If God does not need my money, why does he ask for it? In response it may be helpful to consider four crucial points which: (1) What money actually is, (2) What sin actually is, (3) What tithing actually is, and (4) What legalism actually is.
We being with what money actually is. It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil, but why? “The love of money” does not refer to an infatuation with green pieces of paper, but with what the money can do. These words come to us from Paul in 1 Timothy 6:9-10
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Paul is mainly concerned that his readers would be content with God goodness to provide for their needs. He does not want them to embrace the illusion that wealth will meet all of their needs. Now, Paul was not thinking of the American dollar when he penned these words. Yet, while the name and look of our currencies may differ, their function remains the same. In anytime, at any place, under any condition, money is always what I use to provide for my needs. Money is a resource. The dollar bill is merely a physical object that points to resources that I possess. The balance of my bank account is a number that signifies how much I can trade in the market place. Like an oxen or bull, I trade money in order to get things of equal value. Thus, money is no different than my job, my car, my house, my family, or my time. Money is something that God has provided that enables me to get along in this world, and it is also something that I can elevate above God, convincing myself that as long as I have it, I don't need him. Here is the secret, no matter if it is $1000 dollars or a beautiful fruit from a forbidden tree, whenever I look at the objects of this world as “all that I need”, I’m in trouble.
This brings us to “what sin actually is.” Sin is instantiated whenever I use the resources that God has provided, in ways that God never intended it to be used. You see, like everything else, money and wealth come from God. However, we must understand that God has also defined how these resources should be understood and treated. Regardless of the gift, anytime God gives us something, we must always be willing to return it to him. This is the lesson of Isaac and Abraham. God was not some kind of Indian giver when he ask for the boy, he was teaching Abraham an important lesson, “whatever thing God can’t have, that thing has you.” We were created to responsibly enjoy God’s creation and all that lies therein. Responsibly, means using the stuff of creation in God’s indented way. Money was never meant to meet our needs, God meets our needs. Money and wealth are not sources of provision, God is the ultimate provision. Money and wealth are merely lifeless objects, dumb numbers; God is living, breathing, meaningful, and good. Like the fruit in the garden, whatever we use to convince ourselves that we don’t need God — that we can forge on without Him — becomes the idol of our self-deifying worship. Ever since the fall of the garden, human nature has been driven by the desire to diminish his need of God, with the accumulation of God’s stuff. We have strenuously worked to convince ourselves that just a little more knowledge, one more relationship, greater buying power will take us over the edge. God’s image in us has been lost, and this is what human nature has become. How will God restore His image un us again?
This brings us to what tithing actually is. The books of Exodus and Leviticus are chalk full of rules and regulations. A cursory examination might inspire one to suggest that they are merely legalistic do’s and dont’s from God. What an unfortunate misunderstanding of the law. Why would God need an unspotted, whole lamb as a sacrifice? Was he hungry? Did he feel the need to keep his people at bay by reducing their wealth? No, the lamb and the sacrifice were object lessons that taught a very important truth, God’s nature. The sacrifice was an education in the cost of sin (death), the nature of holiness (unspotted, whole lamb), the exactness of God and the importance of obedience (the particular procedure of the sacrifice). The sacrifice was never indented to forgive sin, it was always about inculcating God’s nature in his people. It was about getting rid of old habits and replacing them with new, better ones. God, through Christ has offered forgiveness of sin. If we will embrace Him, God will give us his Holy Spirit to reside in us and transform our nature into one that looks like him. Yet, it is one thing to simply say, “okay God, I want you to make me look like you, do what you must”, and it is another thing to actually mean it. God does not simply mean to change our behavior, he means to change our heart. He is not interested in a blanket statement of blind holiness, he wants us to want holiness. God’s communication of his nature is like a heart transplant. However, he is not going to transplant his nature in us by putting us under, so that in waking up we would be blissfully unaware of the changes inside. We were not involved in the process, simply leaving it in the hands of the professional and coasting along. No, God’s transforming work (and it is his work) involves us throughout the procedure. There will be pain and difficult decisions, but we know that God has never lost a patient who trusted in him. Tithing is one of those “operating table” moments were God communicates his nature to and in us. Tithing is an object lesson where God teaches us to depend on him, more than on the stuff we use to get along in this world.
What a tragedy if we should fail to recognize this. This brings us to a consideration of what legalism is. Legalism occurs when we fail to recognize that God means to transform our nature not just our behavior. This is what the pharisees could not understand. They knew how to behave, however, it was only forced behavior. When Jesus began teaching in Matthew 5-7, he literally turned the law inside out, displaying the internal focus that had been misplaced. Thus he said “you have heard it said (External act),…but I say to you (Internal motivation).” I challenge you to look, each time he says “you have heard it said”, he is pointing to an external act (murder and adultery); and every time he says “but I tell you”, he is pointing to an internal motivation of the heart (anger and lust). This is why Paul is concerned that “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.” Giving in this manner would be legalistic at best. Giving only because it is my duty and to satiate God’s wrath. Duty may be how we begin in the Christian walk, but eventually we move beyond to this, which is why Paul concludes that “God loves a cheerful giver.” When I was a child I brushed my teeth everyday. It was a habit that my parents wanted to form in my life. I did not understand the importance of dental hygiene at 5 years of age, I just knew that if I did not I would be scolded. However, many years later, I am not motivated to brush my teeth for the same reason I did at 5 years. My mother does not call every morning to see if I brushed my teeth. No, I have grown older and more mature, I now understand the real reason for the habit. Moreover, I no longer have to brush my teeth, I want to brush my teeth. This is why God was upset with Israel in Isaiah 1:11-17 “
Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
God was sick of empty practices. The people had missed the point of their religious activity. I wonder how God feels about our giving? I dare say that if you give out of duty, because 10% is what the Lord REQUIRES, then God does not want your money. He does not need your money and it is more damning to you to give it, blissfuly unaware of why you are to be giving in the first place. Why does God ask for your money? He asks because you don’t need it, you need Him; and between the two, God isn’t the one who needs to learn this lesson. As Wesley has said, it is good to ““Earn all you can, give all you can, save all you can”.
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