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December 17, 2007
The Pulpit vs. The Pew on Tithing (Part 4)
Alan Gotthardt writes in his book The Eternity Portfolio that:
"We all know that children learn by example. This is particularly true with giving; children of generous givers become generous givers, often because of the example they witnessed growing up."
Let's assume that we continue to ignore tithing. We won't talk about it from the pulpit. We won't discuss it in Sunday School. And we won't even dare bring it up during discipleship training. What is the net result? The next generation--our children--will have absolutely no context for giving to the church.
It is short-sighted of church leaders to believe that ignoring the subject will just make it go away. Ignoring it will exponentially increase the negative impact of the absense of the conversation on stewardship and giving in the local church. Why? Because our children will never know what it means to give of their money to grow the kingdom of God. They'll never see an offering envelope with their name on it. They'll never know a time when the Pastor made the connection between money and our belief and confession of Jesus as Lord of our life.
Our fundraising friends in the secular, non-profit world understand this. They aren't afraid to claim the value and benefit their organization can bring with the necessary donations. Why are we?
Are we so timid about God's ability to influence and transform the world through the ministry of the local church that we don't have confidence to ask for and teach the tithe?
This is a sad commentary. Perhaps the most compelling reason for us to reignite the conversation on tithing is that our children are depending upon us to show them how to live and how to give. If we don't show them that the ministry and work of the church is worthy of our contributions, then we risk the dollars our children generate from their own income and investments in the future going to support other organizations who didn't shy away from the challenge.
The question is not "if" but "when" will we begin the work of ensuring that the ministry of the local church is funded appropriately today and moving forward.
Posted by bstroup at December 17, 2007 1:30 AM
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