Much hand-wringing happens in today's churches...especially those in our very wealthy country. Poor us...economy is weak...salaries are down...church income is down...down...down...down...
Why doesn't God provide for us? We are, after all, trying to do God's work in the world. Why is money so hard to come by.
I think it is Shirley Guthrie who says WE are the church...and if you are complaining about the church, you are definitively complaining about yourself...because church is not some "other" out there...it is what you see when you look in the mirror. And here's the jarring realization of the week. God has provided for his church. He asks each member of the church for 10% of their income.
Now God doesn't say give 10% to charitable causes and be sure a couple percentage point go to the church. God asks for 10%. The Old Testament understanding of tithe fascinates me. EVERYTHING belonged to God. That meant EVERYTHING was sacred...not for use by humans. The practice of bringing the first fruits (the famous or infamous 10%) to the temple desacralized the other 90% and made it usable for humans. Imagine the significance of a practice where you cannot use any of your paycheck until you get the first 10% to the church.
If our church tithed (assuming 10% of a median income in this area...which is probably lower than our actual income) we would literally more than double our church budget. We would have so many financial resources we would really have to think about what to do with it all.
Hand wringing is off the table. Get out the mirrors. God does provide.
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