Money!

Matthew:6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

This wonderful verse is used over and over again by pastors trying to convince their parishioners to tithe. Such a wonderful part of the bible that originally was part of a larger message about not making money the most important priority in your life but instead to trust God and do the right thing without needing recognition and fame. Store up spiritual treasure in your heart.

I personally agree with the tithe. I don't enjoy hearing a money message every few months, but that is the part of church nobody really enjoys. I know that most churches want to do a lot of 'programs'. I also understand those programs cost money. I wish the pastor would just say to us,

"Hey, I want to do (A). It will achieve (B). In order to do that I need to raise (X) amount of money. That will fund the program for (such) an amount of time. Here is a form with all the programs we want to do. If you donate and want to support a certain program please mark the box near it. Thanks."

I know that there are passages which say if you will give the tithe the "floodgates" of blessing will flow for me. That's great. It's a wonderful lesson to give now and then. It fits when giving a sermon on financial responsibility. Money is a huge issue and there are biblical truths on how to handle money so as to avoid stress and starvation. I have given and I have noticed that money falls out of the sky for me when I do. Not literally, but bonuses and gifts, or extra work seems to come my way when I am tithing. It's tried and true for me.

I agree with a friend however, that you don't have to make the tithe with your church. You can take the 10% and give to charity instead. The money is for the continuation of good works. It also helps you maintain financial discipline. You should be donating money, saving money, and budgeting the rest. Living under your means or at least within them. This is a very hard lesson to learn. Those who know me personally know the lesson took a long time for my family to get in our heads. Luckily we are doing better now, and it was the biblical principles that helped us.

So dear reader do not take this as a tirade against the tithe, but as a small complaint of the use of a beautiful verse to get blood from a stone.