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Do you belong to a faith community, or
are you thinking of joining one? Maybe you like the idea of coming
together with other people of faith to worship, to develop
relationships, to grow in your spirituality. Perhaps you have
identified for yourself the benefits of being more closely connected
to a faith community. Chances are you have also wondered, then,
“What, in turn, will be expected from me in this relationship?” In
particular, you might be feeling a little anxiety about the
expectation that you financially support your congregation. In the
past, parishioners have felt obliged to adhere to an unwritten rule
called tithing. Tithing, or giving 10 percent of your income, was an
expectation that seems overwhelming to many today.
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Do you want to be a supportive
member of a faith group, but your budget’s bottom line
is barely in positive territory? Well, take heart—or actually,
give from it.
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At this point you may very well be
ready to run away from your computer screen, thinking, “I’ve got
student loans to pay off and an entry level job. I struggle to come
up with money for rent, food, and clothes. How am I ever supposed to
save up for a down payment for a home? There is no room for tithing
to a church!”
Okay, so maybe there isn’t room for
10 percent, or even 5 percent at this time of
your life. But managing your finances and
lifestyle with an eye toward living rightly, toward honoring the
gifts you have been given by God, might be something you value. By
learning to follow some sound, basic principles about managing your
finances, you might not only find that there is more than you
imagined, but you will feel more like you are making the best use of
your financial blessings.
Managing your money is a life skill
that will benefit you in every area of your life. In this article,
we will explore the relationship between faith and money, including
the “why” of giving a portion back, no matter how big or small the
portion.
“Tithe” can have a variety of meanings, depending on your religious
background. And whether you do it or don’t, few words in all of
Christendom are as laden with emotion as this one. “Guilty. That’s
the biggest emotion tithing pulls, if people are interested at all,”
says Barbara DeGrote-Sorensen, co-author with her husband, Lutheran
pastor David Allen Sorensen, of a series of books on living simply.
 There’s also an “old ethic” and a
“new ethic,” explains Bob Sitze, director for congregational
stewardship development for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA). “The ‘old ethic’ of tithing says it is a discipline
that is expected and required (of followers of God) as a mark, or
routine, or law,” explains Sitze. This may boil down to a strict
policy of giving God at least 10 percent of your money, as stated in
the Old Testament. But the “new ethic” of tithing takes on another
dimension, Sitze says. New tithers “see this as a way to obey
scripture, but they also have found a joy in giving that exceeds
normal generosity. They’re not giving to get to or become like God,
but because they realize they’re not in control of the universe.
Their lives are not their own. That’s what Jesus did,” Sitze adds.
“You don’t talk about tithing as a law or requirement, but as a sign
of giving your whole life away.”
Although she acknowledges guilt as
the emotion named Most Likely to be Linked with Tithing, guilt is
“not very God-like,” DeGrote-Sorensen says, and it is probably not
what God intended to be our main motivator. “The whole idea of
giving back to God is not helpful in that we don’t have it to give
in the first place,” she explains. Instead, we should try thinking
of our resources a different way. “It’s not so much giving as
managing,” she says. “That’s a much more freeing word. I have
nothing to give except what God has given me to manage.”
 When we think of giving to God, “we
get all tied up,” DeGrote-Sorensen continues. “Is that 10 percent
before taxes or after taxes? We can get into legalism, which gets us
off track and squelches the thankful attitude that comes with
managing.” Avoiding legalism comes more naturally to some of us than others.
“At the heart of the reformed Presbyterian approach to Christianity
is a hesitance to do anything that might seem like legalism,”
explains John Buchanan, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in
Chicago. “The theological system is built on the notion of grace and
unconditional love. You can’t earn it or do anything to persuade God
to love you more.” However, like most of us, Presbyterians could use
a little work on their attitude toward giving, too. “The down side
is we’ve been pretty doggone easy,” Buchanan says. “We’ve not held
one another accountable. . . . If I’m honest about what I said when
I committed myself (to Christ), living for God is my priority—time,
money, and talents. . . . Grace is free, but I claim and experience
it by living a grace-filled, generous life.”
