The First Baptist Church of Redlands
TA PE S T RY
Woven Together In Love: Colossians 2:2
MARCH 2018
The Tenth
A few years ago when I was doing ministry at Purdue, a woman from Brazil came to the University to do research for her PhD. She was told about the living community that was part of our campus ministry and she excitedly made that her living situation. She also became active in worship, social activities and service projects. One day she came into my office and handed me an envelope. She said, “This is my rent.” Then she handed me another envelope and she said, “This is my tenth.” I didn’t understand right away what she was telling me. At first I attributed it to her accent. “So this is your rent,” I said referring to the first envelope. “And what is this?” I asked, holding up the second envelope. She said, “My tenth.” We went back and forth and then it occurred to me, this was her tithe. She was giving to the campus ministry 10% of the money that she was earning in her research job because while she was at Purdue this was her church. Over the years in campus
ISSUE No. 3 A MESSAGE FROM PASTOR SHAWN
ministry, I discovered several students who tithed. They would give a big check in the offering at the beginning of the school year. It would represent 10% of the earnings from their summer job. At first I would think, wow, that’s amazing that they would tithe at their age when they didn’t make that much money. What I discovered was that tithing was a discipline that becomes easier once you do it and keep doing it. If you give 10% of your income when it is small then it is easier to continue to give 10% as your income increases over the years. I learned, the hard way, that it is hard to start if you keep thinking that you will do it when you have more money. When that is your attitude, you never seem to have enough money to tithe. Others I have known over the years take the incremental approach. They add a percent each year. Maybe they start at 5% and then the next year, 6% and so on. I know one couple that didn’t stop at 10% and last I heard they were giving 35% of their income to God’s work. The practice of tithing came out of the early days of God’s people. They were given guidelines of what to give in thanksgiving to God for one’s harvest – the first fruits, a tenth off the top. Over the generations the church has continued to teach the discipline of giving, with a tithe (tenth) as the model. Whatever the amount, the practice of giving is rooted in the response to what God has done for us—a way of thanking God. It is also an acknowledgement of the
fact that all we have is because of what God has given to us and as followers of Christ we offer all that we have back to God. When we designate the “first fruits” of what we have to God, then we are more inclined to being intentional about how we use everything else that we have. It is an act of faith that causes us to grow in our relationship with God. It is a part of living a generous lifestyle. If you don’t believe “the Pastor,” ask some people who tithe. This month we will be having several opportunities in which you can participate with others in learning how we “do money” at First Baptist Church. We will discuss where that money goes that gets put in the offering plate, how decisions are made, where the money comes from, and ways that we all can participate in the ministry of our church. I hope that you will sign up and attend one of those sessions. If none of them is at a time that you are able to come, please contact Tom Herron or me to make other arrangements. Finally, if you are tempted to think that the church is always talking about money, I would say to you that we don’t talk about it nearly as much as the Bible does. Google it--you may be surprised.