Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: He didn't give you money because he wants it back.
He gave it to you so you'll experiment and grow and try and learn. God is so kind and he's so generous. He's okay with you messing up, but he's not okay with you refusing the process altogether that he won't stand for.
Run your home and your dough like a biblical boss. Welcome back to Abraham's Wallet, the spot where we equip Christian dads to run their homes and their dough like biblical boss process. I'm your host, Stephen Manual. I'm joined today by my old friend, a certified financial planner, Mark Parrott from Utah. And today we're diving into something that's got a lot of us scratching our heads or maybe just autopiloting our bank accounts, which I think is worse. And that is managing that tithe money, you know, that 10% that we've been told to fork over since Sunday school. But hold off.
Is it really just about handing it off or is God calling us to something bigger, like actually stewarding it with purpose?
We're going to get into that. But Mark, before we do, we might have talked about this already on some recording somewhere. I know that we talked for a minute about going to Oregon together, but I was reflecting today on how great it was to sit down with all of those one on ones. Did we like go over that in detail with people on an episode?
[00:01:27] Speaker B: No, but I almost think we could do a whole episode that's like a virtual taking you through what it would be like to sit through a quick, quick financial health checkup with a professional, which is kind of what we did.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I would just like to say this. Why don't you tell people what did we do? How did it happen that we're having all of these meetings with people who are not our clients, but we're giving them insights.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: Steve and I own a financial planning company called Outpost Advisors. And one of the things that company does is we run 401k plans and 403 plans for companies and organizations and things like that.
And you can just set those plans up and make sure they follow the laws and be done with it and take a fee for that work.
For us, it's very important when we are running one of those plans as the advisor, that we also make a little bit of time once a year to be available to the employees.
Typically it's our client that owns the business or the organization that sponsors this thing. And we just like to make ourselves available and say we are going to just be in town. So let's set 30 minute appointments for anybody that is in your organization that wants to come and just get a quick financial checkup with some professionals.
Oftentimes these are people who maybe don't have access to financial planning. They might not have wealth or income that would allow them to go out and buy this.
So it's really rewarding to me because like I think you're about to say Steven, in 15 to 30 minutes we can quickly diagnose and put people on a much improved path to, towards financial health with like super low hanging fruit. So that's what we were doing on this recent trip and we got to meet with I don't know, 15 people and talk through different questions that they have about money.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: It was so great. I've, I have talked many guys like I'm imagining I had an early morning with a guy, we took a walk right down this road that's right outside this window and I just started musing to him about these are people who, they don't have the money to meet with a professional financial advisor and we're talking with them about their, their greatest felt needs financially or we're asking a couple of probing questions so that they don't see it. But this is their greatest financial opportunity.
So rewarding and such a great way to like put, put our skills onto the playing field.
And I was, I was actually thinking of the fact that you, you will have come, you will have come to Cincinnati. I love doing future possible. We don't get to use that tense very often. But you will have come to Cincinnati by the time this has aired for the Abe's Wallet weekend and this might come out that week I suppose.
And I was just thinking, man, if we could line up a whole bunch of people here locally and do these same meetings. It seems like anytime we get together, even if it's in, in Texas for, for our summer trip, it seems like we should line up people and have these quick, these quick speed dating, speed round financial sessions. I was just, I just wanted to museum on that with you and I'll just say this. Here, here's my, here's my call to action on that.
One thing that we love to do is send as many people as possible to our info page to go like schedule a time. So where it says on, on our Outpost Advisors website there's a page that says schedule a call and you could get, you could get yourself 30 minutes and get some, get some thoughts behind what's going on in your world.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: Well, we're Going to talk, like you said in the intro, about giving today. And I want to give my last.
What's up this, this weekend is that as soon as we get done with this call. Steve.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: I'm going to go shine up my. My dress shoes and get ready for a formal event tonight. My wife is the medical director at the Pregnancy Resource center here in Salt Lake City.
Tonight is the big banquet.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Oh, excellent. Is she speaking?
