Chapter 1 hits the reader like a ton of bricks, spelling out in detail what American Christians could accomplish if they would tithe. If just the "committed Christians" (defined as those who attend church at least a few times a month or profess to be "strong" or "very strong" Christians) would tithe, there would be an extra 46 billion dollars a year available for kingdom work. To make that figure more concrete, the authors suggest dozens of different things that $46 billion would fund each year: for example, 150,000 new indigenous missionaries; 50,000 additional theological students in the developing world; 5 million more micro loans to poor entrepreneurs; the food, clothing and shelter for all 6,500,000 current refugees in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; all the money for a global campaign to prevent and treat malaria; resources to sponsor 20 million needy children worldwide. Their conclusion is surely right: "Reasonably generous financial giving of ordinary American Christians would generate staggering amounts of money that could literally change the world."
While I don't believe that tithing (giving 10% of your income to the church) is "law" in the way that it was for God's people under the old covenant, I do think it is impossible to read passages like 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 and conclude that we don't need to give in ways that significantly impact our lifestyle. If we think that generosity only negatively impacts our lifestyle, then we have some growing to do.
At the same time, I continue to give thanks for the many who gave toward our outstanding Missions Festival of Praise offering on November 2! We are seeing some of the impact that is described in that quotation above through our giving.
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