Paul warned Timothy that the selfish, greedy use of money could create real problems. He wrote, “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (1 Tim. 6:9-10).

He went on to say, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life” (1 Tim. 6:17-19).

Those of us who tithe have discovered that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and some of us have been able to go at times far beyond the tithe and have done it joyfully.

I know some who say they can’t do it, especially young people today. I’ll be the first to acknowledge how hard it is to get a toehold into the real estate of Orange County. When we moved here from Pittsburgh, it was sticker shock. What we had to pay in 1978 for a house—that was a third smaller than our Pittsburgh home—would have bought a small estate in the most luxurious suburb of Pittsburgh. And the cost of that house here in Newport Beach in 1978 would today not even buy one of the most modest homes in the Harbor Area. It’s tough to get started today.

One of the couples I most admire through the years at St. Andrew’s came to me about four years ago and said that they were moving. I was heartbroken. These were two of the most active people in our church, the children enthusiastically involved in every aspect of our children’s ministry. They said that stewardship was very important to them. When they got married, they had determined to tithe; and they had done it. Now, as their children were growing up, they needed a larger home. They couldn’t afford to live in this community and still tithe. They wanted to live within their means.

So they moved down to the desert, which for them was more affordable. Anne and I see them when we attend the Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church. You couldn’t meet a more joyful, positive family. They bit the bullet, determined to make the economics of their life work in a way that could put Jesus Christ first with a generous approach to tithing.

Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy, in The Generosity Factor, most creatively comment on this chart that their fictional character, The Executive, has written on a blank transparency and projected on the wall with an overhead projector. He shares these profound words with a young man named The Broker, for whom such Christ-centered generosity is completely foreign.