10% Giving = 10% Living

Just yesterday I was exposed to a teaching by a teacher named G. Craig Lewis concerning the tithe. I only listened to the first two minutes of it before I figured I knew where he was going, and my thoughts began to run rampant concerning the notion of giving.

I remember some time ago, my former pastor had come back to preach a service in the church I grew up in. He made a comment that he did not believe tithing to be a heaven and hell issue. Boy did that rock our traditional wooden boat!

Ever since I can remember, the tithe, made famous by Malachi 3, has been preached at least once every six months in the churches I have associated with. As a member of my denomination, I still send 60% of my tithe to my district as part of my "fees" to stay ordained. And the teaching of the tithe summed up is this (let's all sing along):

Before you do anything, cut God his portion; it's up to you whether gross or net

And if you do you will be blessed; a blessing so big you will never forget.

But if you don't take it out of your purse; God's holy wrath will bring a curse.

Releasing the tithe makes you a part; and try to remember it's from the heart.

So you get the idea. I want to make this short and sweet. I think that's wrong, and I think it puts people in bondage. So how do we go beyond giving God our 10%? Aren't we free to do and think better than that? Yes we are.

The only people I have had conversations with about this frustration of the tithing law are from the standpoint of trying to get out of giving at all. Of course, in all fairness, i believe that to be part of what such bogus teaching produces...a dissatisfied obligated giver that never gives from his heart, but rather out of fear of the curse. Nevertheless, freedom FROM giving is not what we are looking for here. The heart of Christ is freedom TO give.

Make no mistake, if the ten percent burdens you, it's a heart problem. The scripture lines out the the purpose of the law in Galatians 3. To paraphrase, the law was a guardian to us that kept us in check. There was a curse for those who did not tithe correctly under the law of Moses, but it can't be translated as such for those of us who are under grace. But the understanding of the law of the tithe tells me this; if I cannot release a meager 10%, how can I ever be a ridiculous giver? How can, as part of the New Covenant body of Christ, my money become community money for the furthering of the Kingdom? So the law has it's role. It can show us the condition of our heart. And what does that heart need to realize about giving?

It needs to realize that New Testament giving is meant to be a generosity from the heart. It's a widow's mite mentality, meaning not about an amount but about motive. Remember, freedom in Christ is freedom to do EVERYTHING how we are created to do it. We are now, under that idea, free to give, and that out of a glad, generous, Christ-compelled heart. In order to be that though, we have to break the shackles of the law. We have to get outside of this fear-driven bondage of cursing, and as much, get out the mentality of generous return as God's "promise" or "obligation" back to us. Not tithing under the law will not wreck my life (remember I am free from the law), but neither does tithing under the law guarantee a return on my investment in the way we understand it. It all has to be heart. A content heart. A kind heart, A heart after God.

Stop giving God your 10%, and start understanding your free to give more. Prayerfully consider your heart when it comes to money. I know mine is under Holy Spirit revision. But above all, find the freedom in Christ in all areas of your life. We may lose self along the way, but in losing self, we are in gain of Christ. Let us indeed, in the words of the apostle Paul, "count all things rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ our Lord." God bless us in our pursuit!

Deliverance

Reading Psalm 6 and the aftermath I experienced this morning in devotional reading has me think on this topic of deliverance. This is a term that I have wanted to forget for sometime now, mainly because of the connotation in which it took growing up in the Pentecostal church. It seemed all that one had to do to recive this deliverance is go to an altar, act like an idiot and have other people push you around a little. Now I have to insert here that I realize this I speak of many people hold dear. And if what I reference has merit to you, I mean no offense. But I think with the crass way of putting it, those who choose to read this understand the experience.

If in that instance, or after it, you felt better about your circumstances that was noted as deliverance. And then you would go home and fall and wait again until next Sunday, praying once again the Lord to take your burden away.

Whether or not this experience has been yours, I am quite sure we all share the experience of pain and anguish. Life has a way of doing this to us. It brings circumstances, relational problems, and many things that send a wrecking ball to what otherwise we call our "norm". It brings severe discomfort and and die-hard desire to exit the current state. It brings the atheist to say, "oh, God" and the agnostic to suddenly be sure there is something higher at work. We have all been in that place, and maybe some of us right now. So, in an attempt to bring solace, seek advice from this song of deliverance.

1) Be honest before God (6:1-3).

Lord, Im tired, in every part of my soul I am tired. God knows how you feel, there is no sense hiding it. Many times we are in this place of "our wit's end". We have deep despair and hurt. There is no antecdote to be said, no mantra to be repeated to bring relief. Even the Psalmist says, in paraphrase, "Lord will you even overlook my own shortcomings just long enough to be my strength? (v.1)" He must have hurt. God knows you are too. Just tell Him.

2) Make sure your motives are pure (6:4-5)

Why do you want "delivered"? Why is it necessary for you to leave your current state. Sometimes God has us in a place so that we may call to Him. We are not good at discomfort. We do not do suffering well. So much in fact that we have convinced ourselves that God would never allow it. But it is a recurring theme in scripture of the lives of those who belong to Him. Make sure your cry for deliverance isnt a cry caused by lack of endurance. Verse 4 says "deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love". The only right reason for God to "bring us out" is that so we may be examples of His great power.