[00:05:58] Speaker B: I was gonna say her speech last year was a barn burner. This year it's gonna be just as good. I'm going to record video of this speech and I'm gonna try to make that available at very least to our community of supporters over at ur.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Excellent.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: And that's just the reason it came to my mind is that you should give to a variety of things, but if you're just sitting there going, I have no idea what to give to, my hunch is that there is a pregnancy resource center in your town and you could at least investigate the work they're doing because most of these places are doing really great and important work.
And of course, we like when you support Abraham's wallet, but we also like when you support other things that are matter to the Lord's heart. And this is one of them. So it's kind of on my mind tonight. That's what we'll be doing right after this podcast is recorded.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Excellent. Okay, I'm going to start when we are talking about the tithe, but I would like to enter into this subject.
One of the things that I want people to do with their tithe is I want them to stop being lazy and going on autopilot with it.
So I'm going to read Mark, an article that was written for abrahamswallet.com heard of it?
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Yes. It's the old blog site.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Yeah, but, but you, you, when we started talking about this episode, you did a search and said this, this article is not there. So this is either a bonus or it was rejected by the, by the chief editor at some point or something.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: Or maybe it gets published before this goes up. Who knows?
[00:07:43] Speaker A: That's right. Maybe I'll just. I publish it right after we record this. But the title of the article is don't give your money back to God. He doesn't want it.
So I'm going to read. I'm going to read this article to you and then we're going to get into talking about the tithe. Okay. When church people types are talking about giving money, you'll often hear them say they're Giving back.
Giving back. All right, this is the time we give back. Preachers will tell you to give back to God so that you'll pony up when the offering plate passes by, or to tell you that the tithe is paying your rent. Have you ever heard that awful metaphor used, Mark? Yeah, yeah, let's all pay our rent.
Here's the thing. That's wacko.
So, for starters, what kind of sick freak would give you something than ask you to give it back to him? Is that a joke?
What kind of bizarre play acting are we doing here? If God only wants me to have 90% of the money, he should just give me 90% of the money and cut out the patty cake show where he's going to give me the whole thing. And he goes, well, you want to give me a little bit back? Then I go, I don't want to give it back. And he goes, oh, just act like you want to give it back. Why are we doing this? What is this thing we're playing? So it's not only nonsensical, I don't think putting you through some sort of giving transaction machine is God's heart at all.
To wit, Luke 12:31 says, Seek the kingdom, and all these things will be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old. A treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: We could.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: We could do three episodes on that passage.
God wants to give the kingdom to sweet little dummies like us. He believes in us, and he wants us to rule and reign.
That is crazy to think about. If you've been convinced over the years that the best thing you can do is shut up and do what you're told by those who set themselves up as religious leaders. But I've got it on good authority that God wants us to grow into little junior partners and in the family business of judging, managing, and ruling.
Here's more. Genesis 1:26.
Let them make man. Sorry. Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them rule over the fish. Let them rule as underlined. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the cattle, and all over the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
Psalm 8 says, you have crowned man with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You've put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field and the birds of the air.
Second Timothy 2 says, if we endure, we will reign with him.
Luke 19 says, well done, my good servant. The Master replied, because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of 10 cities.
Now, in that last passage, the parable of the Minas, the master obviously wants his underling follower dudes to become rulers of cities even.
And money management is the dry run at whether they can handle the job or not.
Do you think that giving your money back to God is a good way to learn how to manage it? I don't. I think that managing it is the best way to learn how to manage it. In that same parable, we actually have an example of a guy who just wants to give it back to God and get it out of his hands asap.
God is not pleased with that guy's response.
Now, there's lots of reasons that we might want to do what he did, which is, I don't want to take the risk. I'll give it back to you, God. Let's get out of my hands.
You might have the reasons. You failed at stuff before and you fear more failure. Maybe you've been taught you were bad and untrustworthy and you believed it. Maybe you think that you're an object of God's wrath, not his delight. Maybe you live in a society that doesn't like uppity so and so's who think they can actually overcome and live above all the noise.
Maybe your family has low expectations of you, so you joined them in that belief.
