Tithe

seajoy · Sep 8, 2006

Perhaps this question has been covered here before. But I'd like to hear what my new lutheran friends have to say about this subject.

I do feel a lot of guilt for not tithing. Is this something I should feel this way about? Do lutherans get off easy, because we don't all tithe? (bad question, I know)
I just feel that without tithing, I'm never giving enough.

What are some of the ways you folks figure out your "first fruits?" (I know this is a personnal question, between you and God, please feel free to use bible verses for your answers...that's what I'm really looking for).

Thanks, seajoy

Tetzel · Sep 8, 2006

I am a poor grad student but my expenses are low. Whenever my checking account gets higher than what I'll need to survive the summer (not always certain funding then) I give money. While I know calculating my living expenses isn't exactly first fruits, I managed to give 9.2% of my income last year.

Edial · Sep 8, 2006

seajoy said:
Perhaps this question has been covered here before. But I'd like to hear what my new lutheran friends have to say about this subject.

I do feel a lot of guilt for not tithing. Is this something I should feel this way about? Do lutherans get off easy, because we don't all tithe? (bad question, I know)
I just feel that without tithing, I'm never giving enough.

What are some of the ways you folks figure out your "first fruits?" (I know this is a personnal question, between you and God, please feel free to use bible verses for your answers...that's what I'm really looking for).

Thanks, seajoy

Well, if one goes strictly by the OT in defining a tithe, it would be over 30% of one's income.

NT speaks nothing about tithing, but mainly about giving oneself to the Lord first as of first priority.

I personally use 10% tithing as a point of reference for personal giving. (It is never exactly 10%).
It is also spread out throughout the church and various other Christian ministries.

I never teach tithing, but refer to it as a guideline.

Because without that 10%, the "little-old ladies" will write off their entire estates and Social Security checks to the "preachers" on TV.

And with it, it is a good discipline of faith.

Thanks,
Ed

DaRev · Sep 8, 2006

This is a good guideline:

2 Cor. 9:7 (ESV)
"Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

seajoy · Sep 8, 2006

Edial said:
Well, if one goes strictly by the OT in defining a tithe, it would be over 30% of one's income.

NT speaks nothing about tithing, but mainly about giving oneself to the Lord first as of first priority.

I personally use 10% tithing as a point of reference for personal giving. (It is never exactly 10%).
It is also spread out throughout the church and various other Christian ministries.

I never teach tithing, but refer to it as a guideline.

Because without that 10%, the "little-old ladies" will write off their entire estates and Social Security checks to the "preachers" on TV.

And with it, it is a good discipline of faith.

Thanks,
Ed

I didn't realize that OT tithing was 30%. You learn something new everyday, I guess.

Thanks for your input.

seajoy

seajoy · Sep 8, 2006

DaRev said:
This is a good guideline:

2 Cor. 9:7 (ESV)
"Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Thank you! That is the verse I've been trying to think of. Couldn't remember how it went, or where it was found.

So many times I/we try to make things a lot more difficult than we need to, right? God's ways are laid out there for us, and we try to make it so hard (my guilt, I'm talking about, on this matter).

seajoy

seajoy · Sep 8, 2006

Tetzel said:
I am a poor grad student but my expenses are low. Whenever my checking account gets higher than what I'll need to survive the summer (not always certain funding then) I give money. While I know calculating my living expenses isn't exactly first fruits, I managed to give 9.2% of my income last year.

Enjoy your low expenses while you can!

seajoy

LilLamb219 · Sep 8, 2006

I confess I'm not a "tither". I do give my offerings which is an amount my husband and I have agreed to (me, reluctantly though since I'd rather give more) since we are a 2 church family.

I do give to God in other ways though besides just money using talents and service. I don't do it because I have to but because I know that God blesses us to be a blessing to others

stumpjumper · Sep 9, 2006

I never figure out my percentage until the end of the year. I think looking at the 10% as a minimum goal makes me look at giving in the wrong way...

