Before they married, Jim and Mary Wappes tried to establish a financial-stewardship plan that would be pleasing to God.

The Minneapolis couple knew the decisions they made could have an effect on Christian family life. Now that they have five children and are living on one income, they are grateful they didn’t give in to pressures to buy a bigger home 13 years ago.

Their decision to tithe early on has also helped them maintain a debt-free lifestyle and a healthy detachment from consumerism. And it stands as a model for families struggling to be faithful stewards of their resources.

“We have found that God has not been outdone in generosity,” says Jim Wappes. “In fact, the more we give, the more he makes us look like tight-fisted Scrooges. We haven’t always been good at it, but we try to pray before making major financial decisions because we know that, without God as senior financial planner, we’re going nowhere.”

Jim and Mary say they’ve also experienced great joy in giving, and that is what giving should be about, according to Jeff Cavins, Catholic author, speaker and creator of The Great Adventure: A Journey through the Bible. “There should be a joy in giving because we are the body of Christ and we are doing it for the Lord,” Cavins told the Register. “The essence of the Trinity is self-donation, giving of yourself. And the money is a real expression of your heart. Where your treasure is, there is your heart.”

Cavins notes that tithing — giving 10% of one’s earnings — is not a hard and fast rule, but it is the model that God provided to Abraham and the people of Israel and is the basis from which we should operate.

Throughout the Old Testament, Israel was commanded to give God one-tenth of all its produce, fruit from the trees and firstborn of its cattle, explains Cavins. Solomon imposes a tithe on the people to help pay for the temple. Later, the prophet Malachi warns the Israelites that they are robbing God by withholding the tithe, which is meant to build up the house of God. In the New Testament, Jesus raises the law to a new level and intensifies it. He speaks of himself as the new temple and his Church as part of that living temple.

“The tithe is a form of trusting Christ. From Genesis on, the enemy didn’t challenge the existence of God,” says Cavins. “He challenged, ‘Can you trust him?’ Throughout all salvation history, every situation is that question. The bottom line is, yes, you can trust him with everything. God is our father. He’ll take care of you. Jesus is trying to get tithing and almsgiving down to an issue of the heart. It’s all part of our gift to the Lord.”

First Fruits to God

Register Family Matters columnist Phil Lenahan, director of finance at Catholic Answers, wrote The Catholic Answers Guide to Family Finances. The workbook evolved from Lenahan’s years of counseling couples at his parish in Riverside, Calif., where he saw miscommunication between spouses frequently spill over into financial areas. One common problem: using finances as a wedge issue in which both spouses were spending on things the other didn’t value.

“They certainly hadn’t looked at their finances from a stewardship vantage point,” says Lenahan. “Once they placed it in prayer and asked what Christ wanted, they were able to make some headway.”

Lenahan also noticed that it was common for couples to have $10,000 to $70,000 in credit-card debt. Naturally, tithing was not even on such families’ radar screens. “You’re giving from what’s left over rather than the concept of the first fruits,” he explains. “Once we have the proper sensibility of what role money plays in our lives, a lot of the practical dilemmas are much more solvable. It’s easier to make decisions that will follow your faith.”

The workbook (available at Catholic.com) helps people build their finances on a foundation of faith, offering five key principles to follow: seeking first the kingdom of God, trusting in God’s providence, developing a charitable spirit, practicing the spirit of temperance and developing personal responsibility, explains Lenahan. Its budget form lists gross income at the top and tithing as the first item of expense.

“Catholics give about 1% of their income; Protestants give about double that. But we’re a consumer-based society, and we don’t tend to think of offering back to God something akin to a tithe,” says Lenahan. “By being so far away from it, are we living out our financial life the way our Lord would have it, or are we looking at it from a selfish and greedy standpoint?”

Jim Wappes believes a problem with American culture today is that people don’t recognize temptations toward greed anymore, such as bigger-than-necessary homes, multiple cars, the latest fashions and expensive vacations.

“We have far more than we need, and possessions can be high hurdles on the track to heaven,” he observes. “That’s not to say that it’s wrong to buy things, but we need to maintain a balance and an alertness.”

The 7% Solution

St. Mary Immaculate Parish in Plainfield, Ill., introduced a parish-wide stewardship program in 1997 that has since become a full-fledged commission, according to stewardship coordinator Lois Szalinski. The program has attracted more than 6,200 families — and it’s growing. The church asks parishioners to fill out a promise card and commit to giving a certain percentage of their income. It ultimately asks for 7% of gross income, which covers diocesan appeals, second collections and free tuition to religious education, the confirmation program and the parish school.

“It’s quite an awakening for folks,” says Szalinski. “A relatively small number can leap to 7%, but it’s been a wonderful journey watching people find ways to give back to God by taking a look at their finances and putting him first. If someone has traditionally given $15, we encourage them to give $20.”

The parish also encourages stewardship in other ways: involvement in the parish, a good-deed record for kids, prayer commitments in the Eucharistic-adoration chapel, volunteering at the school and a minimum parish donation from parents who send their children to the school. Szalinski said even though her children will no longer be attending the school, she and her husband will continue the 7% tithe to help offset expenses borne by other families.

“We look at this as a way of giving back to what people are giving to the community,” she says. “We carry one another through our giving.” 

Cavins points out that Jesus emphasized stewardship. A steward, he says, doesn’t own — he or she cares for something belonging to someone else.

“We are called to be stewards of God’s resources,” adds Cavins. “We’ve got to get out of the ‘How much do I owe?’ attitude and into a ‘How do I participate in the Kingdom with the Father?’ attitude.”

That would be one small step for Christian stewardship — and one great leap for the body of Christ.

Barb Ernster writes from

Fridley, Minnesota.