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Title:
Giving Thanks: The Blessing of Biblical Tithing
By: Pastor Robert Oh
Dedication
This book is dedicated
with many thanks and love
to Pastor Samuel and Esther Choe,
my spiritual parents.
Pastor Samuel nurtured me spiritually
like no other father
and Esther Mom interceded for me
with fire and tears
like a mother who gave birth.
To them I am forever grateful.
Table of Contents
· Introduction
· Chapter 1: Why should we tithe as Christians?
· Chapter 2: Why should Cambodian Christians tithe?
· Chapter 3: The Origin of Tithing
· Chapter 4: The Where and How of Tithing
· Chapter 5: The Blessing of Tithing
· Chapter 6: Questions & Answers on Tithing
Introduction
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, and running over, will be put into your bosom.
For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38
It’s not about money – but it’s about faith.
I was fed up with all the interviews I was doing in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Many of the Christian leaders and pastors were certain that their churches could not become financially independent because of so many legitimate and logical reasons: we are too poor, we are under communism, we are culturally, socially and politically made that way. As I was researching for my PhD proposal at Oxford Center for Mission Studies (University of Wales, England), all I heard were certainties on how it was impossible for them to become financially independent.
Finally, at my last interview in Vietnam, I met Pastor H.[1] He was a young pastor in his thirties, with fire in his eyes and confidence in his tone of voice. As I opened the interview with the comment, “So, I heard that it is very difficult for Vietnamese churches to become financially independent at this time…,” he questioned me back right away, “Who told you that?” “Well, just about everyone I have met so far,” I responded. Pastor H told me an entirely different story. For the last five years, he has been planting churches in Vietnam and out of 20 or so churches about 80% of them are already financially independent. “But how?” I asked. To that he smiled and simply pointed to the Bible and said, “What does the Bible say? It tells Christians to tithe.” He explained to me that when his new church has more than ten families, one local pastor receives a full salary based on the average economic standard of that village.
I was so surprised to find such a pastor, and I was even more surprised that answer was so simple. “What does the Bible say?” It is not a economical, political, cultural or social issue. But do we really believe the Bible to be the Word of God and are we as Christians willing to live according to the ways of God mandated in that Book? I realized it was not about money, but it was about our faith in God and His ways.
I pray that this book will change your life.
If you are tithing already, then you will be able to confirm that and will be pleased to know that you are on the right track. If you are not a tither, this book is for you. Are you a Christian? Do you really want to please our Lord Jesus Christ? And do you want to live by the Bible, the Word of God? Then read on, you will become a better follower of Christ at the end of this book.
Tithing is a solution to most of Cambodian Christian churches’ financial problems. If every professing Cambodian Christian would tithe, every congregation would be free of financial worries and could begin truly to be “the salt of the earth.”[2] Churches would no longer struggle to pay their bills: pastor’s salary, electricity, ministry fund, and even mission fund.
How are we doing now?
Larry Burkett, a well-known authority on business and personal finance in America, who wrote more than seventy books on the topic of finance, says that most Christians in the world give far less than one-tenth of their income to work done in the Lord’s name.[3] It is sad to note that at this point of time when we have so much prosperity and more blessing than any other time in history, we are not giving back to the Lord.
It is no wonder our non-Christian community is not impressed with the churches because we as the body of Christ have not commanded their attention and respect. When we as Christians do not support the work of God according to the Biblical mandate, then it is not surprising that the world does not respect us. If we say we love God, but do not respect His ways and not support His work, then the world would not respect either us or God whom we say that we serve.
The world wants to SEE what we really believe. Talk is cheap! We can talk all night about how wonderful God is and how committed we are to Him, but until the world sees that we are serious about our faith, they won’t be impressed. Larry Burkett is correct in that “the tithe was established as a physical earthly DEMONSTRATION of man’s commitment to God.” [4] Christians must demonstrate what we believe and show the world that we are serious about what we believe. And our act of giving does that.
Getting the most from this book.
This book, Giving Thanks: The Blessing of Biblical Tithing, is designed to take you on a six day journey on the teaching on tithing. I wrote this book with you in mind. I have been praying for you that as you read this book you will become a source of blessing by giving thanks and become a tither.
You can read this book as a personal devotion or use it as a small group discussion material in your church.
FOUR FEATURES TO HELP YOU
At the end of chapters one through five, you will find these features to help you.
· An insight to meditate on. True learning takes place by repetition. Repeat the nuggets of truth from each day throughout the day. Out of that continuous reflection, the insights will become yours to keep. “The meditation of my heart shall give understanding.” [5]
· God’s Word to ‘heartify’. Do not just memorize God’s Word. Once memorized, put it in your heart – that’s what ‘heartifying’ the Word is. In French, the word ‘heart’ is the organ that thinks. The psalmist was right when he said, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.”[6]
· Let Us Pray! These suggestions will coach you to pray more effectively about what you’ve just learned.
· Applications. You must act on what you learned. The application points will help you to clarify and apply the truth to your life. “He is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does.”[7]
Chapter 1: Why should we tithe as Christians?
