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The Pink
Room: Thoughts About Intentional Living
Chapter
16/ Generosity.
Part 2
(Previous post contain the previous chapters.)
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One of the most understood things in the Christian faith is
the tithe. Speaking as someone who loves giving gifts, probably one of my love
languages—I’ve been a student of the tithe.
From early on my parents believed that it was part of their
Christian duty to tithe and always had a check ready for the church when we
went. The envelope was filled out and would stick out of Mom’s purse every
Sunday. Each “increase” or pay check would have, at minimum, the first one
tenth given back to God. And the church could use it as needed.
It was for the community to help each other, for people in
need to have a place they could go. It was to fill the storehouse and have an
entity that would hold provisions when there was a great need. It was to help
people prioritize their money and values first, and commit to serving something
or someone beyond themselves.
It is really beautiful. Leviticus, in the Old Testament, had
rules around the tithe for Israel. The tenth went to the temple and the Levites
would turn and then give a tenth of that for their work. There were other
tithes in there; one for the poor, one for the feast, one for the Levites.
Gift-giving is a bit of a drug for me. I enjoy doing things
for people and giving things to people. I drive my cousin Abby a bit crazy.
There is a lot of conversation about the disposition of our
hearts and the ability to test God with our giving. After the first tenth we
are challenged to give and be generous and test God in that. But it is
conditional. He asks us to give freely, not with agenda, and asks us to have a good
heart about it. If we give joyfully we will be blessed. It is the offerings,
the part where we give more than we are asked to, that God becomes delighted
with us.
Physical goods and other gifts, money and time—talents and
anything we can think of to be offered with a good attitude for the service of
the church—those are offerings.
But the older I get I realize the only true offerings are
those of ourselves. The offerings that create life change and heart change. Mother Teresa said: if you want to
change the world, go home and love your family.
We've settled for the convenience of Facebook and forgotten how to offer love and grace to the actual people in front of us. Relationships are difficult, but why do we expect anything different. The clean, sterile, impersonal online stuff isn't real and cultivates a sense of longing for more. It's like diet foods; it just doesn't satisfy so you go after more.
We've settled for the convenience of Facebook and forgotten how to offer love and grace to the actual people in front of us. Relationships are difficult, but why do we expect anything different. The clean, sterile, impersonal online stuff isn't real and cultivates a sense of longing for more. It's like diet foods; it just doesn't satisfy so you go after more.
Time, prayer, sacrifice, mentor-ship, care, service to those
who are sick or weak, help to those who are struggling or visiting those who
are alone…those are the things, above our tithe, that revolutionize the world.
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Serving
the poor, the fatherless, the widow, those who are hopeless or suffering those
things are the will of God.