Maybe power scares you so you stay away from it. Maybe everybody looks at people who are in charge and you would rather go unnoticed. Maybe you think God doesn't really trust you anyway.
Whatever reason this guy had in that story, he tried to give back to God with his money and it did not go well. The Master said that that servant was lazy and fearful, got mad at him. Then the master took away his money and and gave it to the one who had managed it. Well, the parable may have ended with that servant getting slain. It's unclear, but either way avoid.
So guys, I want it to go well for you. I don't want you to, quote, give back to God. I want you to learn how to manage it so that you'll be skilled and qualified to rule. If you're considering what giving means in your world, the good, the good men who wrote God and money suggest that you should give strategically and purposefully, not thoughtlessly and mechanically, to three missions expanding God's kingdom, sending the Gospel to the lost, and the provision and protection to the poor. I'll add here that your giving ideally is in conjunction with your family's mission and goals. A family who's very interested in adopting might see funding adoptions as a fulfillment of any of the above.
A foreign mission centric family might give to mission work, a business minded family might give to evangelistic business organizations, etc. So your local church might be a good route to go to for any of the above three missions expanding God's kingdom, sending the Gospel to the lost, the provision and protection of the poor. Personally, I give to my local church and I find them to do a pretty good job of one or two of those. But your local church might not be the place to give. The point is, wherever you give, you should do it because you actively and strategically want to put your dollars to work. As someone who's learning to rule, you should not just write a check because those church people over there know what to do with it better than me. Not only is that not true, you wouldn't believe how awful some churches are with their money and the stupid things that churches do with the money that you have given in good faith thinking that it was for the kingdom of God. But punting on your responsibility to manage your giving dollars is not an option.
You might, as an actively involved giver, you might give money to the human being who gives you spiritual oversight or care, I. E. The kids are in the hospital.
Who do you call for spiritual support?
Give that person money.
You might give to human people who do active ministry work that blesses you or your family or people that you know. You know those people who teach your kids some Bible stories on Sunday mornings. Why don't you give them a big gift card and watch their eyes pop out of their skull? How about that online preacher you listen to all the time and you get so much out of send him some dough. How about that old lady from that weird Holy Spirit church that prayed for your mom's leg last year? You need to find out her name and send her some cash in an envelope with an encouraging note.
Or you could go to a poor part of your town and hand out $20 bills screaming Jesus is so generous you won't believe it as you do. So you think that sounds nuts because you've never seen anybody do it. But guess what? The people will accept the money and they might think you're nuts too. And there Might be a thousand other ideas of things that you could do. But actively involved manager givers can do all sorts of creative things with their giving dollars and it's all great. And don't forget that God is so patient. He gives us money over and over and over again because he's playing the long game with you. He wants to develop leadership in you and that is not an overnight endeavor. He didn't give you money because he wants it back.
He gave it to you so you'll experiment and grow and try and learn. God is so kind and he's so generous and he's okay with you messing up. Yes, he is okay with you wasting money if you do it with good intentions, if you lose dough on good attempts and you fail over and over as you learn. But he's not okay with you refusing the process altogether that he won't stand for.
So stay at your post. The Lord gave you money. He gave you in order to train you. Take the training opportunity and and don't give that money back to God.
That's the article.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: Spicy, spicy article. Steve. Thanks for bringing the heat.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: Are you fine with it? Shall I proceed or do you want to say anything in response?
[00:17:01] Speaker B: I mean, it's hard to listen to this one. Just like we do have other articles up on the site that have gotten to a similar encouragement.
It I just want to tell the listeners, if you hear this and you go like, I am so uncomfortable with what you're saying.
Personally, I think of all the like money I've given to the church organization and some of that money looking back, I go, wow, what a great investment in God's kingdom.
Yeah, some of it. I go, man, that was stupid.
And like I was kind of mindlessly just writing a check to fulfill some magical duty that I was told exists in the Bible. And I think you're going to talk about this, but I was kind of taught, hey, you just have to tithe. And I just had a conversation, kind of even going back to the banquet tonight with my daughter and said, I don't think any giving has happened for you in a very long time. And I know a lot of income has happened for you.
