EVERY SO OFTEN someone slips nine photocopies of a “Prayer of St. Jude” under the massive doors of Christ Church Cranbrook. At the bottom of the page it says “Make 81 copies of these and leave nine copies over nine consecutive days. You will receive your intention before the nine days are over. No matter how impossible it may seem.”

For me, this is NOT what Christianity is about. In my understanding of the Gospel, Jesus has abolished this kind of “religion by the numbers.” For me, it is clear that Christian discipleship does away with any concept of “minimum standards.”

This complicates things, of course, especially when it comes to running a church. The Episcopal Church has embraced the “Biblical Tithe,” but not because of the Gospel. The only mention Jesus makes of tithing is to criticize the Pharisees for thinking that their observance of it made them better than other people. Tithing is an Old Testament concept that is helpful to the church of today because we need some kind of guidance when it comes to our stewardship. But giving 1/10 of one’s income to the church does not exhaust our obligation to God. No convenient percentage can absolve us from the inconvenient responsibility of using all our money (and other possessions) for the glory of God. It all comes from God, and will all return to God eventually. The question is, will we be found to have hindered that process, or to have helped it along?

Of course there are many ways to glorify God than by giving money to the church. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus acknowledges that “your heavenly Father knows that you have needs.” The point he makes a few sentences later is that we should “seek FIRST the kingdom of God.” To me that means, “give FIRST, then pay the bills.” It’s not primarily the amount, it’s the priority.

Perhaps we should take a lesson from the dedicated person who goes around slipping 81 copies of the Prayer of St. Jude under people’s doors. If we did this for nine days, maybe everyone’s giving to the church would suddenly become 10% of their income!  That includes you and me, I suppose.

Hmmm…Maybe 4% would be better to start off with.