Tithing by Douglas LeBlanc

Tithing, by Douglas LeBlanc, left me wanting more. In the book, LeBlanc provides eleven different perspectives on tithing by interviewing people from drastically different backgrounds and finding out how it has affected their lives. This is NOT a how-to book, which is what I thought it would be given the "Ancient Practices" series name. Overall, the book seemed disjointed and a bit fluffy. LeBlanc seems like a nice guy and the people he interviews are interesting, but the practice of tithing seems loosely tied to most of their stories, at best.

In fact, the recounting of his time with Kevin Jones doesn't mention the practice of tithing once! At various points in the book, the importance of tithing is even disputed. On page 126 (in the same paragraph) LeBlanc quotes Yisroel Miller as saying, "...giving tithes is a commandment, a fulfillment of God's will," and two sentences later, "To give a tithe of one's income may be very difficult for some people, and it's generally not seen as a binding obligation that everyone must do. It is something to be encouraged, though." If it's not contradictory, it's at least confusing.

LeBlanc seemed to focus more on telling the stories of his interviews (which was rather distracting, to be honest) than on giving the reader any actual information about tithing. In one of the interviews, Mark Kellner says, "As far as I know, there's no mention in Scripture of tithing on money." As far as he knows? As a reporter, doesn't LeBlanc have the responsibility to research and answer that statement? It is, after all, a book about tithing.

I admit to being a bit of a cynic, but there were points in the book where the theme seemed to be, "If you tithe, God will give you what you want; if you don't, He'll make sure terrible things happen to you." That is much too simplistic for my taste.

For as disappointed as I was in the book overall, there were some good points, too. They were just a bit too hard to find. LeBlanc does point out that tithing is less about money and more about the heart. Tithing positions us humbly before God as our provider, which is always a good thing.

If you're looking for material that will actually instruct you on how to tithe or the biblical basis for it, this is not what you're looking for. If you're looking for stories that have a bit to do with how peoples' lives have been affected by tithing, and a couple hours to spare, you might like this book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”