The last two Faith Facts have looked at what both the Tanakh, or Old Testament, and the New Testament have to say about the tithe.
From both those Faith Facts, we learned that the tithe was primarily agricultural and that the New Testament speaks very little about the tithe, most of it not being very positive.
What does that mean for us as we try to give? What do we do if we don't have the tithe as the 'golden standard'?
From the Tanakh, as well as the Apocrypha, we gain the knowledge that not only is the tithe agricultural, but that there were many different tithes that were given. That means giving different portions of our goods to different things. One way to express this is giving a different portion of our wealth to different activities of the church, or giving to our local church as well as the church at large, or even giving both to the church and to charitable contributions.
In the New Testament, Jesus causes us to reflect on our reasons for giving. Are we giving to make us feel proud about ourselves, or are we giving out of love and the hope to help others? In other words, the spirit in which we give is one of the most important aspects to our giving.
Ultimately, we should want to give out of love- for God, for the church, and for the people we serve and serve with. The lesson learned from both previous Faith Facts is that in all our giving we should show our love for God and our love for our neighbor. How much we give is a very different question.
For some, giving 10% will be restrictive. For others it will be too little. We are called to give what we can, however great or small. If we need to, we are called also to seek out the help of others to determine, based on our personal incomes, what the right amount of giving is for us.
Whatever you give, give it out of love for God and for your neighbor. That is all any of us can ask for and do.