"All"

In today's post, I will probably be preaching to the choir, so to speak. I just thought I'd unravel something out of my brain and spread it out here for all to see. Thank you in advance for reading.

When I was in junior high (and perhaps also a freshman in high school), my family and I were members of a relatively small Hispanic Baptist church. I attended a Sunday School class that was so small that we met at the back of the church auditorium/sanctuary right before the service started. I think there were usually only about 3 or 4 people in this class every week, including the teacher. One handy truth that I remember from the teacher is that God has basically always told us, "I didn't promise you a rose garden." Indeed.

But one thing that the teacher taught us really bothers me in retrospect. She said that all God wanted from us was 5 hours a week: one hour for Sunday School, one hour for the worship service, one hour for the class on Sunday night, one hour for the Sunday night service, and one hour for the Wednesday night service. That's it. That's all. Just 5 hours.

Um... what do you mean, that's ALL?

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." (Jesus talking in Matthew 10:34-39)

" 'Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, "In what way have we robbed You?" In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring ALL the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts, 'If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.' " (Malachi 3:8-10, emphasis mine)

I have just quoted a couple of examples of how God wants us to give Him our ALL, not just our 5 hours.

I grew up in Hispanic Baptist churches. I don't mean to be insulting or offensive when I talk about this, but I just want to be honest. I am very sensitive to smells (which comes in handy when you're a cat person). Almost every time I've attended or visited a small Hispanic Baptist church, I have NOT liked how the building smells. I don't know what the scent is. Perhaps it's old wood. Perhaps it's B.O. Perhaps it's a lack of cleanliness. Perhaps it's a laziness. Perhaps it's the lack of funds required to pay somebody to thoroughly clean the church building on a frequent basis. But I rarely remember feeling thoroughly comfortable about the physical accommodations at any of the small Hispanic Baptist churches that I have ever attended or visited.

Perhaps the church that I mentioned at the beginning of this post had a problem attracting people to its building. I remember that this church had a gymnasium. I would rarely enter the gym because 1) I'm not athletic and 2) the gym smelled horrible.

So, maybe when my tiny Sunday School class would meet at the back of the church auditorium/sanctuary each week, my teacher would try to motivate us to attend church by telling us that 5 hours per week was ALL that God required from us. Maybe that's what happened.

One thing's for sure: When your people don't attend your church meetings, they probably won't bring their tithes with them, either.

In general, a tithe is 10% of your income. Malachi chapter 3 explains that God wants us to bring ALL of our tithe "into the storehouse," e.g., our church building. That means that 100% of my tithe needs to go to my church, whether I deliver it in person, by mail, or online. (This is a good thing.) That does NOT mean that if I visit a smaller church and decide for myself that this church needs my tithe more than MY church (my storehouse) needs it, I can give all or part of my tithe to this church. (I've heard that this is called "designating" my tithe. This is a bad thing.) If I want to give an offering to any church that I'm visiting, of course there's nothing wrong with that. But I think there's something seriously wrong with NOT tithing to my regular church.

Of course, the issue of tithing and its cultural relevance are still debated today. But I haven't found anything in the Bible that says that I don't need to tithe anymore. I've also discovered firsthand that when I tithe, my mailbox is empty because my accounts are current and my creditors are happy; my pantry is adequately stocked, and my bank account actually still has money in it; my cats are relatively healthy, and I am trying to figure out what to do with all this peace. When I do NOT tithe, financial catastrophe crushes the life out of me in a way that takes years to repair.

One thing that the tithe is used for is to keep church buildings up and running. I think this means that the bills are paid and the building is cleaned with the members' tithes.

And I certainly don't want to disrespect small churches or the small Hispanic Baptist churches I grew up in. I just don't understand how you can convince me to attend every week if the building you invite me to is stinky and if the God you invite me to worship only wants 5 dinky little hours every week.

God wants everything in my life. He wants my life. He wants it ALL. In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus challenges us to love Him even more than the dear people who raised us. He knows what He's talking about. He gave up His very life to save everybody, including the people who beat Him up, spat in His face, made fun of Him, and crucified Him.

Perhaps the concept of taking up one's cross and following Jesus looks differently for each person. But in each case, God definitely wants it ALL.

I'm a member of a megachurch. Many people don't like megachurches because the humongous size of the buildings and the crowds are intimidating. I can definitely understand this. If you feel that God wants you to be a member of a small church, please obey Him. Go wherever He wants you to go, serve wherever He wants you to serve, and do whatever He wants you to do. Please just give it ALL to Him.

I appreciate a lot of things about my humongous church. During the membership class, one of the pastors instructed us, "Unpack your bags." He meant that if we were to join this church, we needed to commit to it, stop church-hopping, and not run at the slightest sign of discomfort. So, I'm in it for the long haul. Honestly, one thing I like about my megachurch is that if I run into some problems in one wing of the church, I can always plug into a different wing. A couple of years ago, I was having very awkward church-related problems. One day, I wanted to avoid a certain person who I knew would be there -- someone who did not respect my personal space. So, I attended services at a different campus that day. Same church, different building. No problem. If I want to go to church on a Saturday afternoon, I can. If I want to sleep in on Sunday morning and go to church after lunch, I can. No problem. If I end up missing altogether, I can access a sermon online. No problem.

Incidentally, this is why I give all my tithe to my humongous megachurch. (In addition to the fact that not doing so would be robbing God, who truly is serious about me bringing ALL my tithe to the same place.) This is my storehouse. This is the place that feeds me. This is the place that trains me on how to feed others. This is my local headquarters. This is my church that expects me to put my ALL into everything I do, in every way I serve.

And the buildings smell pretty nice. Yes, they're relatively new, and they're staffed with very hardworking people who keep it impeccably clean. But I look forward to attending each week. Why wouldn't I look forward to attending a meeting where I'm valued as a human being who has a sense of smell, who lives in today's culture, who knows that she needs to pay her tithe or else, and who's extremely willing to give God her ALL?

God definitely didn't promise me a rose garden. But one of His promises is that He'll share Paradise with me.