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you
the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that
there will not be room enough to receive it.
Mal. 3:10
There is only one primary reason for tithing - because it is biblical, and then there are three other secondary reasons for tithing. [8]
1. What it will do for the work of God on earth.
2. What it would do for God in heaven.
3. What tithing does for us.
Ultimately - the Bible says to tithe.
Why we as Christians must tithe? Because it is biblical. All other reasons, whatever their advantages may be, are be considered secondary
The Bible says, “Don’t Rob God.”
That’s what the Bible says about tithing. Malachi was a prophet sent by God to confront His people with the fact that they had turned from Him. As could be expected, they denied it. They thought God had deserted them, for they claimed to be obeying Him. But they worshiped only when it was convenient. They gave to God, but their animal sacrifices were sick and blemished. Prophet Malachi struck at the heart of the issue when he asked, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed Thee?’ In tithes and offerings”.[9] The evidence was presented in the fact that God’s storehouse was not full. Their lack of giving proved they had turned away from their source of blessing.
It is not only an Old Testament covenant. Apostle Paul amplifies the point of giving to us: “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.”[10] Larry Burkett argues that “a lack of giving is an external material indicator that spiritual changes need to be made.”[11] Because “giving the tithe is the outward sign of inner commitment. It is material surrender prompted by spiritual surrender.”[12] Martin Luther, the great reformer said that until your money bag repents, it isn’t a true repentance.
The Bible says it clearly both in the Old Testament and the New Testament – Give tithe to God so that His storehouse will be full and as a result you shall receive bountifully as well. It is a biblical way of God to finance His church so that His body can share the good news to the ends of the earth. God who gave us the great commission also had a worldwide strategy for us to carry out that task. Tithing was His strategy to finance His great commission work.
Three Secondary Reasons for Tithing:[13]
What it will do for the work of God on earth.
Let us look at Malachi 3:10a. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.” God tells His people to return to Him what is rightfully His – namely, the tithe – so that there will be abundance in His house. That was His original plan for the church.
There is nothing more disgraceful than a church that struggles financially simply because its people will not tithe. There is nothing more shameful than an underpaid minister who is a spiritual leader of community and who is forced to live below the average financial level of the community.
There is not a church in the world today that should have any financial problem if all its members would tithe. In most cases, if every member were to tithe, the minister would not only receive his “double honor”[14] but the church would always have money to pay for its material and ministerial needs. Not only that, the church could start to support their mission efforts with abundance.
We won’t be tithing in heaven. There won’t be any soul-winning in heaven. We cannot do anything in heaven to receive more blessings eternally. What we do for God we must do now. What we give for God’s Kingdom we must give now. Think what could be done for Cambodian churches if every Cambodian Christian begins to tithe right now.
What it would do for God in heaven.
Tithing pleases God because it is done in faith. Tithing is not about money, but it is about our faith. Our sacrificial giving of tithe makes God very happy!
Tithing never comes naturally. Sometimes the struggle to begin tithing may seem as painful as Abraham’s struggle to give up Isaac. We don’t want to give up what belongs to us – our house, our cell phone, our motorcycle, our money or our relationships. But when God claims any of these as His, we should not ask any question, but obey Him. If we do not have faith that it is what God requires, then we cannot give it up.
Tithing is about confirming that all things belong to God. That means we are simply managers of what He has entrusted to us and He can take them back any time He wants. Yet, many Christians seem to cling to their money as their primary source of security. They are serving money instead of God. God warns us about that - “No one can serve two masters. . . You cannot serve both God and money”[15] God is not pleased with such people. When His children only trust Him and depend only on Him, by putting their faith only in Him, He is pleased. It is impossible to please God without faith.
Henry Crowell’s Example.
I found this moving story and want to share it with you. It makes the point about how we are to live and focus our lives to please our God – our maker.
Henry Crowell, founder of Quaker Oats Company[16] was a faithful tither. God wants the giving and the tithing to come from the heart. In 2 Corinthians 9:7 we find the following verse: "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." After his death, his family found a card on his desk. It was written 40 years before, and he had carried it in his pocket through the passing decades. On it, he had scribbled his soul's philosophy: If my life can be always lived so as to please Him, I'll be supremely happy. [17]
He lived as a happy man and pleased His Lord tremendously. What a life well lived!
What tithing does for us.
Why should we give the tithe to God? Because tithing is one way to find great spiritual release. Sooner or later Christians come face to face with this matter on giving and the failure to walk in obedience results in a greater bondage than ever. But when one enters the life commitment of tithing there is a great spiritual release and also a release of financial blessing. God has a way of blessing us materially so that the 90% we keep for ourselves after the tithe goes far beyond what that 100% would have purchased. How can this be? But God never failed to demonstrates this to me personally and so many others who are faithful tithers.
Tithing is for our own good.
Tithing is a sure way to one’s own spiritual growth. It does something for you spiritually. After you start giving God a whole tithe, you will only ask, “Why did I not start tithing sooner?” It does something for you that cannot be explained in terms of just emotional and material returns.