A Different Kind of Tithe

Churches often talk about tithing the money we earn.  It’s a common practice for Christina to give 10% of their income to the church.  For many of us, myself included, writing a check is relatively easy.  Yes, it takes a lot to earn that money and it may require cutting back on spending in other areas, but we write the check, drop it in the offering plate (or give online), and we are done. 

 

But the purpose of tithing is not really about the number of what we give or about crossing something off the “Christian to do list.”  It’s about giving to God what is God’s, giving something significant to God. 

As we become more and more busy as a society, it is our time that has become our most precious resource.  I schedule my activities one after the other, I have very little wiggle room in my schedule for any last minute changes, and I have a hard time dealing with anything that requires me to give my time to something else.

And so I wonder: why do we put so much emphasis on tithing our money when in many cases our time is our most precious resource?

What if we tithed our time?  After all, the time we have here on earth is just time we have been given by God, why not give that back to God?

A tithe of time could be spent strengthening our faith through praying, reading and studying the Bible, joining with others in a small group Bible study, or worshiping.  Our tithing time could be spent serving at our church or serving people in need in our community.  This time could be spent on a mission trip, mentoring a young person, building a relationship with someone in need, or taking a Sabbath day.

If we took 10% of a day that would be about 2.5 hours each day.  That adds up to be 17.5 hours a week... 910 hours a year!  Can you imagine how much God could do through people who make that sort of commitment to serving God, to building the Kingdom?

Yes, the tithe of our wages is important and vital, but I wonder how much good could be accomplished and how much we would grow in our relationship with God if we also tithed our time.

Of course, tithing our time would require sacrifices.  Maybe it might mean watching less TV, playing less golf, spending less time relaxing at home.  Maybe it will mean quitting something we enjoy doing.  Tithing our time will also certainly mean entering into some messy and difficult situations- working with God to build the Kingdom of God is really messy and painful.  It will mean putting ourselves out there.  It will require stepping out of our comfort zones day after day while putting our trust in God. 

This, much more than dropping a piece of paper in to a plate, is what God has asked us to do.