February 15, 2018
In part one of this series we considered the concept that we are no longer required by the law of the Old Testament to tithe, and therefore what we give to support God’s work and workers becomes a freewill offering, given out of love for the Lord and others. We also heard the example of R. G. LeTourneau, a person who is known for giving 90% of his income to God and living on 10%.
Now for a modern-day account let’s take the life of Jon M. Huntsman. He started with practically nothing and built a world-class business that carried him to Forbes’ list of America’s wealthiest people. He is a man who decided at a young age that he was going to give back; he pledged to give to others even when he had nothing, not even a job. His thinking on the matter is as follows:
Philanthropy ought to be the preeminent ingredient in everyone’s recipe for material gain. No matter what the field, no star of any success story is a totally self-made man or woman. Along the way, all of us received help from others. We all owe a portion of our success to others, incurring a debt in the process, and the only way to repay that assistance is by sharing our good fortune.
I get goose bumps thinking of the blessings that have come my way. It wasn’t always so. For years, people shared what they had with the Huntsman family. My uncle, grandfather, and mother taught me the art of giving. As kids, we all were taught to give and share alike. We quickly learned that generosity was among the highest attributes a person could acquire.
During my senior year I received the Wharton scholarship. I thanked [those who gave me the scholarship], but said the grant would not be sufficient to permit me to attend. I would have to work full-time to make it financially. I wasn’t sure I could succeed academically in an Ivy League school when burdened with full-time employment.
The donors worked out a further arrangement whereby all of my tuition, fees, and room and board also would be covered. And thus I went off to Wharton. …
I had no idea how I would repay the gift; those who provided it simply said, in essence, pass it on. And I have tried. [My wife] and I have given a portion of our paycheck to worthy causes every year since I was in the navy making $320 a month. For the past 20 years, we concentrated on making money so we could give it away.
Monetarily, the most satisfying moments in my life have not been the excitement of closing a great deal or the reaping of handsome profits from it. They have been when I was able to help others in need—especially “the least of these, my brethren.” …
No question about it, one gauge of success is how much wealth one acquires in his or her lifetime. The more meaningful and lasting measurement, though, is how much one gives away.
My message is not solely for the fraternity of the rich. Nobody gets off the hook. If just the rich give, little changes. All must give their share. Be a benevolent overseer of your harvest, for each of our stewardships is temporary. We have only a short time to see that wealth, however humble or vast, is spread about to worthy needs.
Giving is a spiritual obligation. The Christian gospel, for one, makes that mandate clear: If a man has two coats, should he not give one of them to the man who is without a coat? For Jews, charity is a duty centered on the belief that everything we own is God-given. One is obligated to share with those who do not have enough. …
Sharing wealth and kindness, embracing those in need, and creating opportunities for others are a societal duty. The only thing that changes as we move through life is the scope of our giving. …
Giving enriches one’s heart and soul—and it’s contagious.—Jon M. Huntsman, adapted1
This is a concept we can all think about—giving back, because we all know we have been recipients of the help and generosity of many people along the path of our lives.
Here is a post from a personal blog, entitled “To Tithe Or Not To Tithe.”
In my family we are firm believers in tithing—giving 10% of our gross income to our church. In fact, we get pretty excited about it. We look forward to increasing our tithe each year. We look and pray for opportunities to give above our tithe to others in need. It’s just flat out fun to us. Call us crazy.
Several years back our finances were pretty tough. Tough might not be an accurate word to use to define our financial stability, or instability at the time. However, no matter how difficult times have gotten, we’ve always tithed. We know that withholding our tithe from God is basically robbing Him and telling Him we don’t trust Him.2 So, one July morning in 2002 at church, I wrote out our tithe check for the month. I held the check in my hand and just stared at it as the [collection] bucket made its way toward our aisle. Chris held my hand and I simply prayed, “God, this amount of money could buy us groceries for most of the month. But, it’s yours and I want you to know that we trust you.”
I went about the rest of the day not giving any thought to the prayer I prayed. The next day it was raining, but I needed to run an errand. I left our house and ended up going down a different street—not the one I typically drive down. As I was driving, I noticed something in the road that looked an awful lot like money. And as surely as I passed it, I realized that it was. I heard a voice in my mind say, “Turn around.” Reluctantly, I did. I approached the wad of money and carefully bent down to pick it up. It was soaking wet, but it was still money. I looked all around me just expecting someone to say, “Hey, I just dropped that.”
Nothing.
I got in my car, drove back home and walked through the door with a lump of wet bills in my hand. With stunned looks on our faces, we counted $520 in cold, hard cash … nearly two times the amount of the tithe check I’d written the day before.
Coincidence? Whatever. My God is big and He can do anything He wants to. And if He wants to show me that He can provide in the middle of a street on a rainy Monday afternoon, then by golly, I think He will.
Malachi 3:10 is the only place in the Bible where God actually tells His people to test Him. He says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
The floodgates opened for our family that rainy July afternoon. What’s holding them back from opening up to you?
PS. Let me clarify, we did report it to the police the day it happened. They basically told us that if no one called in claiming it, it was ours. After a little time had lapsed and no one claimed it, we knew it was ours by the hand of God. We really knew it from the start, but we thought that we’d cover our bases in case this question was ever asked.—C. Beall3
Let’s think about the Lord’s promises in relation to these stories of real men and women who made decisions to put God’s work first in their finances. We can each take up the challenge to give, and we will be able to look back and see how the Lord has come through for us. Jesus said: “Give and it shall be given unto you … for with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”4
It’s the boomerang effect, which is really a watertight formula for success that we can bet our life on. As much as we give to God and others, it will come back to us. God is the great accountant. He keeps perfect records of every financial transaction of our lives, and when we give to Him and His work, He has promised to return the investment to us, not with a measly 3, 5, or 8 percent of interest, but 100-fold. That’s a good investment.
We can look at giving and tithing as putting money in God’s bank. This is a very real transaction, with real benefits. Not to mention, you’re dealing with the best agent ever, one who truly has your best interests at heart.
God’s promises of what we will reap as a result of giving and tithing are rock-solid. We can stand on His promises, and see Him open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings!
Roadmap was a video series created by TFI for young adults. Originally published in 2010. Adapted and republished on Anchor February 2018. Read by Simon Peterson.
1 Jon Huntsman Sr., Winners Never Cheat—Even in Difficult Times (2005).
2 See Malachi 3:8.
3 From a personal blog, now apparently offline.
4 Luke 6:38.
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