This past Sunday many of us took the challenge to test God out on what He promised about giving ten percent of our income back to Him. (I say “back to Him” because as a Christian our belief is that all of what we have belongs to Him already). I say many of us took up the challenge because while it was a majority who participated, it wasn’t 100%.
But even still, those who tithed made a big statement. The total given to our General Fund (that’s where the tithe is to go) gave $10,950. That’s double what we’ve seen on many Sundays this year and last. Multiply that amount by 52 weeks and our tithes would equal $569,400 in these tough economic times. Again, that’s not even 100% participation.
Now, compare that figure to our current budget for 2009 of $486,984.00, and it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to see that we should be ending the year with a surplus of just over $82,000. Then compare that to our current deficit in our General Fund (that carried over from 2008 and continues to now) of over $68,000 (as of the end of January).
The results are both positive and negative. So let me start with the bad news first.
The deficit isn’t the result of over spending. Those of us who keep up with our budget by attending CREST know that we spent less than our budget last year, and this year are not spending anything unless it is absolutely necessary. In fact, this year’s budget was cut from last year’s because of the deficit. Ministry expenses were cut where they could be. And neither our staff nor our missionaries received an increase in salaries or support, even though our ministries and missions are growing. What it shows on the negative side is that we’re not as healthy as a church as we should be. And that lack of health didn’t show up in gossip or immorality or even apathy. It showed up in the place where Jesus said indicates our level of commitment to Him: our giving. Ouch.
But here’s the good news. Sunday’s offering showed us that not only should we be meeting our church’s ministry needs, but we can if we’ll simply be obedient and trust God. That’s a huge lesson for us. It’s encouraging to know that. And what if everyone got in on it?
The big question for us is this: will we continue with what we did Sunday? If this was just a one time deal then we didn’t learn. Hopefully this was a step of faith for many and God honors that.
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I'd love to hear from those who tithed this past Sunday for the first time, or maybe the first time in a long time.
ReplyDeleteWe are living proof that God always takes care of you when you learn to trust Him totally. If we can trust to give it, it does come back. God always delivers. I find it interesting too that our church family can support our church budget with a surplus in the off season when some of us do the majority of our business in the summertime. I pray that just means more to come. One more tidbit...we had always given anonomously until this week. I had never known the benefit of the envelopes and the reporting at tax time until chatting with Barbara.
ReplyDeleteFor me tithe used to mean when the plate comes by just make sure you put something in it. Something is better than nothing right? I never thought about what it meant "to give back" or what it meant to trust God with my finances. Then after talking with some more mature believers I learned what it really meant to tithe.I sat down and figured out what 10% of my income was and gave it even though I really didn't think I could give it and still pay all my bills.I trusted Him by tithing first then paying my bills and it worked. After giving back to Him there was enough money left to by not some of the bills but all of the bills.
ReplyDeleteThat was about two years ago and even now with me not working as much and the economy as it is trusting God with my finances is still one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Mike Hodgson