My income varies per year so I give as much as I can and when I have extra I'll give to Church for something special or a few Christian charities that I like (Worldvision, a local homeless shelter etc...)

Some years I am over 10% some under but I enjoy giving this way rather than looking at it as a requirement...

Tetzel · Sep 9, 2006

seajoy said:
Enjoy your low expenses while you can!

seajoy

I don't see them getting higher in the future.

Jim47 · Sep 9, 2006

Tithing is an old testament requirement .

For Christians we are to give as God has put it in our heart. If we give out of compulsion our gift is not blessed. When we give out of love and thankfulness then no matter how large of small the gift God blesses it and blesses us. It is our hearts that God wants. If He has our hearts then fruitul offerings of both money and talents will follow.

I have always thought the key to this is to keep oneself close to The Lord. Bible study, prayer and relecting upon the mnay blessings that God has given us helps to cleanse our heart so to speak. When we neglect these things then our hearts go astray and the offerings that we may make are out of compulsion or some other sinful motive. These serve no purpose and actually seperate us from God.

Some years back we had a Pastor who always taught that we should draw close to God and then cheerful/thankful giving would follow. I think this has served our congregation well as we are small but yet do a fairly good job of taking care of things.

Myself, I wouldn't even set foot in a church that required tithing. We are saved by grace not by our check books. When we feel God's grace in our lives, healthy offerings will follow.

seajoy · Sep 9, 2006

Tetzel said:
I don't see them getting higher in the future.

You are smarter than I was at 27 .

BlackSabb · Sep 15, 2006

Edial said:
Well, if one goes strictly by the OT in defining a tithe, it would be over 30% of one's income.

NT speaks nothing about tithing, but mainly about giving oneself to the Lord first as of first priority.

I personally use 10% tithing as a point of reference for personal giving. (It is never exactly 10%).
It is also spread out throughout the church and various other Christian ministries.

I never teach tithing, but refer to it as a guideline.

Because without that 10%, the "little-old ladies" will write off their entire estates and Social Security checks to the "preachers" on TV.

And with it, it is a good discipline of faith.

Thanks,
Ed

Hi there. I totally agree with you about that the "little old ladies" should be prevented from giving to tv evangelists, so that the likes of Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn don't get to buy another multi million dollar house, jet etc.

However, how did you estimate that the OT tithe was "30"%? I read this with great interest, but unfortunately you didn't supply any Biblical information about it.

By my calculations, the OT tithe was in fact just over 3% per year. This is how I figured this out:

During the first 2 years of the tithe, the Israelites brought 10% of their first fruits into the temple. However, this was not handed over to the Levites but was eaten as a thanks offering unto God. It would be like going to church and at the end of the year, bringing in 10% of your monies earned, giving thanks to God for it, and then going out and spending it on yourself, therefore completing the thanks offering.

Only during the 3rd year did the Israelites bring in the 10% first fruits and actually hand it over to the Levites for their upkeep.

So you do the maths. Out of 3 years of 10% tithes, 10% is actually given away to the temple priests, (remember, the first 2 years it was not given away). So 10% given away in 3 years is..........well you know.

But if I would love to read about a 30% tithe equivalent. This is my Biblical analysis, if there is another, please let us all read it.

synger · Sep 15, 2006

In my family we've been finding that, since our finances have been hand-to-mouth for years, we NEED to have a set percentage. Otherwise, we are just not disciplined enough to give at all, because it gets frittered away frivously. And then we feel terribly guilty.

So just in the past few months, we've prayerfully considered our finances, and set out a basic budget. For the first time in 14 years, to our shame. Anyway, part of that is a specific amount to the church. Since we're not sure how this budget will work, and we have almost no savings in the bank, the amount to the church is smaller than ten percent.

