Many Christians don't want to talk about the tithe, but we really should. I've been teaching financial stewardship for about three years now, and I have come to realize that the tithe is probably the most important tool we have to change our community.

The tithe is simply a measure of obedience to God and a way to release money's hold over your life. The last time I taught the women in the Total Life Recovery Program at the Women's Community Correctional Center, I visualized a new dimension of the tithe for the first time.

I've long known that tithing was originally intended by God to support the Levites and the widows and orphans (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). I decided to show the women how it worked. We created a fictional church, its stats something like this:

Church membership: 2,000 working adults

Average income: $3,000 per month

Tithe (10 percent) collected: $600,000 per month

"What's the church going to do with all that money?" one said.

"I'm glad you asked," I replied.

Let's say that after the senior pastor, you add one staff member for each 200 people. Our church would have 11 staffers. Their average salary should equal the average salary of the church as a whole, so the monthly staff salary would be $33,000. Let's figure facility costs (rent or mortgage, insurance, utilities, etc.) at 10 percent of the monthly income, $60,000, and pay a tithe to the denomination, another $60,000. This totals $153,000, leaving a balance of $447,000 monthly, or $5,364,000 per year. What is the church going to do with all that money?

Deuteronomy 14:29 says, "... and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied."

God gave the church, not the government, the responsibility for social welfare. When church members tithe, the church can take care of the homeless and the hungry, fight drug use, rehabilitate prisoners and addicts, train the jobless and serve in many other areas where the government fails to make lasting change.

The government bandages wounds where the church is capable of bringing healing. Isn't it time for the church to make a real difference?

If you are a church leader, develop a plan for how your church is going to help bring about social change and evangelize. Involve your congregation. Ask them to support this work with their tithe.

If you are a church member, ask your pastor what your church is doing to bring about social change and to evangelize. If they don't have a plan, ask if you can help draft one. Then support the plan with your tithe.

If we all do our part to enable the church to do its part in social welfare, we will free the government to use our tax dollars on the things they do best — take care of the roads, provide police and fire departments, and other infrastructural systems.