Friday, June 17, 2005
THEY TOOK PRIDE IN SHARING
By Barbara Chafin
We used to talk about tithing in our church. We would hear about it at our church in Houston, Texas, where we lived for a time. So at home we would look at our budget and try to figure out how tithing could be fitted in with all our other expenses. It always seemed to involve a squeeze and painstaking juggling.
After the war in Southeast Asia, many Cambodians resettled in the Houston area. Our church ministered to many of them through a Cambodian congregation that was part of our church. I knew how poor these people were. They had fled their country with only the clothes on their backs. Yet when we had a joint service and the offering was taken, no Cambodian would let the plate pass by without putting in something, even if it was just a penny. They took pride in sharing in the church ministry because they said they had been so blessed themselves.
I was moved to tears watching them. To be able to tithe is a blessing? If you're lucky to be alive and will never again take for granted every bite of food you put in your mouth, it certainly is a blessing. To have enough to be able to give some of it away...
After our experience in Houston, I thought about tithing in a totally different way. I look at our expenses as our blessings -- because we can afford to pay them. I put tithing at the top of the list instead of at the bottom.
What a blessing to be able to give something away. Even if --especially if-- it's one's hard-earned penny in the collection plate.
We used to talk about tithing in our church. We would hear about it at our church in Houston, Texas, where we lived for a time. So at home we would look at our budget and try to figure out how tithing could be fitted in with all our other expenses. It always seemed to involve a squeeze and painstaking juggling.
After the war in Southeast Asia, many Cambodians resettled in the Houston area. Our church ministered to many of them through a Cambodian congregation that was part of our church. I knew how poor these people were. They had fled their country with only the clothes on their backs. Yet when we had a joint service and the offering was taken, no Cambodian would let the plate pass by without putting in something, even if it was just a penny. They took pride in sharing in the church ministry because they said they had been so blessed themselves.
I was moved to tears watching them. To be able to tithe is a blessing? If you're lucky to be alive and will never again take for granted every bite of food you put in your mouth, it certainly is a blessing. To have enough to be able to give some of it away...
After our experience in Houston, I thought about tithing in a totally different way. I look at our expenses as our blessings -- because we can afford to pay them. I put tithing at the top of the list instead of at the bottom.
What a blessing to be able to give something away. Even if --especially if-- it's one's hard-earned penny in the collection plate.
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 9:11 PM 
