Should Alaskans pay tithes from their dividends?

In just two days, the flood gates of the Alaska Permanent Fund will open and thousands upon thousands of dollars will begin flowing into bank accounts all over Alaska.

To my knowledge, there is no other state like Alaska and no other people who are so fortunate. It is the proverbial “pot of gold” that many politicians would like to get a ahold of, but so far they just haven’t figured out how to do so without cutting their political ambitions (if not their mortal aspirations) short.

When it comes to the question of tithing and the dividends, you might be surprised to learn that many have no idea what tithing is at all. This came to my attention several years ago from a man who had just read an article on tithing, yet he was so unfamiliar with the subject he could not even pronounce the word. All he knew was that this was something that is commonly practiced in churches.

To answer this simply, tithing is the voluntary giving of 10 percent of what God allows you to bring home in one fashion or another. It may be in the form of a paycheck being derived from direct labor, or it might come in the form of a dividend being derived from an investment. But basically, it is anything that is an increase into your coffers.

And I say voluntary because it is clear from the scriptures that it is not my job to make sure anyone gives back to God. God gives you the health to work and earn, and the wisdom to save and invest. The tithe is giving him back his portion. Yet the scriptures are also clear that while it is not the preacher’s job to make you toe the line, God does keep records, and when you fail to give him his share, he takes a dim view of it. In Malachi chapter three God says, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”

Thus, while it is really mandatory, what God really wants is for us to want to give it to him. In II Corinthians 9 we are told, “God loveth a cheerful giver.” Oh yes, he can take it away from us, but what he really wants is for us to want to give it back to him, even to find joy in so doing.

At this point, the question naturally arises as to just who owes this thing called a tithe to God. Indeed, that gentleman I spoke of earlier got kind of indignant at the idea of being told how and where he should give “his” money. You know, the truth is that God does not need your money, and neither does his church. And what’s more, if you are on your way to hell, it really doesn’t matter one way or the other, for tithing won’t keep you from your destination. Donate to every charitable cause you wish, but without Christ, when you open your eyes after you have breathed your last here, you will find yourself right next to the rich man Jesus spoke about in Luke 16, who even now is in hell.

Truthfully, only Christians really owe God the tithe.

Thus, while not all Alaskans owe God a tithe, those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul do.

Why do we give tithes and offerings? It is because the gospel is spread by people, and in today’s society we exchange our time for money, and then money for those things we call necessities. While God’s servants are not supposed to live lavishly, anybody with common sense knows that it takes money to survive. In I Corinthians 9 we are told that this is an exchange. God’s servant gives God’s people spiritual things, and God’s people in exchange give carnal things (money). God’s servant is likened unto the ox that would tread out the grain, and a people who would be stingy were like the ancients who would put a muzzle over the ox so it couldn’t graze as it worked.

What God wants you to know is that if you will take care of his servant, then God will take care of you. If you will give him the 10 percent, then God will see to it that the 90 percent remaining will take care of your needs.

Do you have financial hardships today? Perhaps it is because you have not given God his portion, and he is simply unwilling to bless the remainder until you do.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.