Robbing God, Tithing, Douglas Wilson...

Here are some verses, a quote and a link on giving and the tithe that I have found challenging lately.

From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' (8) Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. (9) You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. (10) Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (Malachi 3:7-10)

I have heard John Piper say this before and in one of his sermon he spoke about tithing with these words:

My take on tithing in America is that it’s a middle-class way of robbing God. Tithing to the church and spending the rest on your family is not a Christian goal. It’s a diversion. The real issue is: How shall we use God’s trust fund—namely, all we have—for His glory? In a world with so much misery, what lifestyle should we call our people to live? What example are we setting? — John Piper (1946-), pastor and author

I also would recommend you reading these two blog entries from Douglas Wilson on the Christian and money. Almost everything that Wilson writes is worth reading and thinking about -- he also is enjoyable to read.

Seeking Financial Wisdom
Robert P. Greedybuckets III