The Truth About Tithing

Marcus Tom is the president of two large national companies. He has been drawn to business and leadership since he was a teen. Through the years he’s had times of great personal rewards and seasons of hardship. He says, “I will never forget this, and this is early on in the career, we were having some financial difficulty. And our daughter, who was very young, she heard this and inadvertently, and she came with her piggy bank and said, ‘Daddy, you can have whatever you need.’"

They made it through that season by tightening their family budget and cutting back on expenses where they could. He remembers, “Money got tight. It got very tight for us and what I learned was the importance and the value that living within your means has.”

Marcus is a Christian and has found wisdom for his life and business decisions through his faith. “The Bible is full of examples of us being stewards. And that the Master has entrusted certain resources to people. We are entrusted with these resources to invest them and to work them and to show a return and being in business, that resonates with me.”

Several years ago, while studying scripture Marcus and his wife were challenged to consider the biblical principal of tithing, something he’d thought was just an old testament concept. He says, “We had a lot of costs, and our children were just starting college… so it really was a gesture of faith. And to us financially, you know, and I’ll put this in quotes, but it – there was some risk involved in-in this. But, uh you know, we prayed on it quite a bit and we decided to do that.”

He anticipated that as he sacrificed a portion of the family income to God, they would once again have to tighten their budget. Yet the family always had enough. He says, “We were ready to have to really tighten the belt and spend a lot less. That-that never happened. And I can only attribute that to something happening supernaturally because it did defy business logic and financial logic. There seemed to be this supernatural multiplication or extension of what we had that seems like a little bit, maybe even not enough. It always provided and God provided for us throughout those times.”

During the second year of their commitment to tithe, his career skyrocketed as Marcus was recruited into a Vice President role at a different company. Then even better news. “And in that first week I was promoted,” he says, “I like to think just supernaturally, but there was something that was incredible that happened. I moved from vice president to senior vice president in my first week in that second year of tithing.”

He quickly advanced to chief operating officer then to president of the company, which he believes is a result of trusting God with his finances. He says, “That, to me, is an acceleration of movement both from income and title that I was not expecting and I’m just so grateful to God for.”

He and his wife continue to tithe and pray for wisdom for where to invest in God’s kingdom. One ministry he supports is CBN. He especially loves Operation Blessing. Marcus says, “And I asked Him, I said, ‘God, you know, guide me in how you want your money to be used.’ And so I sent a small check in to support Operation Blessing and I just believed in, you know, their mission and their ministry, I feel like now I’m a part of this organization and I’m heavily invested in them.”

With the success he’s had in the business world, Marcus says he knows where his blessings come from. “If I had to reduce the key to my success down to one thing, it would be stepping out in faith and putting my trust in God. I owe it all to Him. He is the provider and, you know, it’s all His. So I’m just along for the ride. God is good.”