Every church I've been to pushes tithing and it is understandable. The pastor has to eat. The question came to mind here recently, should a person go to church if they can't afford to tithe? What if they can't afford to give anything?
I know churches that push a give and God will bless you philosophy.
My position is it is like paying for any other services. You can't expect a pastor to come to the hospital when you are sick, do your funeral or guide you spiritually if you aren't willing to pay him a decent wage and support the church and its mission.
So does that mean your validity as a member of the body of Christ is tied to your salary? If you can't afford to give, would it be better just to stay home?
I haven't ever given 10% personally. Not because I am not happy to give though.
I do admit though, I don't like hearing the guilt trip give messages. Not every church does it, but most do.
What are your thoughts?
I remember my dad giving me my fist allowance when I was 6 yrs old. He explained to me very clearly how 10% of it belonged to God, and probably gave me something like ten cents in change so that the math was simple and I didn't have to break it down to get the right amount to pay my tithes. I was so happy to get any money whatsoever, that tithing seemed insignificant compared to what I was allowed to keep.
I tithed faithfully all my life. It was just like paying taxes. It's not your money, so don't spend it and don't rack up so many bills that you can't afford your obligations. Simple, really.
Till I read the Bible, and noticed that the verses they often quoted at church were taken out of context. So I studied tithing, just like the preacher always said we should do, being like the Bereans, you know...
The first thing I noticed was that tithing wasn't meant to all go to the church. It was meant to go to the widows, orphans, and to the Levites and strangers in the land as well. It makes sense that giving money directly to someone in need is much more effective than giving it first to the church, and then taking the person in need to that same church and going through the process of trying to get some of that same money back to help them. The church has the advantage of being able to spread the resources out evenly between all that are in need, but most people in our society are touched more when they are given a gift from an individual rather than an organization.
Then I noticed how preachers tend to pick and choose which portions of "The Law" were fulfilled through Jesus and which ones we must still keep today. I'm not sure how they make this distinction, but it does seem awfully self serving in the way that tithing is not only one of the laws kept, but it has changed into something they can use to tax every member of the congregation. I've been to many churches where they spend up to 15 minutes every Sunday with a mini-sermon on tithing! Right before they take up the offering, of course.
Not going to church is one way to avoid the "obligation" to pay tithes. I think about that sometimes when I'm longing for a place of fellowship. The main thing that keeps me out of church however, is the false doctrine that I don't wish to subject my family to. And if tithing is just another fine example of false doctrine that is constantly preached from the pulpit, do you really want to sit under that day after day, year after year?
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