A Discourse on Christian Giving at First Stewardship Talk, February 24
Last February 24, the CTK Stewardship Committee held the Qirst of its quarterly Spirituality of Stewardship talks at St. Luke Room, with Glen Glorioso, a freelance trainor and advocate of Christian giving, doing the talk.
Glen was a former member of Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon – Alabang Chapter, a prayer community of single professionals who practice ‘tithing’ and use the funds to undertake sociallyrelevant outreach projects. After getting married in 2003, Glen and his wife Ana are now covenanted members of Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon, the married counterparts of ‘Lingkod’. The couple currently serve together as pastoral leaders to college students. Glorioso has a degree in Marketing and is currently a Qinancial planner and a sales manager with a major life insurance company.
Glen began with the inarguable premise that we don’t ‘own’ the treasures we have received. Since they are God’s gifts to us, we are merely ‘stewards’, tasked with ensuring that the resources entrusted to us – time, talent, and treasure – are managed well.
He differentiated between an owner and a steward., i.e., if you own something, you don’t have to be accountable to anyone if you waste or poorly manage the resources. But if you’re a designated steward, you’re accountable to those who entrusted the resource to you.
The logic goes – the Lord is the Giver of Life. The Giver of life endows us with talents and skills. These God-given abilities and talents allow us to earn money which allows us to buy things. Hence the questions – who is the real owner of the things you’ve acquired? Shouldn’t we give back some of what we’ve received? Returning back just a portion of what is truly His is the definition of ‘tithing’.
Glen went through several Bible passages that mentioned tithing. In Genesis (14:18-20) for example, ‘Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.’ From Tobit 1:6-7, ‘Bringing with me the first fruits of the field and the firstlings of the flock, together with a tenth of my income and the first shearings of the sheep, I would hasten to Jerusalem for the festivals and present them to the priests, Aaron’s sons, at the altar.’ And from Leviticus 27:30, ‘All tithes of the land, whether in grain from the fields or in fruits from the trees, belong to the Lord, as sacred to him.’ And still, from Malachi 3:10, ‘Bring the full tithes 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 an overflowing blessing.’
So Glen argued that when we don’t tithe, we actually steal from God.
So is tithe a tax, Glen also asks, similar to income tax levied by the government? The obvious answer is ‘yes’, since they’re both monetary; they’re intended to benefit people; both are prescribed; both have to be given regularly; and both are a certain percentage of what has been received. But tithe is not a tax in that tithing is by choice, not ‘by force’ as with taxation.
Glen summarized the reasons why we should tithe:
1. it’s a command, not a suggestion
2. out of gratitude for what has been received and gained
3. to grow in complete faith in the Lord’s provision
4. it is important in the Lord’s economy, i.e., the work of the Lord costs something, and there are people in need and many of them run to Christian communities. Christian giving is the machinery that runs the Lord’s economy.
Glen went through another biblical passage, Luke 6:38, ‘Give, and gifts will be given to you. A good measure will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.’ He cautioned that if your sole reason for tithing was to expect to get back exactly what you gave, then you miss the point.
And how much to give? The Old Testament says it should be one tenth or 10% of whatever you gained. The New Testament is a bit more flexible – in Corinthians 9:7, ‘Each must give according to what he has inwardly decided, not sadly, not grudgingly, for God loves a cheerful giver.’
When you give to the Church, that is, your parish or diocese; when you give to your religious community, e.g., Ligaya ng Panginoon; when you give to instructors of God’s words, you are tithing. Glen differentiated this from giving to a charity or foundation or UNICEF since these are not engaged in the work of God.
So his prescription is: first decide on the amount you wish to give on a regular basis, then as with any ‘disciplined savings’, immediately separate your tithe amount as soon as you receive your salary.
The talk concluded with a definition of ‘Christian giving’ – first and foremost, tithing or ‘Christian giving’ is an expression of thanksgiving. But in addition, it is an opportunity to prove your trust in the Source of the supply. Expressed in the vernacular, ‘Pinagkakatiwalaan ka ng Panginoon. Hindi ka ba magtitiwala sa Panginoon?
