Tithing - Another View

[Jimmy West]

So many are hung up on the OT/Law issue concerning tithing. They question weather they are really supposed to tithe today. STOP concerning yourself with that, and do what common sense tells you. How many of you are being fed by your house of worship? I don't mean food, I mean growth. How many of you would like it if your employer suddenly stopped paying you? If nobody tithed, every church would shut down. DO NOT forget about your shepherd, the pastor, and staff of your church. If you want to take a free ride, take it somewhere else! Pastors are Not in it for the money. If they were, they would never have chosen that profession. But, they are in it to serve the God we all profess to love. They are in it to serve us and minister to our needs. And as such, they deserve our tithe, all of it, weather it is mandated or not!

 

[statrei]

So many are hung up on the OT/Law issue concerning tithing. They question weather they are really supposed to tithe today. STOP concerning yourself with that, and do what common sense tells you. How many of you are being fed by your house of worship? I don't mean food, I mean growth. How many of you would like it if your employer suddenly stopped paying you? If nobody tithed, every church would shut down. DO NOT forget about your shepherd, the pastor, and staff of your church. If you want to take a free ride, take it somewhere else! Pastors are Not in it for the money. If they were, they would never have chosen that profession. But, they are in it to serve the God we all profess to love. They are in it to serve us and minister to our needs. And as such, they deserve our tithe, all of it, weather it is mandated or not!

And that's the way it is. Period. As soon as we accept this truth out go the useless arguments of whether one should tithe on one's gross or one's net income.

 

[New_Wineskin]

If nobody tithed, every church would shut down.

I know lots of groups that would not shut down . And , "churches" don't receive "tithes" . Only groups that have allowed themselves unnecessary expenses ( see the "stewardship" thread ) , would shut down . As far as I am concerned , if all the groups calling themselves "churches" that demand "tithes" because of their poor financial choices would shut down , I would consider that to be a wonderful thing . It would give people cause to think about giving to the needy instead of supporting a clubhouse and Grand Poobahs .

 

[Andrew]

Sometimes I wonder: Are folks who tithe really giving to God or to man when they make statements like "It would give people cause to think about giving to the needy instead of supporting a clubhouse and Grand Poobahs "

I mean, if you've set your heart to tithe to God, then once the money leaves your hand, don't say it should go here and not go there. If you want to control where the money should go, then it never really left your hand. It never really went to God.

It's just another lame excuse not to tithe.

 

[AudioArtist]

Sometimes I wonder: Are folks who tithe really giving to God or to man when they make statements like "It would give people cause to think about giving to the needy instead of supporting a clubhouse and Grand Poobahs "

I mean, if you've set your heart to tithe to God, then once the money leaves your hand, don't say it should go here and not go there. If you want to control where the money should go, then it never really left your hand. It never really went to God.

It's just another lame excuse not to tithe.

I'm not so sure. I mean, if I want to give a large sum of money away, I want it to bless people who are far less fortunate then me, as Jesus commanded us to help the naked, the poor, those in prison, etc...I am responsible for where my money is thrown, and I want to see it bless the "least of these", or a Church that actually needs the money. There is nothing wrong with that.

For example, if I had a choice between giving to a charity that was corrupt, or one that actually blessed others, I would of course opt to give to the charity that was not corrupt. I want to tithe money to a Church because I want to give something back to God, but if I found out the Church was corrupt and was spending the money in a ridiculous way, cearly outside the will of God, then it would not be unreasonable, I believe, to stop giving to that particular church, and find another one instead.

 

[Kebisoni]

I'm not so sure either - I think giving to the needy is giving to God actually. It is perhaps the most important thing we can do for God - it certainly seems to come quite high on his list of how we should lead our lives.

This is from Matthew's Gospel:

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.


34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

 

[Andyman_1970]

So many are hung up on the OT/Law issue concerning tithing. They question weather they are really supposed to tithe today. STOP concerning yourself with that, and do what common sense tells you.

Chapter and verse that says we should ignore God’s Holy Word and exercise “common sense” as being an authoritative form of interpreting what God wants us to do?

With all due respect more than one false teaching has been born from the mantra of “common sense”…………….

How many of you are being fed by your house of worship? I don't mean food, I mean growth. How many of you would like it if your employer suddenly stopped paying you? If nobody tithed, every church would shut down. DO NOT forget about your shepherd, the pastor, and staff of your church. If you want to take a free ride, take it somewhere else! Pastors are Not in it for the money. If they were, they would never have chosen that profession. But, they are in it to serve the God we all profess to love. They are in it to serve us and minister to our needs.

