You Must Give 10% of Your Gross Income to the Church?

[Neostarwcc]

I've been to a couple of churches that require tithing. I immediately left them because I don't like tithing. You shouldn't be forced to give 10% of your income just because a Pastor says so. I think that Christians should just give what they can afford. If you can afford 10% of your income fine, give that to the church. If you can only afford $5 or even $1 give that. The church appreciates all donations. If a church tells you that you HAVE to give them 10% of your income I'd leave that church. Just my advice and two cents.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

If you're just going to whine about it, then don't do it. The tithe of a whiner isn't worth anything, anyway.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

you are not required to give 10% of your income. the standard has actually been raised:

2 Corinthians 9:1-9

if you're tight-fisted with God He will be tight-fisted with you. it's about exercising our heart of giving towards the LORD and not about meeting a quota.

 

[woobadooba]

If you're just going to whine about it, then don't do it. The tithe of a whiner isn't worth anything, anyway.

It's not about whining, but about being truthful. People who say God commands believers to give 10% of their gross income to the church are not being honest. Even worse, they accuse people who give less than 10% of robbing God. That's manipulation. And you need to study this out and learn the truth, because it sounds like you are caught up in legalism.

 

[woobadooba]

you are not required to give 10% of your income. the standard has actually been raised:

2 Corinthians 9:1-9

if you're tight-fisted with God He will be tight-fisted with you. it's about exercising our heart of giving towards the LORD and not about meeting a quota.

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NKJV)

It is up to the individual (not the church) to decide how much to give and where to give it.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NKJV)

correct..

 

[Phil 1:21]

While I understand that churches don't run without donations, I'm more than a little leery of preachers who always seem to interject the discussion into their sermons. I grew up in a church where the homily was all too often nothing more than a 5-minute fund raiser. And sometimes the priest was none too polite about it.

 

[woobadooba]

And sometimes the priest was none too polite about it.

Not surprising.

It's hard to be a cheerful giver when you have someone falsely accusing you of robbing God because you don't give what they demand.

 

[Phil 1:21]

Not surprising.

It's hard to be a cheerful giver when you have someone falsely accusing you of robbing God because you don't give what they demand.

Absolutely. I remember my mother throwing those donation envelopes in the trash the minute they showed up at the door. She said it was none of the church's business how much we did or did not donate, especially when the church made a habit out of publishing people's names and dollar amounts.

The church my family and I attend is far different than the one in which I grew up. But to this day all my donations are cash in the basket during service -- completely anonymous. I never donate by check or online.

 

[2Timothy2:15]

Have you ever heard someone tell you that because Jesus gave His life for you, the least you can do is give Him 10% of your income?

I used to think that way when I was a member of a denomination caught up in legalism. When you look at the statement closely, salvation by works is at its core. It's as though these people expect you to offer Jesus payment for the sacrifice He made. That's not the gospel, but a man-made tactic used to manipulate people into giving money to the church.

I have looked into the Scriptures to see what the Bible really says about tithing. There is no biblical support for the belief that God requires believers to hand over 10% of their gross income to the church. It is a man-made doctrine.

Before you jump on me for saying that, watch the following video.

Next time someone says the least you can do is give Jesus 10% of your income, you can respond: Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (Jn. 14:15). And then ask him or her to show you where Jesus commanded believers to give 10% of their gross income to the church.

They will likely proceed to take certain verses out of context, but if you watched the video above, you will know how to respond to their legalistic teaching.

Should we support those who labor for God? Yes. But it is up to the individual how much he or she gives. It is not for us to weigh people down with false guilt by demanding they give something God doesn't require of them. "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NKJV)

If people are making such demands of you—accusing you of robbing God because you aren't abiding by their church rules on tithing, then I suggest looking elsewhere for a place of fellowship.

The tithe lie is one of the biggest scams going today in the church. Pastors that push tithing are only generating money flow to justify their salaries. I always ask Pastors, show me in the bible where Jesus tithed or any of the disciples or apostles tithed......still waiting for an answer.

 

[2Timothy2:15]

If church members left because the Pastor was planning to build another church that was neither need nor wanted, and which the Lord may not have wanted them to build - good for them.
If the pastor was basically saying, "if you don't sign up to my vision, good riddance to you" - shame on him.
I wouldn't attend a church with a pastor with that kind of attitude.

These corrupt and greedy pastors are building their own kingdoms, not Gods. The old I have a vision and you must follow it is another false teaching used to manipulate people. It is the Lord's vision and there is no where in the bible where it says follow the pastors vision.

 

[2Timothy2:15]

i remember this pastor telling myself and others to give 10% of our gross with out even thinking about it. To make it a knee jerk reaction, bc there should be no second guessing when it comes to the l-rd.

He said "the cream rises to the top," and so the very best for the very best.

So give, he pleaded, "right off the top."

He said people tell him that oh no they have bills to pay and the rent and the mortgage, and they cant give 10%.

Pastor said that he told them to just trust Jesus, and that he will provide for all of our needs.

He claimed that after they started to just trust Jesus, suddenly they got that raise or that promotion and so.....

If we just trust in the L-rd, the blessings will rain down upon us

He said that this is how we are to live-to give G-d first place in our lives

He said the world is only the way that it is because we stopped making g-d first in our lives

and so we deny him the privilege to bless us.

and so, by not giving, we are denying GOD!

This pastor, during the Christmas eve service, insisted on members bringing their tithes up to the alter personally, one at a time, and placing their money into the cradle of the "baby Jesus" on Christmas eve.

