Obedience

During The 24 Days of Giving, we got a lot of e-mails/comments, etc thanking us for the wonderful thing we were doing.  I didn't think it was a wonderful thing; I just thought we were being obedient to God's commands. 

Deuteronomy 14:22,28,29 says


22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.  28 At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, 29 so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.  (bolding mine)

Some may say that this is an Old Testament command and doesn't apply today.  Yet I would point them to Matthew 25:34 where it says

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

and Matthew 26:9 where one of Jesus' disciples says
⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

From what I can tell, the tithe as originally designed was intended to be collected by the church and distributed to the poor and needy in the community.  The poor and needy are those that are hungry, thirsty, need a place to stay, need clothes, are sick or are in prison.  I would say that orphans qualify as "poor and needy" on a number of those grounds. 

We have for years given to our local church.  However, as I have learned and grown in my Radical approach to Christianity this year, God has opened my eyes.  God does not require us to give to the local church.  God requires us to take care of the poor and needy.  If your local church is doing that - GREAT!  They might be the best method of distributing the money.  If they aren't, well, then you might want to look at tithing somewhere else.  This is where God has led us this year.  Our local church doesn't do much to reach out to the poor and needy in our local community or elsewhere.  We talked with the leaders at our church about this and didn't get a great response.  As a result, we decided to send our tithe elsewhere - where it WILL help the poor and needy.  So, that is where the funds for The 24 Days of Giving came from.  It wasn't a "sacrifice" at all on our part - we're still working on that part.

I write this for two reasons - one, to deflect any "praise" or "glory" that some might be tempted to heap on us - we DO NOT deserve it.  Two, to challenge my blog readers to evaluate where your tithes are being spent. (assuming you are tithing at all - that's another post)  Are your tithes being used to help the poor and needy?  Or are they being used to build bigger buildings, hire more staff, and create more programs? 

You might just want to send some of your money to someone who is fundraising for an adoption so you can be sure that it is being used for the poor and needy.  Or maybe sponsor a child through Show Hope, Compassion International, An Orphan's Wish or any other organization reaching out to orphans.  Just pray and ask God to show you where your tithe needs to be going.