Although I am rabidly anti-tithing, I have and will never advocate not giving to the church one is a member of, just for the record.

And as such, they deserve our tithe, all of it, weather it is mandated or not!

So I take it God’s Word doesn’t matter in this issue? If that’s the case how do we know what’s true and not true? With this line of thinking how can I know Jesus really was the Messiah? With this line of thinking how can I really know that God desires for me to return to Him? With this line of thinking how can I know anything in the Bible is right and true? There’s a lot of what Jesus said that doesn’t jive with “common sense”, that whole loving your enemy thing, or dying to yourself isn’t common sense, and yet they are the foundation of what it means to be a disciple.

So if we are going to use “common sense” now does that mean I can interpret the Holy Scripture to mean whatever I think is “common sense”? Doesn’t Peter warn us of private interpretation of the Scriptures??? Or does that not count because it’s not “common sense” or that’s just what Peter said and we shouldn’t concern ourselves with that…………

That’s a mighty slippery slope you have yourself on there brother…………….

 

[probinson]

Andyman, why are you so vehemently opposed to tithing? As I've said before, I've tithed for years, God has blessed me because of it. If God uses tithing to bless me and others, what harm does it do?

 

[janny108]

I can NOT believe there are currently 3 threads on tithing. I guess some ppl want to find a logical reason why NOT to do it. I pray that those ppl's eyes be opened to see what a blessing and privilege it really is!

Jan

 

[Andyman_1970]

Andyman, why are you so vehemently opposed to tithing?

What I am vehemently opposed to is the misuse of God's Word. Tithing is just one example of that.

As I've said before, I've tithed for years, God has blessed me because of it. If God uses tithing to bless me and others, what harm does it do?

I'm all for giving, followers of Jesus should be generous. If you gave 10% of your income and God blessed that, that is awesome, I celebrate the movement of God where ever it happens - but Biblically you gave an offering and not a tithe, that is if we are going to be Biblically accurate that is. But like I said, I celebrate with you how God is using that offering in your life, that is awesome brother.

 

[Andyman_1970]

..............a logical reason why NOT to do it.

Logic has nothing to do with it, God's Holy inspried infallible Word does - I pray that people quit going by "common sense" or a "revelation" from someone and go back to what the Creator of the Universe said in His Word.

 

[statrei]

Logic has nothing to do with it, God's Holy inspried infallible Word does - I pray that people quit going by "common sense" or a "revelation" from someone and go back to what the Creator of the Universe said in His Word.

You can't understand what is in the Bible without logic. How soon do we forget that "In the beginning was the logos." Logos is the greek root for logic. If you despise logic you are saying something of how you view the Creator.

 

[Andyman_1970]

My point was not to throw logic out the window, my point was that our logic is not authoritative, God's Word is.

 

[statrei]

My point was not to throw logic out the window, my point was that our logic is not authoritative, God's Word is.

What do you mean by 'our' logic. Man did not make logic. He simply uses the gift the Master has given to us. Of course, we make mistakes in our use of His gifts, including the recording of what He has revealed to us.

 

[Andyman_1970]

So in your understanding is our logic authoritative???

 

[statrei]

So in your understanding is our logic authoritative???

Logic is a tool by which we come up with solutions to our problems. The authority is the author of all logic: the Creator of the Universe.

 

[Andyman_1970]

The authority is the author of all logic: the Creator of the Universe.

How do we know about this creator?? Through His Holy Word.

So with your reasoning of logic, since I don't find it logical to love my enemies is that authoritative??? Can I hold an idea of belief that is contrary to God's Word but justify it based on logic according to your reasoning?

I know many people much smarter than me that have reasoned through logic that there is no God and no need for faith, needless to say I don't put my faith in the logic of man.

 

[statrei]

How do we know about this creator?? Through His Holy Word.

Not true if you think the Bible is His Holy Word. His first word is nature.

 

[statrei]

So with your reasoning of logic, since I don't find it logical to love my enemies is that authoritative??? Can I hold an idea of belief that is contrary to God's Word but justify it based on logic according to your reasoning?

I know many people much smarter than me that have reasoned through logic that there is no God and no need for faith, needless to say I don't put my faith in the logic of man.

That was flawed logic. For logic to be a good guide it has to be properly used. Making statements is not logic. Logic is a process with set rules.

 

[Andyman_1970]

That was flawed logic.

How do I konw it's flawed? Who said it's flawed????