Is There a Ceiling? (A Question about Giving)

After Saturday night and the talk I gave, I got a bunch of questions on email, twitter and facebook about giving. A couple of days ago I blogged about some of the reasons people give for not giving back to God and why we should give back to God. Throughout this week, I’ve been blogging those questions and some other thoughts about giving back to God.

Here is a question I got (that I have permission to share):  I understand that 10% is the full tithe and that is the starting point, but should I give more than that?

One of the things I pointed out in another question is that giving is always proportional and sacrificial.

Now, in the New Testament, when giving is talked about, especially in 2 Corinthians 8 – 9, not only is proportion brought out, but also sacrificial. Giving should cost us something, it should hurt.

This means, for some of us, 10% is a huge sacrifice. For others, 10% is not a sacrifice. For some, for tithing to be a sacrifice, it might be 20% or higher. I know people who tithe 80 or 90% of what they make.

I think what is important to keep in mind is that we have been entrusted with what we have for a reason. It is not an accident why we make what we make or why we have what we have, and we are accountable for how we use those things.

The question I ask when this is brought up is, “Are you sacrificing?”

If this is a question you’ve asked or struggled with I would encourage you to check out some of the recommended resources from this series and/or come out on a Saturday night at Revolution for our series How to be Rich. You can also listen to my talk from Saturday night.