The Season of Stewardship always echoes the ancient challenge of the tithe, giving 10% of one's income in support of the covenant community where one's life is planted. Despite the Lord's promise of blessing, this practice mystifies non-tithers.

In a consumer age it seems crazy to just give that much money away and get "nothing" in return. But for those of us who tithe it is a very simple discipline by which we experience a number of benefits -- the greatest of which is the opportunity to express our gratitude for God's faithfulness to us.

I appreciate how tough the tithe challenge is for some people. That's why we talk about it. To help people explore the value of this spiritual discipline.

In the spirit of encouraging thought and conversation, I offer here an article a parishioner from my former parish emailed me on February 07, 2005. It first appeared in Forbes Magazine.

Digital Rules, Irrational Act

By Rich Karlgaard

And now for a topic that chills any conversation: tithing. Yeow! Take a dull subject--only life insurance is as boring--and combine it with cloying guilt. That's tithing.

But wait a minute. Along comes a friend--educated and rational--who is glad to tell you of his experience with tithing. He grew up in a strict church, where failure to cough up 10% of the paper-route money was a ticket to perdition. So of course he turned against tithing and the church. As time passed he moved away, earned degrees in engineering and law from elite colleges, got married, started a family and even returned to church. Yet though earning a princely salary, he and his wife were astonished to learn they couldn't save a dime of it.

Now in early middle age, my friend hears yet another sermon about tithing. But this one is different. It makes no references to perdition or Harleys. Just a modest promise: Tithing will liberate the tither from financial worry. That's it. You might be 10% poorer, but you'll stop worrying about it. That was the idea, nothing else.

That day my friend and his wife pledged to tithe. They started to give away 10% of their income, every paycheck. Almost immediately a mysterious transformation took place. They found they were able to save 10% of their income. At last.

They retired their house mortgage ahead of schedule, too. My friend calls it the 10-10-80 rule. Tithe, save and spend joyously, in that order.

Entrepreneurial Risk Is Less Terrifying

Another enthusiastic tither is Greg Gianforte, the founder, chairman and CEO of RightNow Technologies. Gianforte started this Web services company in 1997 in the spare bedroom of his Bozeman, Mont. home and has grown it to $40 million in sales. RightNow went public on NASDAQ last year, becoming Montana's first tech startup to do so.

Gianforte is quick to say that tithing is a duty of his faith. One must never tithe withexpectations of divine reward. But, funny, Gianforte says, now that you mention it, tithing has brought these benefits:

"The decibel level in my life has gone down. I think that's because every possession speaks to you. Everything you own wants attention. When I began to tithe, I found a freedom from my possessions. I don't hold on to things as tightly anymore."

"When you loosen your grip on possessions, you become more willing to take a chance. Entrepreneurial risk is less terrifying."

"Tithing requires discipline, but that discipline begins to show up unexpectedly in other areas of my life. When I began to tithe, I was able to rise earlier in the morning. I am more patient with people."

"Tithing puts you in touch with people's needs. This is an excellent habit to acquire in business. I guarantee you, if you want to build a company, you have to be in touch with customers' needs."

Beyond Supply and Demand

What do we learn by hearing the stories of my friend and Greg Gianforte? I'm not sure. I don't think their stories prove the beneficial effects of tithing for the tither. But neither can anyone prove why capitalism works. Economists, trapped in the closed loop of supply and demand, can only make a dismal pseudo-scientific hash of it. Out in the real world people are inspired by ideas. Some are even willing to suffer irrational odds in an effort to turn their ideas into innovations. Most fail, but even the failures add to our knowledge.

The pursuit of innovation by entrepreneurs willing to give before they get creates discontinuities that shatter the predictable loop of supply and demand. Entropy and monopoly alike are defeated by innovation. That is how capitalism works. It starts with an irrational act of giving.

Why does tithing work? Nobody knows. Only that it does for many.