disc cost before? P2,500 per disc. P2,500 times 2 is P5,000. How much did I rob from God? P2,000. But I paid P3,000 more for the two laser discs.

How many times have I experienced this in my life? I failed to give God what is due Him. Then I experienced losses and damages in my life - appliances were broken, a mobile phone was lost (or stolen), a car was damaged, or someone in the family got sick.

I couldn't really experience breakthroughs and financial freedom because I was under a curse. God's blessings and prosperity were withheld.

How much should I Tithe?

Ironically, this is same as asking, “How much is ten?”, because “tithe” (from Old English) means “tenth” or “is a one-tenth part of something”. Hence, the 10% rule.

 
Malachi 3:8-10
Did you know that Tithing was the only part in the Bible where God challenged man?

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say,

“How have we robbed you?” In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

“I'll give when I'm rich!”
How many times have you heard this line? A storm hits a province, and the donations start to pour in and people on TV were like, “If I were rich, I'd donate!” There's a 90% chance that it's a lie. The logic is quite simple: if you can't give P100 of your P1,000 income, you can't give P100,000 when you have a million!

 

Giving vs. Tithing
I love how Bo Sanchez differentiated Giving from Tithing. I'm sure you'll love it too:

Giving may be something that you do occasionally.

But Tithing is something that you do regularly.

Because Tithing means that every time you earn money, you give 10% or more to the Lord.

Let me ask you a big question: Do you want your rewards to come occasionally or regularly?

You decide.

Final Thoughts

Today, I have come to realize that the purpose of earning more is to give more. It may sound cheesy, but I guess it makes all the difference to a person whose purpose of saving and investing is just for the sake of having savings and investments.

	How was your tithing? Receive cool updates like this when you subscribe to PisoandBeyond!