And so I'm going to require giving.
So yeah, that's kind of my thoughts is like I want to have a heart that's seeking where I can get return on, on my money in terms of putting it in the strategic places in the kingdom.
I don't think we have to to give a certain number. And I'm also going to kind of turn the screws on my own kids, if they're not sinful little hearts don't naturally go, oh, I just, I've got all this money, I just want to be generous with it. Yeah. So those are my, those are the thoughts swirling in my head and I think of my dear friends who are in full time ministry and maybe feeling attacked by this very podcast.
So that I'm not really providing you any comments. I'm just saying those are the thoughts that swirl around in my brain when you read.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: That's fine. Great.
Well, my kind of my entree is like, as you heard, I want to put the onus of what happens with your giving money. And we're using tithe as a stand in for giving money. So I'm gonna, I will repeatedly use the tithe just because that's what that's. But that's the subject that people are asking for commentary on.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: Yeah, but it does have to be exactly 10% of.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Pre tax income, minus standard deduction.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Definitely. It has to come out to 10.00. We will accept anything from 9.98 to 10.03.
So I grew up, it was really simple what happened. When I was growing up, if I ever made $50, I would have had to mow two lawns probably to come up with $50. But if I made $50, it's real easy. You move the decimal over one and you go, I owe $5. Literally $5. Put it in the offering plate. I think we're good here.
And that's how I was taught growing up. Now that is following the letter of the law to one of the laws we're going to talk about. We're going to talk about a lot of laws, but the tithe itself. 1. You just heard me read that article. That's about. Hold on a second.
There's no such thing as a temple anymore. We're not giving to temple. We're not giving to the Levites anymore.
What are we, what are we doing exactly? What's, what's happening with this giving money and the word tithe.
I can tell you, and I'll actually, we'll probably look at them. I can tell you the two or three verses that your preacher uses to, to get you to give money to the local church and call that a tithe. But what we're going to find is that the tithe is actually a little more complex than that.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: Well, can I make one quick clarification first?
[00:20:59] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: You just said you'd have to mow two lawns to get your hands on $50.
[00:21:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: And I typed in the BLS calculator.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: If.
[00:21:11] Speaker B: What if $50 is two lawns, $25 a lawn in 1986.
Today, that's $74 per lawn. You were charging a phenomenally premium rate for those lawns.
[00:21:26] Speaker A: That's a really great point, Mark. That is super helpful, the conversation.
[00:21:30] Speaker B: Sorry, I just. Good for you.
Entrepreneuring little Stevie.
[00:21:36] Speaker A: It was my buddy Curtis Hudson that started the, the lawn mowing company. I jumped in on his coattails and started learning a thing or two. I'll tell you one thing I learned in my teens pushing a mower around was that the hard part about mowing lawns is the customers.
You probably could have finished that sentence.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: They're salty because they don't like paying $75 for a lawnmower.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: We always went above and beyond. We were worth every dollar. Okay, first of all, I'm just gonna throw. Because it's the top of my note sheet. I'll just let me. I gave people. We're giving away so many tips here. I'm gonna throw another tip in, which is when you're learning about something, just open a, just open a Google Doc or Notes in your phone and just start collecting the things that you're learning about something. Oh, here's a Bible verse that applies to this thing. That's the, that's the thing that I'm learning about. I've been doing this all of my life. So I have a file on every hard drive that I've had since my early 20s.
I have notes on about every topic that you can think of biblically, because I'm trying to understand God's word. I'm taking notes, and I hear an interesting quote from somebody on topic. I go, oh, I got a file on that. Open it up, put the quote in, etc.
So when people ask me about a tithe, as they do, I open up file and I go, well, here's everything the word of God says on it. Because I've, I've studied it. So that's all I did is I, I, I have already done the work of organizing this stuff. And right at the top of the list is the, is this point. Tithing is supposed to be a joyous event of worship.
Deuteronomy 12:12.
