The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-08-21
BY RALPH ROGERS

CROWN through Christian Civ.
ING J Cor. 1911, II CT. s:I-s)
A mans pocket book is his ten
derest spot. A man may flash his
wad' in giving to some pet pro-
lect or in treating his friend At
the bar, but in church, that's diff
ierent and our generosity slips to
the mere two pence the widow
gave in the treasury of the tenn
pie. Slightly more than fifty per-
cent OF our population claim TO he
Christians and yet the LIQUOR bill
IN these United States exceeds bv
four times the giving for all Chris
tan causes. "Will a man rob
God?" asks the prophet Malachi.
(S:8) Where a mans pocket book
is, there will be his heart also.
The Christians growth is com
mensurate with his giving.
Lowell measures our giving in
these words:
Not what We give but what
we share,
For the gift without the Civ
er is bare;
Who gives himself with his
aims feeds three,
Himself, his hungering neigh
Dor, and Me-"
One has only to hear some Of
the problems Of his neighbors, or
check on the work Of our social
welfare workers to know that there
IS considerable Illustration and dis
tress, not only in the world. but
right here in Key West. If you
want to find the happiest families.
the most contented people on earth.
you won't find them in the bars
laboring under the illusion that
they can drown their troubles. but
among the Tithers who have sur
rendered themselves and their DOS
sessions to the Giver Of all bless
ings.
One good lady had financial trou-
bleS with her budget and asked
her neighbor whose husbands in
come was on a par with hers, how
she made her budget balance. In
looking over the neighbor's bud
get she saw the word 'tithe' and
asked what it meant. When told
she admitted that her liquor bill
amounted to more than that. Rufus
Dodd explains it when he says,
"And none seems to know as
he labors and delves
That in robbing the Lord we
have robbed our own selves"
Really tithers are the happiest
people / have ever met.
Religion has meant much to all
people down through the ages. It
carries with il grave obligations.
We too often hope TO reap the re-
ward Of our religion without pay
ing the price. We generally get
what we pay for. If we thing we
are getting bargain we often find
that is is shoddy material or da-
mayed in some way or other. II
we expect to reap the benefits Of
Christianity without assuming the
obligations we are certainly dis
appointed. The spiritual tempera-
ture of an individual is measured
by the obligations he assumes.
One of the important obligations
is that Of giving. Paul calls il a
collection, not an offering. In his
letter to the Corinthians he says
that 1t is an order. More than that
he outlines the method in which
this order is to be obeyed. He does
not speak Of the head Of the house,
but he says, ''let every one" re-
gularly, on the first day of the
week lay by him in store. He
knows the weaknesses Of human
nature and that by the second
week, the day we miss church,
we're likely to forget our income
over such long period. Every
payday the Tither lays aside the
amount due the Lord.
Again we like to say what wei
give. We don't like to have others
tell us what we should give but
Paul tells the churches what they
shall give. As the Lord hath pros
pered them, so should they give.
It's not what we pledge to the sup
port of the church and the various
benevolenceS, but it is more or less
a