I had the opportunity last weekend to speak to a group of 50 or so people at a local Church. The topic of discussion was “Biblical Financical Wisdom during Economic Uncertainty”.
At the end of the talk there was time for Q & A and there were two questions that I thought were worth posting about.
Question: If I am about to lose my job, should I continue to Tithe or should I save what I would have tithed to make it through the next few months as I look for a job?
Answer: This question was tough to answer for a moment as I felt compassion towards this man who knew he was going to soon lose his family’s sole source of income. What I told this man was that God’s word calls us to give back to Him, not because he needs it, but because He wants all of us. He wants our hearts to be in right relationship with Him and by giving back we acknowledge his ownership of everything that we have and everything that we will soon lose. I referenced Proverbs 3:9 , Malachi 3:8-10, Mark 12:42, 2Corinthians 8:1-5 and Matthew 6:33. I told him that I personally would continue to tithe because I believe that as long as the Lord has given me the opportunity to make money then I must acknowledge his ownership of all things and give back the first fruits to Him.
Question: I draw unemployment, should I be tithing on that money?
I stumbled a little bit thinking about a response for this question. I think in my heart I would tithe on this because it is a source of income. In Proverbs 3:9 there is no indication of seperating earned income from income received other ways. Ultimately tithing and giving is a way of acknowledging God’s ownership in all things and we are being blessed to receive unemployment income, therefore by giving back the first fruits of this, we are trusting the Lord to be our ultimate provider.
For a good article on the second question you can check out this article from Crown financial: http://www.crown.org/LIBRARY/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=571
Filed under: Contentment, Devotion, giving, recession
