College students are broke — a common statement made in defense of themselves, an excuse to not spend money.
While this may be true in some capacity, whether it means students are not financially responsible or that they have low-income jobs, this statement should not serve as an excuse to not give something of value to God in the form of tithe or offering. Internally, the only thing preventing us from not giving financially is our own selfishness.
There are two basic commands regarding tithes and offerings from the Old Testament: the principle of tithing and the offering of first fruits.
“It’s just trusting God, building trust and a better, more trusting and dependant relationship,” Joseph Pak, professor of biblical studies, said.
There is no excuse to not give an offering to the church, Mick Bates, director for the center for innovation and entrepreneurship at Taylor, said. Even college students with limited income should set aside money as a way to grow in their relationship with Christ — and 10% is just a starting point.
“It goes beyond just those items,” Bates said. “We really want to honor God with everything we have.”
For students, it can feel easy to disregard this or push it off to a later date, to see it as unimportant or to coast on the faith and practices of parents and other family members — that their tithe covers yours as well.
The sooner we begin to take ownership of faith as our own in the form of sacrificial giving, the sooner we will see the effects of Christ’s presence in our lives, Pak said.
“It's a matter of the heart,” Pak said. “It's a matter of your trust, so give out of your proportion, out of your means, and do it voluntarily, and do it cheerfully, but you have to give no matter how much it is, because again, giving is an express expression of your trust in God and love for God and He's his people.”
Tithes and offerings are a good way of setting a posture of being obedient, Bates said.
“We spend money in accordance with our priorities, we conduct our lifestyles in accordance with money, because that's kind of the criteria for evaluation and lots of different aspects of life,” Bates said.
Perhaps the case is not that college students are poor, but the issue of where our priorities lie. Bates admits to having seen multiple large Starbucks cups from students daily, calling into question the priorities of students.
“You can pay $6, $7, $8 dollars for a drink that you might get two or three times a week — that's 20 bucks a week,” Bates said. “That's what we put our money into.”
Tithing will not look the same to every person. Traditionally, a tithe is presented to the church as an offering of support from a member of the congregation. For students who don’t necessarily have a home church, it can be difficult to find a church to want to monetarily support. For others, tithing can look like setting aside a portion of tithe money to offer to another Christian organization, friend or family member who needs extra support, Pak said.
As long as the intention is the same — to be a good steward of the financial resource that you have been provided with — it goes back to the posture and intention of trusting God to lead you into a more intimate and beneficial relationship with him.
