DO I OWE?

            Tithe.  The term can mean:

1. the tenth part of goods or income paid as a tax for the support of the church

            2. any tax or levy esp. of one-tenth

            3. a tenth part or small part of something

            4. to give or pay a tithe of  (goods or money)

            5. to give or pay tithes on, as income

            6. to exact a tithe from

            7. to levy a tithe on, as money

All of these are correct.  All…very logical…exacting.  One-tenth of goods, money, income that is either taxed or levied by someone/something to support something (specifically, the Church). 

These definitions do not touch me…they are not personal for me.  They sound like lawyer-speak or the language of Governmentese.  I do not feel I owe anybody anything when someone speaks to me in this way.

But…I do.

The fact is: I owe more than I can ever repay because I have found the greatest—and I mean GREATEST—treasure I will EVER find on this earth! 

I have a personal relationship with God. 

I gladly

joyfully

willingly

and humbly accept:

I owe EVERTHING I have to God. 

BOUGHT ON CREDIT!

So to whom do I pay my tithes?  As a Christian I am the church!  I am the church because Christ lives in me.

(He lives in everyone who’s accepted Christ as their Living Saviour.  He loved and died for everyone!  Even if you haven’t/won’t/don’t accept him…Christ loved and died for you…and he still loves you this very moment.)

Christ loved me, died for me, bought me with his own blood (sacrificing his life for me) as a man of his time bought his bride, and promised that even though he was gone he’d never leave me all alone here on this fallen earth.  He gave the world the Holy Spirit. 

It is Christ’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, which indwells and gives me a personal relationship with God.

TO WHOM (OR WITH WHAT) I PAY IS PERSONAL

As a Christian I am the church. 

So you might be saying something like,

“Well if you’re your own church than what do you give to yourself?” or

“Why would you give to yourself” or

“Tithing to your own self?  What does that mean?”

What it means to me is that no matter what gifts I’ve been given…I make sure I feed the good dog. 

So you’re saying,

“Huh?  Did I miss something?”

“No.  I’m getting to that just now:

my minister told me a story of a Native American Christian who said that being a Native American Christian was like having two dogs living inside him: one good, one bad—both vying for his heart.  The story went that one dog being fed meant the other went without.  He, the Native American Christian, had to choose which to feed.  Naturally, the one fed most and often grew stronger.  The one denied grew weaker.” 

What I tithe to God is the most personal thing (for me) that I can tithe to God: my writing. 

He has given me a gift…writing.

He gives us all gifts. 

So I tithe with my writing KNOWING that I can NEVER repay God what He’s blessed me with. 

WHAT DO YOU OR I HAVE OF VALUE?

Now you might read what I’ve written and say:

“She’s nothing special.  I’ve read better,”

or you might say,

“How arrogant for her to claim the status of ‘writer’ or ‘artist’.  I don’t seen her name in the canon.”

And you’d be correct. 

As correct as the dictionary’s definition of: tithe.

You see, God’s gift to me is not my writing—as in the context of it becoming canonized—it is the pleasure I’m given by writing.  That alone is God’s gift to me. 

He gives me pleasure…in many things…and in writing. 

But make no mistake! 

My art exists simply because God wanted to give me pleasure while I was here on this earth. 

And this essay, which is so VERY inadequate in terms of tithing to God what He’s given to me, is my way of sharing with everyone—and anyone who reads or views my work—that I honor and praise my Maker above all else.

            I worship my Creator…not His creations.  I am His creation.  My work—merely that much further from the glory of Him and I was convicted to tell you this.

Still, my dear readers, our God-given talents have worth in very special ways.   God has gifted all of us.  Yours may be:

writing

poetry

art

having a nurturing demeanor

having a strong back and able to do heavy work

having a mathematical mind

being a genius, politician, educator

being Biblically loving parents and family members

living in health

living in illness

living…full-stop.

Whatever your talents or gifts are…we OWE God His part. 

God demands from us His portion. 

He did not ASK us to tithe…He COMMANDED it! 

He commanded us to give only a VERY SMALL amount of what He’s given us, whether His gifts are monetary, emotional, spiritual, physical, societal, environmental, psychological, intellectual…God wants His part of US!

That, my friends—my readers, is why I’ve written you today.

BAD RETURNS

Unfortunately, what I can offer Him is very little…very little indeed. 

My words are carnal. 

My stories—carnal. 

My paintings—carnal. 

I seriously doubt I return to God even 1% of the pleasure He’s given me. 

That’s because of the dog…because of sin and the wickedness of my heart and flesh; there is no way for me to escape my flesh.

Writing, the gift God gave me that I might be pleasured, feeds—gluttonously—the bad dog. 

I perverse what’s been given to me. 

My writing offends God and it is worthless to everyone…especially Him. 

That doesn’t mean, however, that some people might not read my writing and discover things they hadn’t known before.  They might even learn important things (observations, accounts…the world with all its corruption, tragedy…love).  Perhaps, some might even say I possess some ‘talent’

but all the world’s praise is meaningless because my writing does not

praise

elevate

please

honor

glorify

shout to the top of its lungs “GOD IS KING!” 

It doesn’t go dancing through the streets naked like the good king did. 

It doesn’t make anything beautiful to the ONE being I want nothing more than to please—God. 

REDEMPTION

At my VERY BEST I try not to displease God, try not to offend Him…and I FAIL!

Knowing this makes my soul hurt.  I am ashamed…sorrowful and I pray God forgives me. 

I know He does…but NOT because I deserve it. 

Not because I’ve earned it by ANYTHING I can do or write or say or paint. 

It is because God knows that I am simply flesh. 

I am both the good dog and the bad dog. 

I have no arrogance to say what I write from my flesh—IN ANY WAY—pleases God. 

It is only because of God’s grace…His wonderful Grace…that I am redeemed.

Yet I know there is something I can give to…something I OWE…God.

GREAT RETURNS!

It is not my writing that pleases God…I am MOST SURE!!!

It is my complete and utter loving and humbleness to God that pleases God.     

I am giving back to God the only thing I have to give…my words: 

“God, Please forgive me.  For I have sinned.  I have not loved You as I’ve loved myself.  I have not loved my neighbor as myself.  I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed…by what I have done…and by what I have left—undone.  I am not worthy of you, oh Lord, but only say the word…and I shall be healed in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.”            

God be with you, my dear readers!  And I pray:

if you have not yet found God’s gift in your life that He guides you to it…and that you find, as have I, the pleasures and the responsibilities He’s made especially for you.

Sincerely,

K.A. Shott