Giving a tithe (10%) of your household budget to your local church is part of the process of being blessed by God by Gary Shotton #000296

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The Tithe

By Gary Shotton

Hello, I’m Gary Shotton and I’m happy to have you as a part of Inspiring Better Business. Today we’re going to talk about tithing to God’s work. Tithing to your local church. Now, you know that our web sites really are not a web site that have preaching, so we don’t refer to a lot of scriptures. But we do believe that everything we present is scripturally based and is biblically based. We’re seeking out the laws that will make a business profitable and part of those (would be on another teaching) would just be the idea of the purpose of us being in business is partially to be givers. Givers to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now the question was asked, and here’s the response to everyone that’s listening. What do you calculate the tithe to the local church? Is it based on your business revenue? Your business profit? Your business sales? or something else?

I have a very strong opinion and others can have their opinion, but mine’s been developed over a 10, 15, 20-year period. And I will tell you I have been a tither personally for more than 26 years based on this opinion. And it’s not that my tithing makes it right or wrong, but God has blessed me because I’m a giver. The first question is; How do we base the top? I have to do a little background in order to build up this to be sure we’re on the same page. Now the average person that’s starting a business has many times a problem separating their personal life with their business life. So, we’ve got to do that first. What do I mean? You know if you went to work to the big company and you work for a certain wage or hours or hourly rate or salary you would get a paycheck. And it’s based on the time or energy or accomplishment that you did inside working for that company. I’m an advocate have done this for years. I have always considered myself as simply an employee of the company that I’m working for that I own. In other words, I’m the owner of the company but I’m also an employee of the company.

Now let’s use some examples. If I was running a restaurant, and I was also the chef and that’s primarily what I was doing. I might make a survey of what chefs or cooks are making at restaurants, and if that’s the function I’m doing then that’s what I would get paid. And I would write a paycheck in some fashion whichever way you would with it someone else, I would write that check to me as a person out of the company. I would then deposit at this or handle this with my wife, to handle our expenses of our personal household. Our personal household of budget. Many of you are doing many, many, many, things. So, you’re not just the chef. You’re not just the sales person. You’re not just the operations person. You’re everything. So, that’s going to be a little harder to determine. But it’s still doable. Think of it this way. If you were gone for one full month, what would you have to pay somebody to do what you’re doing in that business? Now you’ve got to be fair with yourself because in doing that you have to have enough money to handle your household budget. And if your business isn’t making enough money to handle your household budget, then you know you really can’t just take more money out of the business. Maybe you’ve got to go get a side job. Maybe throw some newspapers, or do something to make up for the difference in your household. You must keep your household budget (your household finances) separate from your business finances.

When you do that, I think it becomes very clear that for 46 years I have tithe off of my personal household budget. My personal household cost of living. If you don’t maintain a budget, you know that this is what it’s going to take for me to live. This is what it costs for housing. This is what it costs for food. This is what it costs for utilities. This is what it costs for my family expenses. Some kind of a regular number that you’re going to have based on that and then I personally just set that. I have had the same exact number. I’m not going to say what it is. But I have the same number for several years as what’s my tithe is. My church makes it easy; I automatically draft without even me writing a check. It makes it really simple. But you do what you need. But I believe that is what the tithe should be based upon.

Now, this may not be consistent with other people’s teaching. And it may not be consistent with your pastors teaching. So, I’m not trying to come against the pastor or discredit them, but I say that they’ve never actually owned a business in most cases. And in most cases, they’re going to look at you already as one of the major contributors to the church. So, you’ve got to kind of put this all-in balance. You see, your household needs to have a budget, or our financial capacity to pay that bills on a monthly or weekly basis. The pastor is basically the oversee of the local household of the church. Like it’s the church household. The church has expenses, the church has salaries, this church has utilities. And so, they’re forced and they must come up to the task and also establish them. And so, you’re one of the contributors. It’s not healthy or fair for just one or two people to be the major contributors to the church.

That’s where the pastor must listen to and adapt their own skills in communicating about the fair way for people to pay their tithes. That’s their responsibility. I could reprimand that some good pastors and mine included, have different teachings on that’s. Contact us and you could learn how you can communicate that. Don’t just from the pulpit talk about give me, give me, give me. Talk about how you can help your business and your individuals, your household leaders to be more profitable. To get more jobs.

Our pastor talked to a major series he called it the sixth day. In other words, five days you work for somebody else, the sixth day maybe you could start something else for the extra. To get on board. Get on top of it. So, there’s a lot of things. That’s his job. That’s the pastor jobs to do that. Now you see when I give my money to the local church, I really don’t give instruction on how the money should be used, meaning I don’t say, well this goes for this guy’s salary. I think it needs personally to go into the general fund. But I also believe that the Bible talks about tithes and offerings. Well the offerings, I believe are my discretionary. Those are things I can decide what I want to do with or what I should do. And I could hear how God would lead me in that. My pastor should teach me, should be teaching how to follow the voice of God. And why wouldn’t I learn how to follow the voice of God on how to support someone outside the church. I give my tithe, it’s done. It’s taken care of. But I’ve always all of these 46 years, I’ve always given outside of that designated funds to missionaries.

Now you could be in a developing nation with very little money. Let me tell you though I’ve been on the phone with several people that they’re verily making it but I’m still telling them part of God’s formula. God’s plan is to learn to tithe. That’s number one. Even learn to give on the very smallest amount. I mean pennies or quarters or nickels or dollars. I mean we’re not looking at dollar amount. We’re looking at percentage. But at the same time as a business owner, as you’re growing, I suggest that you start thinking about giving to missions. It doesn’t have to be foreign missions. I’ve read an article just today of someone that was in Kenya had gone several years and were being used as basic missionaries in Tanzania. Great. That’s within your continent. Your culture.  You know you could have missions that are in your own community. Someone is especially gifted to use their gifts in athletics and they have an outreach, and they have needs for uniforms, and shirts and balls and bats or whatever it is. You could give a portion of your funds as an offering to someone.

I think the key word here in everything is balance. God’s a God of balance. You put your household in order, you put your household together where you’re balanced. I know that not everything’s always income steady, but you have a little reserve and you are able to come through a little bump Church. You have your household of God; you have your church in balance and you work on down the way and step by step God will bless you. I’m sure of it. I know that God is seeking over all of the world to find those that will believe him, believe and trust him in the area of finances. And you know until that happens, I don’t know that he can get involved with your finances very much.