Tithing- God’s Gift To Us
My motivation to start this blog came from my unsuccessful attempt to find other blogs about FIRE geared towards Christians. To my chagrin, my online searches turned up lots of opinion pieces arguing that FIRE is incompatible with Christianity. You know the basics: saving money equals greed, not wanting to be tied to a job is laziness, financial independence means relying on money instead of trusting God, and other arguments along these lines. I addressed these points in one of my earliest posts.
But there’s a grain of truth in these concerns. Christians have to be constantly vigilant that our personal goals aren’t drawing us away from our purpose on earth: glorifying God. Even harmless sounding objectives, like running a marathon or marrying our soulmate, can be twisted by evil and turned into obsessions that wrongly compete with our real reason for being. Humans are susceptible to getting caught up in trends, and Christians in the FIRE movement have to constantly make sure we’re doing what we do for the right reasons. Jesus explicitly warned us, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24).
Fortunately, God provided us with a secret weapon for combatting this temptation… tithing! Tithing, or giving the first ten percent of our earnings back to God, has a long and controversial history. Most pastors are fans of tithing, but it’s far from a universal practice, even amongst loyal church attendees. Popular personal finance gurus within Christian circles tend to say tithing should be a priority, though there isn’t widespread agreement on the exact rules. Is tithing absolutely required? Ten percent of gross or net? Does giving to the local food bank count, or only money you put in the offering plate on Sundays? What if you’re still clawing your way out of debt?
These questions are worth careful consideration, but they can obscure the blessing that tithing is supposed to be for us. Tithing isn’t about us helping God out or proving our devotion; it’s a gift from God TO us that reorients our hearts and minds regarding our material things. And that’s why tithing is so important for Christians within the FIRE movement. By giving off the top of our income, before we divide everything out into saving and spending categories, we don’t lose sight of the fact that all the resources belong to God.
I don’t buy into the so-called “prosperity gospel” line that if we give enough money to church, God will make sure we’re financially blessed in the return– our relationship with God isn’t transactional; it’s grace flowing from God to us. But I believe that tithing isn’t a hindrance to financial independence, even if it’s clearly a case of money going out of our accounts and back to our churches and communities. That’s because, whether you’re trying to FIRE or not, tithing reminds us that we don’t actually have to spend all the money that comes our way.
That’s right: you can live on less than you bring home. And if you get a raise at work you can choose not to adjust your lifestyle to your new salary. You can even receive an inheritance and keep driving the same car. Most of us find ourselves in the happy position of receiving unexpected financial boosts at various points, and already having an established habit of tithing can keep us grounded. The reality is that most of us in this privileged corner of the world have more money coming in than we need to sustain ourselves in comfort and safety. Tithing offers immense spiritual benefits– it’s a way for us to practice trusting God, to love our neighbors, and to support our churches. But there are less obvious practical benefits, too. For many of us, it can’t be emphasized enough: we have more than we need, so we have options.
Even after hearing perhaps dozens of sermons on giving, growing up with positive examples of faithful tithing in my parents, and experiencing all the glowy feelings from being generous, Mr. Sense and I didn’t make the leap to tithing until relatively recently. In past years, we set a budget for giving, signed a pledge card at church after talking it over, and gave money to church and local charities. Because our income is variable and unpredictable, we put off making a solid commitment in favor of agreeing that generosity is important to us and giving more when opportunities came our way. But as we planned our finances out last year, Mr. Sense and I prayerfully chose to behave like we’re trusting God, even in the moments when our faith isn’t so strong.
If this sounds a bit like “fake it ‘til you make it,” well, it is. If you want to be happier, smile more. And if you want to build and test your trust in God, then throw yourself into a relationship with God where that trust is non-negotiable. For many of us, our finances are a tough area to surrender control of. And for those of us attempting to reach financial independence in a few short years, it feels risky to hand this part of our lives over to God. He might have other plans for us that mess up the plans we made for ourselves. But we may also find that God is actually better at handling our finances than we are.
God loves us and knows the things that we need. Jesus taught us to “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). He also gives us a lot of control over our futures, including our financial situations. Ultimately, God will determine what is best for us and make it happen. Tithing presents an opportunity to acknowledge this dynamic; to practice virtues of faith and charity while trusting that God will handle the results. Those of us in the Christian FIRE community particularly benefit from tithing, as it links our values with our earthly financial goals and protects us from the potential spiritual pitfalls that cling to frugality and saving.