We just did Yom Kippur here. And one of the questions that you ask that the Jews ask around this day is when I give charitably, do I do it begrudgingly or I do it excitedly and with Joy and Deuteronomy 12:12 says that it's supposed to be joyous when you. When you give. So let's look at some of the ties. One thing I've got to make this point right up front because it's so important. It's so important for the way that we consider money in the kingdom of God is that tithing. There was tithing that existed before the law, before the Mosaic law. When did that happen, Mark?
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Well, Abraham cut off a tithe and gave it to shoot. What's his name? The king.
[00:24:15] Speaker A: Starts with an M.
[00:24:18] Speaker B: Melchizedek.
[00:24:19] Speaker A: Bingo.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: The prophet, priest and king.
[00:24:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Might have been Jesus. Might have been Jesus. But in. In Genesis 14, it says Melchizedek, King of Salem. That means king of peace, brought out bread and wine.
He was the priest of God Most High, and he blessed. Abraham had never heard of God Most High, but he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram, saying, blessed be Abram, by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
That is a really weird thing that happened.
There's some.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: Mystery priest who comes out of this kingdom we've never heard of, and he gives Abram a blessing. And if. If it happened to me, I would say thank you very much and shake his hand. I might even say, do you want to go get coffee? I might pick up the coffee. I wouldn't say, I'm Abraham. I'm worth maybe $3.5 billion. Would you like a tenth of everything I have? Here it is. That's what happened to Abraham. He just gave a tenth of everything he had to this guy. There was no law, folks. He's never heard the word tithe. He's never heard of a sermon of tithe. There's no Bible verses. God has never addressed tithe to Abram before, and he just gives it to this man.
Chapter 28 of Genesis says, this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house. And of all that I give you, and all that you give me, I will give you a tenth. He's saying, in God's house, all that you give me, Lord, I'm going to give to your work. And in Abram's mind, Melchizedek, was that, by the way, even that statement, I'm going to give a tenth. Where did that come from?
God. That's what I have to say. God inspired that. Okay? So that's very important for us. To realize if there's anybody that thinks in your mind at all, the idea of giving to the. To God's work in the earth is something that's a result of Mosaic law. And somebody told me at one point, I'm not under the law anymore, so I don't have to do what the laws say. I disagree with that statement. But that's what a lot of evangelicals teach. Maybe you heard that, you think, well, then I can call ixnay on all laws. Well, this isn't a law. It's a kingdom truth that happened before the law ever came.
And we're going to hear that it's affirmed by Jesus as well. So here we go.
Next statement, and I'll give you the verses to back it up. Regular tithing after the law was given was specifically for the maintenance of the local priests, that is Levites, not for the temple in Jerusalem.
Okay, so regular tithing after the law was given wasn't.
This is. You know, we've heard this verse before. We're going to get to it. Bring your tithes into the storehouse and everyone goes. Give it to First Lutheran Church of Centerville, Illinois.
We are the storehouse. Bring those tithes right here. We'll take it from here, everybody. Thank you very much that that wasn't the case. So Leviticus 27 says, A tithe of everything. This is the first occurrence.
A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord.
If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock, every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod will be holy to the Lord.
I give to the Levites. Sorry, I'm jumping. I'm jumping. From Numbers 18 to. To Deuteronomy 12. To thread these together, I give to the Levites all of the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting.
So they're taking care of the gathering place of the people of Israel. This is their full time life. And God has taken care of their service with these, with this giving money. Deuteronomy 12. Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.
There you are to bring everything I command you. Your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts. Those are all outlined scripturally and all of the choice possessions you have vowed to the Lord. And there rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites from your towns, and who have no allotment or inheritance of their own. Be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in the land.
Later in that same chapter, do not neglect the Levites living in your towns. They have no allotment or inheritance of their own.
So this money is for the maintenance of Levites. I. I'm trying to get through the biblical account without making comments, but I'll just say that people that do God's work, God likes to remunerate them. That's all I'll say for now.
Okay, next statement. There was a special tithe given every year. Wait, what did you just say?
There was a special tithe. What does that mean?