I feel like I want to have a little bit of cushion in our savings (at least a month's paycheck's worth, which we've never been able to keep around before) before re-evaluating our church giving. But then, I feel like if we give our "first fruits" God will be faithful and take care of us. And then, that seems too much like "prosperity gospel" and it makes me shudder. *sighs*

I've always felt guilty if I don't give more, and stressed and worried when I do. It is our prayer that by actually setting up a budget and working with it, we can increase our giving more systematically, rather than haphazardly, and with less worry.

So a full 10 % off the top? Nowhere close to it. But with the new plan, where we actually budget church giving into our monthly expenses, we are definitely getting closer to the "cheerful giver" that we've wanted to be.

BigNorsk · Sep 15, 2006

The rules about tithes were actually a little vague in the Bible. The Jews figured it this way. 10% was the tithe for the Levites. 10% was the tithe for feasting. And every third year there was a 10% tithe for the poor that was kept locally. So 2 years of 20% and 1 of 30%. Now here's one thing that most people forget. The tithe was only on what was produced from the land. Livestock, grain, wine, oil. There is no reference to the working people who were paid daily wages giving a tithe.

So if you wanted to follow Old Testament Law and you are a shall we say typical wage earner. You would give a tithe of your garden. And your wages are yours. Of course you would have some expenses for sacrifices and such but that would be that. I'm not sure if one would be required to bring in a tithe on your lawn clippings and flowers thery aren't mentioned. Can you imagine the preacher preaching the tithe if every week say 20% of the lawn clippings in town were deposited on his front step. I'm also not so sure about pets, maybe giving a tithe off the increase of cats and dogs wouldn't be too appreciated either. Actually, we don't really see a tithe of unclean animals like camels in the Old Testament so the cats and dogs probably wouldn't be either. I don't think there was a tithe on wild food like fish either, no record of it so evidently the hunters and fishermen get off cheap.

It's a lot simpler to just give as you are able. Whether money, talents or whatever.

Marv

CSMR · Sep 16, 2006

(If wage earners who were paid for working on the land were taxed in addition to the land-owner it would be double taxation. Even the IRS doesn't do that.)

C.F.W. Walther · Sep 16, 2006

The importance isn't how much you give but if you are giving it with a thankfull heart and not begrudging the gift. If it isn't given freely with no strings then it will not be honored.

I'm not going to dig out the verses but they are there.

Prosperity gospel or not, I've allways found that when I give and I can't afford it I get it back many times over.

.

synger · Sep 16, 2006

Can you imagine the preacher preaching the tithe if every week say 20% of the lawn clippings in town were deposited on his front step.

*chuckles* My first thought when reading that was, "What a huge compost pile that would make!" and then, "We'd have to shred all our left-over bulletins to make the 'browns' to balance all those 'greens' to make good compost."

Think of how beautiful the church lawn and garden would be with all that wonderful compost to feed it!

seajoy · Sep 16, 2006

synger said:
*chuckles* My first thought when reading that was, "What a huge compost pile that would make!" and then, "We'd have to shred all our left-over bulletins to make the 'browns' to balance all those 'greens' to make good compost."

Think of how beautiful the church lawn and garden would be with all that wonderful compost to feed it!

Lutherans are so frugal!

ByzantineDixie · Sep 16, 2006

Radidio said:
Prosperity gospel or not, I've allways found that when I give and I can't afford it I get it back many times over.

.

Radidio...if you would turn on that repper I wouldn't have to post here so much! I couldn't agree more with you on this one. We only give what He gives us in the first place anyway!

In our earlier years of marriage, it never occurred to us to give 10%. I always thought our donations were quite adequate. Then one day I ran the numbers and was completely shocked. We were giving less than 3% of our income! So my husband and I decided we should do more and slowly...over a period of several years, because we had other obligations (mortgage, car payments, other debt), we were able to increase the percentage. But it took a plan and a desire.

I bring this up to encourage those who might not be where they would like to be today regarding giving. It can take time, planning and effort...and that's OK.

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