If this seems like a lot to get your mind around, don’t be
discouraged—it is! “It’s a bit countercultural,” says family
finances author, speaker and consultant Nathan Dungan, creator of
the Share-Save-Spend model of money management. In a society that
tells us we’ve got to have the newest, hottest thing right
now—whatever the cost—the idea that our priority is sharing what we
have doesn’t get a lot of play.
“Step back and look at your money and your values,” Dungan suggests,
speaking particularly to parents. “How you use your money will shape
how your kids use their money for decades,” he explains. But whether
you’re modeling behavior for a child in your life or not, its never
a bad time to get your priorities in order. Dungan uses tools
including a financial-habits checkup and a habits-and-values survey
to help people assess their current status (see
Internet Café for
information on Dungan’s book).
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Inspired by the ideas in this story, but feel like your
finances might not be ready for giving?
Follow these tips for getting your spending (and
sharing) habits where you want them to be.
More |
“You can’t manage for God what you’ve
already mismanaged,” DeGrote-Sorensen points out. “A lot of this has
to do with how the money is spent before we get it. What are our
bills,mort-gage, credit cards? If your lifestyle has already claimed
a large percentage of your money coming in, that might be a good
place to start.” “My husband likes to say,
‘Live in a way that allows you to be generous’,” she adds. So a
little re-ordering may be required.
You’ve thought it through, and you’re ready to give managing God’s
money a try, but how does one proceed? “Because we’re human we like to get it all nailed down, but the
process is much more free flowing,” DeGrote-Sorensen says. “At times
your family’s needs may be very intense, and at times you’ll be more
flexible to give to other people. There’s ebb and flow. You’re not
counting or adding up, you’re just living generously.”
 If you’re like me, though, you may
still need some parameters to help you toward your goal. “We’d be
light years ahead if we could just get people to think in terms of
percentage giving,” explains Buchanan. “I don’t care what percent
that is, but I think most people would be shocked to see how little
they end up giving.” Instead of offering whatever you can spare from
your purse on Sunday morning, why not make a plan to donate a
specific amount all year long? Not only does this help you budget
and prioritize, it helps the cause you’re giving to do the same—and
makes you an active part of the body of Christ. “We need to be as
businesslike as possible,” Buchanan explains of Fourth Church’s
financial proceedings. “While we can build a program based on our
highest and best expectations, it’s hard to do when we’re not sure
what’s going to happen.”
Sitze says, “It’s a kind of self-discipline, like prayer or Bible
reading. You’ll begin to get a sense of what it feels like not to be
in charge. The reward for that is not superiority to the one-percent
givers,” he adds, “but to be at a place in your life where you’ve
thrown off greed and worry . . . it’s a maturity of faith and
recognizing your potential as God’s creature.” After you get a good
grasp of your finances and where your money has been going, you’ll
be well prepared to make real decisions on where you want your money
to go in the future. Try taking a fixed percentage of your paycheck
off the top. Put it in a separate account, or write the check to
your church or other worthy cause right away. There’s also something
to be said for making a commitment.
 Finally, when you do give, “stay
connected to your gift,” urges DeGrote-Sorensen. “Establish a
relationship and a habit of caring for what you give for.”
Otherwise, she explains, you miss the blessing of knowing what your
gift has helped accomplish—whether it’s feeding the hungry, sending
missionaries on their way, or making sure the doors stay open at
your local church.
And don’t forget, the biggest blessing is knowing you’ve doing what
God wants you to do and are an active part of serving God’s purpose
on earth. “Fourth Church (and logically the body of Christ as a
whole) is only limited by the vision and generosity of its members,”
Buchanan notes. “We’re called to be
extravagant givers. To know God’s love for us is to express it to
others. That’s the way to truly be alive.”
Jessica
Royer is a freelance writer and editor based in Chicago. She
holds a master’s degree from the Missouri School of
Journalism. Her current projects include teaching in the
“After School Matters” program with the Chicago Public
Schools, working on a documentary project about a Vietnamese
adoptee, and editing a giant rheumatology textbook.
Café
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