I’ve talked about this often enough in the past. (See the “Related posts” list at the end of this one!) But it bears repeating . . . especially if and when it can be said briefly. And I think this is the briefest way I have ever said these things.

What follows is from an interview I did five and a half years ago with the newsletter editor of one of the non-profits we support. I quote his questions and my answers:

Q: How do you, as a couple, decide where to give and how much to give?

A: We automatically give a tithe of our gross payroll income to our local church and another tithe to missions. We try to live simply (i.e. we don’t have a large home or fancy cars). Of our non-payroll income, we seek to give at least a tithe to unreached peoples mission outreach. We sat down two years ago and sifted the many letters we receive from various agencies and limited our giving to a few agencies that deal with the five “mega” unreached groups: Tribals, Hindus, Unchurched, Muslims, and Buddhists (THUMB). We wrote letters to the remaining ministries and asked to be removed from their lists. We believe we should focus our monies and have the different agencies save their postage expenses.

Q: Do you have any advice for newly married couples who are now developing their own giving habits?

A: Be purposeful.

Our advice:

1. Plan from the start to give at least a tithe.

   Some people say that sounds legalistic. Is it? Our sense: God gave us His laws not only to lead us to Christ, but as gracious signposts of how we ought to live our lives. (As Moses said in Deuteronomy 4:6, God’s laws were intended to show God’s wisdom to the nations so they would stand in awe of Him.) “But we are under grace, not law!” someone says. . . . How wonderful! So we should be experiencing God’s grace even more today than His people did back when they were under the law. And if 10% was good enough back then, then we should be able to give even more. But 10% is a good starting point. If you sense you cannot make even the 10% “legal” requirement, then I would ask you what kind of grace you are experiencing. . . .
    

2. God says He is a great King. King’s don’t take the dregs. Indeed, God says He wants the “firstfruits” (Prov. 3:9-10). So we give Him the tithe “off the top,” from the gross, not the “net after taxes,” or “net after fixed expenses,” or whatever.
    
3. Don’t think that, once you “have more money,” you’ll be able to give more. “He who is faithful in little things is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). Start now, while you have little. Then, as your income grows, your ability will grow with it.

   Side note: Don’t think it will be easier to be faithful after you reach some plateau–when you begin earning a certain amount, or when the kids reach a certain age, or you’re in a certain kind of living situation. Having “much” isn’t easier. It is actually harder. We have had more difficulty since our income rose from the ranks of the bottom quintile than when we were below the poverty line. Back then it was relatively easy to give. Now we sense the burden of having to consider seriously how to be truly strategic in our giving, how to maximize the effectiveness of our giving. That takes time!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 10th, 2009 at 3:53 pm and is filed under charity, faith, giving, mentorship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.