A tenth given every year. I thought you said there was already a tithe given to the Levites. I did.
There was a special tithe given every year that was specifically for the good of your own home as a worship event.
So you've already. You're giving a tithe to the Levites, and with another tenth of your money, you are spending it on your family's worship. This is Deuteronomy 14.
Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.
Eat the tithe of your grain. That doesn't make sense.
I put aside a tent. What do you want me to do with it? Consume it.
Well, how did I. What do you.
Why did I set it aside? Because there's a reason that I want you to consume it. I want you to consume it in a particular way.
Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds. That's the best food. And the flocks in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his name, so that you may learn to rever the Lord your God. Always.
He's like, wherever the Lord sets up his temple or wherever.
When this law was given, they were a nomadic people.
So wherever the Lord sets up his tent, his tabernacle, where his name is going to rest, you take the first tenth of your stuff and you consume it before the Lord in a joyful thanksgiving, and you rever the Lord with it.
But if that place is too distant and you've been blessed by the Lord your God, and you cannot carry your tithe because the place where the Lord will choose to put his name is so far away, then exchange your tithe for silver and Take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use that silver to buy.
What is it, Mark?
What do you buy at Costco?
Where do you buy at Costco?
[00:32:13] Speaker B: Brisket.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: It's the phrase that you use with your family when you go to Costco for Sukkot.
[00:32:19] Speaker B: Whatever delights the eye.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: There it is. Use the silver to buy whatever delights the eye. Cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish.
There it is.
[00:32:33] Speaker B: It's in the Nutella and brisket that.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: Anything you wish. Well, you have to do the brisket, because that's the cattle. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, and rejoice. It's like when dad used to say, and you'll like it.
Rejoice anything. Take the silver, a tenth of your stuff.
Buy the greatest drinks, the best food and anything that you like and rejoice before the Lord with it.
That's what he said. That's a special tithe. It's every year.
[00:33:12] Speaker B: Okay, then we're down two tithes. Let's keep going.
[00:33:15] Speaker A: Okay, then there was a special tithe given every three years.
That was for public ministry as well as the maintenance of the priests.
This could be called a storehouse tithe.
So those verses are all in Deuteronomy 14. And I'm. I'm going back to 14 and back to 26, Deuteronomy 14. At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns. Store it so that the Levites who have no allotment or inheritance. Inheritance of their own. And the aliens. Oh, that's the first time we're hearing this. The aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
So let me just pop quiz for you, Mark, where. Where we are so far.
Of all the money that we've talked about, how much do the aliens, the fatherless and the widows have access to?
[00:34:25] Speaker B: Well, one. One of these tithes. Yes.
[00:34:28] Speaker A: Well, it's the one that happens every three years.
[00:34:31] Speaker B: So if we want to dice it up, maybe 3.3%.
[00:34:37] Speaker A: There you go.
That's what I hear as well.
So somebody goes, well, our tithe is for the poor.
Well, I might not be listening that good.
Okay.
When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in that third year, the year of this tithe, you shall Give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. There's a repetition from Deuteronomy 14 in chapter 26.
Next one. The priests themselves were to tithe what they had received from their local flocks. Interesting idea.
This seems to be another source in addition to the tithe that happened every three years for the storehouse.
And in numbers 18, it says, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them, they will have no inheritance among the Israelites. The Lord said to Moses, speak to the Levites and say to them, when you receive from the Israelite the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tithe of that tithe as the Lord's offering.
Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. In this way, you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord's portion to Aaron the priest. You must present as the Lord's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.
There's a famous story of Eli's sons who were the picture of the dirt bag ministers who bilk the people for money. These. What these guys would do is that they would fork the best pieces of meat out of the boiling water constantly, take, put it aside for themselves, and then whatever's left to the. That's for God. Yeah, that's for God. You know, Bless you, God.
Baruch hashem. Blah, blah, blah.
They're losers. Their hearts were unpure. I would just like, I set out to say this on this episode, but wanting healthy accountability from the organizations that you give money to is totally apropos. Do we not have enough examples in every strata of, quote, religious service that there's shysters all over the place?
