If you were the last one on earth, would you give to charity?

If I were the last man on earth, would I need to give to charity?

Sometimes I have weird questions go through my head. Like that one. If I were the last man on earth, I suppose charitable giving wouldn't be the first of my concerns. Speaking of that, I like the line I heard from some unromantic shlub who said he wanted to be the last man on earth just to see if all those girls really meant what they said.

But I digress.

The question entered my mind as I read about the subject of tithing. Keeping less than you earn is as old as civilization itself. And as crazy as it may sound, the surprising answer is, yes. Even if I were the only person on earth, I would need to give a tythe, a portion of my earnings to charity. Or more specifically, to God. Even though no one else would benefit.

And here's why.

The primary purpose of giving away some of your earnings isn't to benefit others, it's to benefit yourself.

That statement may sound selfish and counterintuitive on the surface, but let me explain.

When Cain and Abel, the 3rd and 4th people on the planet, became old enough to produce a living, they did not keep it all for themselves. Cain raised crops, and Abel raised livestock. They took some of what they produced and destroyed it. Just burnt it up. They didn't give it away to the poor and needy (seems Mom and Dad were doing fine.) They didn't build a new school or a church with it. They sent it up in smoke.

How would you respond, if after passing the plate at church, the ushers took the money out to the back parking lot, threw it all in a burn barrel and had themselves a little bonfire? Well, for one thing, you'd probably start using a lot more checks than cash.

But beyond that, you wouldn't be inclined to give much seeing those kind of money management skills from the leadership.

However,  this was exactly what God wanted Cain and Abel to do. The story talks about how Abel gave right away out of the first of his flock, but Cain did so grudgingly whenever he got around to it. God didn't like Cain's attitude and let him know.

When Noah got off the ark, what was the first thing he did? Do you remember? (Well, maybe after falling on the ground and kissing it like a crazy relieved fool.) He built an altar and killed and sacrificed a bunch of the food animals from the ark.

And yes, the Bible specifically says "clean animals," that's the kind they could eat. Not the lizards and bats and mosquitos. He used the good stuff, the steak, bacon and egg providers. Now remember, ALL living things were gone from the earth. Sending out a hunting party for more game at that point would have been a futile trip. It might have been tempting for Noah to say, "I don't know, since there is no food anywhere on the entire planet, maybe we don't destroy part of our food supply and instead save for the future."

Now, I'm all for planning ahead and putting money and assets aside, but here's the point. Noah knew, Abel knew, and Cain should have known where it all came from. Cain gave an offering to God because Dad and Mom told him to, and little bro' was making him look bad by having his own sacrifice. He completely missed the point.

Noah and Abel knew the food came from grace and goodness of God, not from themselves.

When they sent it up in flame, they were telling God, "I don't depend on this livestock, or the crops, or anything else. I depend on you."

I don't need the stuff, I need the One the stuff comes from. If I have Him, I have it all.

God told Moses, "Thou Shalt have no other gods before me." When we tythe, when we give to charity right away from our paychecks, we destroy again that easy temptation to make money our god. We remind ourselves it's not the money we need, but the One who gave us the ability to earn money in the first place.

The primary purpose of tithing isn't to benefit others (although it does that, and now with other people on the planet, I don't encourage intentionally burning your assets), it is to remind us that we need God. The primary purpose of tithing is to strengthen our relationship with our Creator, the source of everything. There is nothing more important in life than that.

I need God. I need to constantly remind myself of that.

And that is why, if I were the last man I earth, I would still give to charity.