I never gave much thought to tithing in the church. My parents gave just like their parents gave as their parents gave, and so on and so forth, until we're back in the Old Testament when people of the church gave 1/10th or 10% of their oil, fruit, grains, or livestock (not just money) to the church.
Tithing in an itty bitty nut shell:
I know very little about the origin of tithing, but according to this break down here, http://www.thebiblepage.org/biblesays/tithing.shtml, Leviticus 27, the tithe was originally given to support the Levitical priesthood since, apparently, the Levites "have no inheritance" and so the tithe was given "for an inheritance" (Numbers18:21,31). Tithing was also a way of showing thanksgiving, as a way to feed strangers, widows, orphans, and others who were without, and even as a way of learning to fear the Lord, as Deuteronomy 14:23 shows.
This is an overly simplified history of tithing, and I only mention it because just as I started writing this blog, I wondered where and why it started. And there it is. Tithing apparently started to 1)support the Levitical priest 2) feed the hungry and needy 3) to give thanks and show reverence to the Lord.
End.
As I was sitting in Church this past Sunday, the topic of a budget meeting was mentioned. As an over thinker, I started to think about the current condition (or uncondition) of the economy. I caught myself thinking, "man, I remember that church in Auburn budgeting millions of dollars...I wonder how much this one has to budget...I mean all of those lights, and speakers, and screens, and heating, and cooling, and music stuff, and floors, and water bills, and power bills..."
And I began to recall "From Eternity to Here", a non-fiction breakdown of The Church by Frank Viola (I would recommend it over any other "Christian" book I've ever read...). I began to remember that The Church is not a building, it's a body made up of people. I began to remember that as a part of The Church, we are all a part of the Bride of Christ, made pure, and holy, and righteous for the Bridegroom. I mean, face it, the bible opens with the wedding of Adam and Eve and ends with the Wedding of the Bridegroom (Christ) and his Bride (The Church), and at no point does He appear and say, "hold it, hold it, hold it!! You guys have to be in a brick building with a Steeple for this thing to work...."
So here I was, sitting in a fat, comfy chair in a heated room- an enormous heated room- with huge windows, and carpeted floors, and a big screen and projector, and speakers, and walls, all neatly packed in a white building with a white steeple, and I was thinking about what the Church really is, and it hit me....
"Why in the world are we tithing collectively as a nation, billions of dollars to pay power bills, water bills, to have large stain glass windows, and recreation centers, and big screens, and music systems and sound boards when we could be giving billions of dollars collectively to those who have no heating, no food, no homes, no education, who live in third world countries, or warring countries, or just need help?!?!?!"
And in that moment, it seemed so incredibly ridiculous that I've spent 25 years planning on giving money to a building instead of giving it to The Church....to the people who make up the body, to the people who are- through Christ- my brothers and sisters; more so, to the people who don't belong to The Church. Because knowing Jesus, He would ask me to do that on behalf of Himself, right? I mean, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Mathew 25:40).
I can't help but question how we are tithing and who or what we are tithing to. When you break it down, today's Christians are predominantly tithing to power and water companies, to have food cooked and prepared on Wednesdays nights...for themselves, to the contractors who built their church, carpeted the floors, and remodeled the fellowship hall or youth activity center, and to whatever else I have no idea church budget meetings include.
Can you imagine the earth shaking impact Christians could have on The Church and on non-believers if we actually tithed to The Church? Seriously, billions of dollars per year are given to churches nation wide...BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, and we are pouring it into buildings. Buildings.
Except at least once a year, we intentionally sacrifice giving to the building to give to Lottie Moon and missionaries overseas.
I never once thought of it before, where the money went, I mean. I knew it went to the church, and that's what mattered, but this past Sunday, it just seemed very clear to me that it's worth more to meet with people who know the Lord at some one's house, or in some one's barn, or in the park and to use the money for something more important than the stuff, and gadgets, and things that go within the church building.
I think it would be uncomfortable, and cold, and inconvenient, but He never told us to be comfortable in big buildings, He just wanted us to fellowship together. He wanted us to spend time together, and to eat and drink together, and to talk with one another about life and about Him. And we don't need to spend billions of dollars to do that.
Really, and potentially controversially, do we need church buildings? Look at Jesus' ministry: The few times He spoke at a temple, He was on the front steps, or knocking tables that belonged to vendors over. Otherwise, He was sitting on a hill, under a tree, by a well, at the bed of those were sick or dying, In a boat, at a table, or in some one's home.
I wonder if we've made supporting church buildings an economy; and if we've made tithing as a means to support that economy. I wonder if the church building is about religion and culture and less about relationship and communion.
This past Sunday, sitting in a chair, I imagined what believers would do if we didn't have buildings to support. How we would talk with one another at each other's homes, and prepare food together, and sit together, and sing with a guitar or piano together. I imagined all of the money we could give to those in our communities. I imaged that without a building for us to all go into, we'd spend more time with those who don't "belong" in our churches. We could spend more time "out there" and less time "in here" behind our church doors.
Honestly, thinking it over, I see the same people at my home church every time I go, and I often wonder to myself, where are the homeless people, and the sick people, and the needy people? And I wonder if the white building and white steeple, instead of bringing them in, is pushing them out? I wonder who the building is really for?
Who is a church building really for?
Is it for them? Is it for God? or is it for us?
I want it to be for them and for Him, but I'm scared it's for us.
And it's not about us, it's about them and Him.