And I know they're very nice. I know they're very nice. And they might come visit Aunt Maude when she's in the hospital. You're like, they're the nicest people.
I want you to know that. The nicest. One of the nicest old men that my wife and I ever met was the. Was the dude that ran the oil company that bilked us out of 80 grand. It was an old man. We sat down with him. He's. I'll never forget, he patted my wife's hand. And said, little lady, we're going to take care of this money.
Yeah, he did take care of it. He stole it all.
And then he died on us and we lost all of our money. But he was a very nice guy, super nice.
So I think there can be a healthy distrust.
Okay, Nehemiah 10 says, this is more on that. The priests have to give a tithe. We will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, the fruit of all our trees and our new wine and oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites. For it is the Levites who collect the tithes. In all the towns where we work, a priest descended from Aaron is to accompany the Levites when they receive the tithes. Did you hear that? And they're counting the tithe money in the back office. There's multiple people back there. There's a guy looking over their shoulder. That's what it says. There's. Somebody is going to be there with them when they receive the tithes. The people of Israel, including the Levites, are to bring their contributions of grain, new wine and oil to the storeroom where the articles for the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers and the singers stay.
So again, there's these servants of God. This is their life.
They make a habit of serving God's people. And this money comes into the storehouse from them, and they're expected to give a tithe. Okay, I'm rounding into home here. So. So hold on.
I have three more statements, and they're quick passages.
First statement. After Jesus had come to fulfill the law, he affirmed the tithe.
He said, woe to you Pharisees, because you give a tenth of your mint, your. Your rue, and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You guys are very detailed and very persnickety about every cent because you want to get exactly 10%, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. He says you should do both.
You should. You should be about justice. If you want a great society, then you do the thing that God told you to do, which is you should be a generous giver and you should look for justice and the love of God. That should be important to you. I just put that point into the pot.
Second to last point. God longs to bless us in this.
I read this in the. It was in the article Proverbs 3, Honor the Lord with your wealth and the first fruits of your crops. And then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine. What a promise.
Last thing. Any refusal to come into blessing. This is very interesting about the kingdom of God. Any refusal to come into blessing yields a curse.
Isn't that crazy? If you refuse to come into God's blessing, you get a curse.
So this is the last passage I'm going to read. Malachi 3, 10. Will a man rob God?
Yet you rob me.
But you ask, how do we rob you in tithes and offerings? You're under a curse, the whole nation of you, because you're robbing me.
Bring. Here's, here's the big passage everybody quotes. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
That's it. Now, you guys know something that many pastors do not know. You've heard everything the Bible has to say about tithes. That's the whole, that's the whole shooting match right there. So let's, let's talk about some conclusions and some applications for people real quick. Mark, what do, what do you hear?
[00:41:20] Speaker B: Well, if we were going to go back and try to say this is, this is some law, biblical law. We must. And it's a math problem law.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:41:30] Speaker B: Then I know very few people who are hitting that math problem. Just top line number meaning, you know, 23 and a third, maybe. Person.
[00:41:41] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:41:41] Speaker B: If you want to call it that.
And I don't know if I know anybody who is partitioning that number out according to the purposes outlined in the scripture.
Now, maybe you disagree, I don't know. But I don't think we are under that law specifically for a math problem or a partitioning problem, because.
But I think we can draw a lot of good principles from it. So I don't think you're supposed to listen to this episode and go, all right, 10% to my priests, 10% to my Sukkot festival, 3.3% to the poor widows. Check.
But I think that probably leaves our listeners who are going, you guys got, got six minutes left. How are you going to do it? They're asking, okay, what's the point of this episode? Just to make me feel, like, confused. Yeah, I feel a little confused right now, Steve.
[00:42:43] Speaker A: Okay, well, let's Just summarize everything that we've heard. If we're going to follow the law like you said, Mark, here's what we would do.
You would look around your life and you would actually ask yourself, who ministers God to me?
Who prays for me? Can you name the people who have prayed for you in the past year? Who prays for me?