3) Know that God will work (6:8-10)

There seems to be a great confidence in God's hearing and response even though he doesn't see it in this instance. Take notice of the element of despair in your life for a moment. Now ask yourself, "have I lost confidence in God to answer?" I know I have. I mean if you can't get something done right (and by right I mean when and how YOU want it) then do it yourself. I am wholly guilty of acting on God's behalf and giving up on God completely. This, above all is what can keep us in undude despair. I referenced Godly despair that is necessary, but surely there is a despair we bring to ourself when we take matters in our own hands. Any prayer of deliverance must be coupled with confidence that God hears and will act.

You know, perhaps this last part of the Psalm even holds the key to what true deliverance is. Maybe its not the absence of circumstances that bring despair, but rather the surety and confidence of God in the midst of those circumstances. There is no doubt life brings different things, but God never changes. I know you have heard this all before, but just as I, maybe your ears need deliverance to hear it again.

HELP!

I start with these lyrics from the Beatles:

HELP!HELP! I NEED SOMEBODY,HELP! NOT JUST ANYBODY,HELP! YOU KNOW I NEED SOMEONE, HELP.HELP ME IF YOU CAN, I'M FEELING DOWNAND I DO APPRECIATE YOU BEING AROUND.HELP ME GET MY FEET BACK ON THE GROUND,WON'T YOU PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME.

I had an interesting conversation with a great friend just the other day that alarmed me. He's a "corporate" fellow and we were talking about the comparisons to the church. Now, I am not much on such comparisons as the church and the corporation are not the same institutions. In the corporate world you can fire people who aren't productive, with little or no concern for their well being. After all, they had their chance. But in the church world, well they are people, and their well being should matter a little more...and grace should abound in all.

But we were discussing systems, more specifically systems that are designed to get people funtioning properly. We spent some time discussing the importance of foundational structure and how important it was to overall "success" before diving into some other arenas of dialogue. The comparisons I think were fair. After all, the church as we know it is an institution, and in any institution there needs order, structure, and purpose.

For the church, the foundation has already been laid. That is Christ. No debate. And it would be foolish for any church to ever think that their "corporate" policies superceded that. But a struggle remains in any culture with that foundation. How do you make it concrete? Jesus doesn't live here in the flesh here anymore and as vital as the Holy Spirit is, we have made that person of the trinity extrremely foggy at best. So what is the answer to making Christ concrete...the church. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the church was established. And the church today needs to find ways to make Christ touchable again.

In our conversation, this conclusion was reached: "As beneficial as the church has been, it just isn't helping me through life." Ouch!! I don't know if that conclusion hurt me more as a Pastor or as a Christian. If I were truthful, i think it hurts me as a sinner most. Because I can see it. And I can count numerous times I needed help, that I did not feel the church equipped to really help me through.

I have to be fair, it is hard to help people who do not avail themselves to help. After all, in my sin or any other's sin and despair, the current system tells us it is our own fault, and more of our fault if we cannot dig ourselves out. After all, we live in the land of opportunity. Good ol' America! If you cannot live high on the hog here, it is certainly because you are lazy or just don't have sense enough to pull yourself up by the boot straps. But I cannot help but raise the question of how one is to avail themselves to a help that is not made attainable to them. Was not, or is not Christ just that, God reaching His hand to those who knew no way? Was not Christ God's answer to making Himself "concrete"? Perhaps my theology is tainted, but I am beginning to want to defend this position more and more. Granted, some people will never respond to the Gospel. Got it. But there is a flipside to that opinion. Some people either don't know or they are victim of faulty presentation. In that case, who's fault is it?

So I am concerned pastorally about how well the church is really helping people sometimes. It saddens me that good people, who are wholly committed to the church in attendance, giving, and even serving that feel the church is not really helping them through life. They get to hear their problems railed against, and in some scenarios brought up in discussions, but their is never any real help offered. The porn addict gets to hear how wrong and dirty he/she is, but never offered a system of help to break the addiction. The struggling marriage gets to hear about God's ideal of living in perfect harmony, but is never offered a human hand or listening ear that hasn't treated the situation like an inconvenience. Some of our current systems have bowed to poor theology, or denied Christian education altogether, leaving our next generation with a foundaiton of only mixed emotions about Christian living. In the current climate, we have become self-proclaimed experts on "Christianity in the market place", but have denied a proper forum of Christian community where people find strength for the battle or healing from its wounds.

So what can be done about this? If I had those answers I wouldn't be so focused on the problem. I simply think it's time to come to the table though. Communication is the first step. All the frustrated that have remained silent so long need to raise their voices of heart-felt concern to our church leaders. Sitting on the pew (or in those new-fangled connecting chairs) in frustration doesn't help anyone. We're either going to once again making Christ known or simply stay in our stagnant state of "Christian" affairs. I am calling for covnersation of how. Maybe because my concern has never been higher, or maybe just becasue I refuse to any longer live life this way.