Why I Tithe...the offerings

My generosity should extend far beyond my tithe.

This past weekend my wife attended a mini youth conference at the House of Prayer in Chesterfield Virginia (great church if you live that way!).  The conference is called Origins, hosted every year there.  Vannessa was sending me texts about how proud she was of our two oldest.  Ethan was buying gifts for his siblings, raffle tickets for friends, StarBucks drinks for Vannessa, etc...living a generous life!  Then, our oldest Derick in a service prayed that if he won the mini-ipad in the raffle, he would give it to a friend who was attending Origins.  The friend and his family are new to City Life and this was their son's first youth outing with us.  Guess who won!  Guess who gave away that mini-ipad!

Our two boys didn't come back from that trip with a calculator trying to figure out how much they could deduct from their next tithe, valuing money spent and items given...why?  Because they understand that there is a difference between the tithe and offerings and that giving beyond our tithes is wonderful way to demonstrate hospitality toward others!

One of the most important extra-Biblical references are the writings of Josephus.  In regards to tithing and offerings, Josephus says that one-tenth (the actual tithe) was to be given to the Levites (locally and they gave tenth to High Priest), one-tenth was to be applied to feasts in the metropolis (mandated offerings), and that a tenth besides these was every third year to be given to the poor (mandated offerings).  And we know from our study of the Old Testament and further writings by Josephus, there were even more offerings expected as part of their ritual worship practices, not to mention special projects like building temples!

I see four primary reasons for offerings in Scripture that I believe are still relevant for today.  They are giving to the poor (Proverbs 28:27), giving towards hospitality (Leviticus 19:9-10), giving for special projects at your church (Exodus 36:3-7), and giving for global missions (Romans 15:25-26).

A God honoring approach to personal finances has at its center the tithe and then goes on to accommodate offerings and other opportunities for generosity.  I hope that as you enter into this holiday season, that you are looking ways to be generous!  Pick up the tab of the person behind you in the drive through...if you see someone in the store who has obvious financial needs, buy a gift card and slip it into a card and just quickly give it to them and say Jesus loves you!  Can we get to the other side of the 2014 holiday season and have the humble privilege of looking back and seeing scores of generous moments we ourselves stepped into as the Holy Spirit directed us?  Will this mean less for us?  Will this require sacrifice?  Will this change our standard living?  Will this decrease moments of earthly, temporal enjoyment?  Most certainly!

You can enjoy more temporal things now or you can enjoy treasures in heaven forever (Matthew 6:20)!

Pastor Fred