Who teaches God's word to me?
Who equips me to worship in my home?
I heard from somewhere, Ephesians 3, that the job of the ministers was to equip God's people for works of service.
Who has equipped us to perform works of service in our home?
Well, you should give one tenth of everything you owe to them.
No, there's nothing about organizations here. I don't care if there's a letterhead that says church of blah, blah, blah on it. I'm talking about people that minister to you, okay? And again, if that is, if that's somebody at a church house, great.
Number two, one tenth of my money should be put aside to family worship.
So my family is going to meet with God and it's going to be a rollicking good time. It's going to be first class. We're going to do it up.
I.
That is so hard. You're talking about people that's hard to find. It's hard to find anybody that takes their family worship that seriously, that they're putting that amount of dough against it. And I mean worship. I mean training us to. I, I think you can throw conferences and spiritual trips.
We've got a guy here right now who's visiting Cincinnati. It's costing him money to be here to visit.
I think that qualifies a lot. He's really getting a lot of spiritual oomph out of it.
So one tenth to family worship, 1/10 to whoever ministers to you, and 1/10 every three years. So let's call it 3% to this storehouse idea. And that's the only, that's the only place where it's widows, orphans, aliens.
I think that ought to, I mean, the Bible says this. It ought to be people that, you know, do you know, single moms that, that, that operate as widows.
I know personally. I was with a guy today.
He's setting up house. He's got a young family. He doesn't have a father. He doesn't have a successful father who's helped him.
So that's, that's effectively an orphan to me. I don't care that he's 30 years old. A father should be helping him. Getting in, get into his first house and it's not happening. So to me, the, our starting point is let's just circle these areas. Can we start there by circling who ministers, what's our family worship and who are the biblical needy around around me? Who are those widows, orphans and aliens around me?
Now when we go into the New Testament, it's not a tenth of everything, it's everything.
This is the early churches. Everything they've got goes to the people because they were under such hard times.
To me, when we walk into the New Covenant, when we walk into the kingdom that we're describing of God handing us the kingdom, to me the doors get blown open on everything, which is what can the Lord require of me? Everything is the answer.
Okay, what do I have to do? What do I have to do, Mark? I think, I think that it's a pretty good rule to say that we expect people to start with 10% and if somebody's a brand new believer, they go, I want to be a giver. I'm just a young, we're just a young couple. I don't know what we're supposed to do. I would say I would still take the time to identify those three areas around the life, family, worship, who ministers to you, who are the aliens around you. I would still identify those same place. And I said, let's start at 10%.
But as we mature, I'm thinking, why doesn't that number grow? Why don't we go up into the 20% and et cetera, et cetera. So there's not, there's not a simple answer for. Well, we have to give exact as you, as you said. I agree with you, Mark. I think that this, that these old rules of what they would do with. We don't have Levites anymore, we don't have a temple anymore. So what are we given to exactly? And how much, how much do we give? I don't think we're given that except that we know that Jesus says like tithe. Yeah, I like tithe. Do tithe.
But you know, your local First Baptist is not the same thing as the temple. And the, the guy that teaches you the Bible is not the same, not the same functionally responsibility as the, as the Levites. But I think these categories still stand. And I think we've got to discern as family leaders where we're giving what to. I just, I just want everybody to know this stuff because it's not as cut and dried as what they've heard growing up in church.
[00:47:58] Speaker B: Yeah, that's good. And as we just shut it down.
You said, you referenced the verse that where your money is, there your heart will be.
[00:48:09] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:48:10] Speaker B: I think I always thought of that. Like, oh, that's the way we check on where our heart is. We look at where we're putting all our money.
[00:48:17] Speaker A: Right.
[00:48:18] Speaker B: There's some truth to that. But you can also direct your heart with your giving meaning. You can just give money. You can say, I don't care about the poor, and it seems like Jesus did.
And so I'm going to put some money there. That could be part of your tithe or not. So I think it's worth considering. And using your giving to lead your heart.
[00:48:40] Speaker A: Sweet. Run your home and go like a biblical boss. See you next time.