So one, by one, members stood up and walked up to the front, and placed their monies right into the wooden cradle, with the infant jesus.

I hope you left that church.

 

[2Timothy2:15]

If you're just going to whine about it, then don't do it. The tithe of a whiner isn't worth anything, anyway.

Show me where Jesus tithed or any of the disciples or apostles ever tithed.

 

[woobadooba]

These corrupt and greedy pastors are building their own kingdoms, not Gods.

Not all are corrupt and greedy. Some really believe God requires people to give 10% of their gross income to the church. The reason why some are caught up in this false belief is because they are not interpreting the Scriptures correctly. They need to be taught how to do proper Exegesis. Unfortunately, not all are humble enough to receive correction.

 

[JacksBratt]

I have heard this argued and argued... I can see points for both views.. Tithe or not to Tithe.

As for me... I tithe and I give above and beyond... My tithe goes to the church that I attend. My above and beyond go to CF, Heart and stroke, other fund raising charities that are not "God's work".
I figure this is the only way that we can pay for a minister, a youth ministry, lights, heat, A/C, the whole operation. It costs money... so I tithe..... 10 %....

I could care less about the legal aspects of it.

I do know this..... It baffles my mind..... BUT... If I tithe...my finances work out much better.

Someone asked my father how he could afford to Tithe... He said "I cannot afford not to"..

This has been my observation as well.

He worked a factory job... was the only bread winner until we were in our teens, put us through all the sports and we had enough toys to get into all the trouble other kids did....

He built a house and paid it off before I was out of the house...and it is now worth close to 1,000,000.00.

He retired and has traveled and has enjoyed a very nice standard of living.

He is healthy and turned 90 years old today... still golfs, drives and curls......

You cannot out give God..

 

[Phil 1:21]

He claimed that after they started to just trust Jesus, suddenly they got that raise or that promotion and so.....

If we just trust in the L-rd, the blessings will rain down upon us

Prosperity gospel heresy, nothing more. It truly troubles me how many "preachers" preach from something other than the Bible. I fell asleep one evening watching a sermon on television (good preacher, by the way), and when I woke up I saw some program with "testimonials" about how so-n-so gave x-amount to this ministry and was blessed with a mysterious deposit in their bank account from God.

Scripture tells us how God will deal with such "preachers" and it's not pretty.

 

[RDKirk]

Interestingly, only landowners and those who owned herds were required to tithe from their increase to the Levites (see Lev. 27:30, 32). People of other occupations were not required to give this tithe from their increase . . . though they were expected to give free will offerings.

Even though a monetary system existed at the time, only food items qualified as tithe, not money (see Mal. 3:10)

And very specifically, they were told to use their money to buy food and then tithe the food.

 

[RDKirk]

you are not required to give 10% of your income. the standard has actually been raised:

2 Corinthians 9:1-9

if you're tight-fisted with God He will be tight-fisted with you. it's about exercising our heart of giving towards the LORD and not about meeting a quota.

Actually, it's defined in the 8th chapter.

The standard for the Body of Christ mandated in scripture is economic equality. The specific OT reference Paul gives is God commanding that even though some will collect much and some will collect little, it should be measured out so that all have exactly the same amount.

 

[RDKirk]

I have heard this argued and argued... I can see points for both views.. Tithe or not to Tithe.

As for me... I tithe and I give above and beyond... My tithe goes to the church that I attend. My above and beyond go to CF, Heart and stroke, other fund raising charities that are not "God's work".
I figure this is the only way that we can pay for a minister, a youth ministry, lights, heat, A/C, the whole operation. It costs money... so I tithe..... 10 %....

I could care less about the legal aspects of it.

I do know this..... It baffles my mind..... BUT... If I tithe...my finances work out much better.

Someone asked my father how he could afford to Tithe... He said "I cannot afford not to"..

This has been my observation as well.

He worked a factory job... was the only bread winner until we were in our teens, put us through all the sports and we had enough toys to get into all the trouble other kids did....

He built a house and paid it off before I was out of the house...and it is now worth close to 1,000,000.00.

He retired and has traveled and has enjoyed a very nice standard of living.

He is healthy and turned 90 years old today... still golfs, drives and curls......

You cannot out give God..

The problem is, "You keep using that word, but I do not think it means what you think it means."

God explicitly defined "tithe" in great detail in the Mosaic Covenant After He defined it in the Mosaic Covenant, He never redefined it, nor did anyone in the NT use it in any other way to mean anything else.

That word cannot be used legitimately for any other practice. In fact, Jews don't even use the word "tithe" because they can't do it the way God commanded, therefore they don't claim to do it at all. They do other things, such as a "fairness offering," but they don't call it "tithing."

 

[dqhall]

During the time of Jesus before the temple was destroyed c. 70 AD, Jewish priests went to the threshing floors or sent agents to the threshing floors at the time of the grain harvest to make sure they got their 10% of the sifted grain. Chief priests sometimes disenfranchised lower priests and took their 10% too. (Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, Jeremias Joachim - based on Talmudic studies)

Some rabbis were not priests. They were not legally entitled to take 10%, they had to supplement their income by doing labor or maintaining small businesses. Some Jews met in house synagogues, hotel rooms, small meeting halls, etc.

I figured it would be cheaper to buy Christian study materials than to give a church 10%. When I gave $40 or $50 and the sermon was not good, the people were not friendly and the money I gave was not enough, I left. Being part of a good congregation can be good for a person's health. Some have to go without.