You gotta have skin in the game!!

[KirkPsalm]

We ( church congregation ) were voting on various church officers. Head usher, treasurer, deacon, financial guy, ect....

When it was time for the members to cast their vote, our pastor explained to everyone that he'd didn't want you to vote if your not tithing. He said something along the lines of "if you not tithing we're gonna take your ballot and throw it away, you gotta have skin in the game, that's how it works."

So, a lot of questions come to mind.
How much is "skin in the game?" 10% of your gross salary? How much is enough? If 10% is enough, how would anyone know who's actually giving 10%?

Do you have skin in the game if you give a lot of your time to various ministries, children's, young adults, life groups, ect, because you don't have a lot of money but you have some time and heart for service?

Do you thinks this is okay to have requirement of member, beyond membership, to have a meaningful vote that counts? Should you trust the judgement of the man to cull the ballot of those who deserve a vote that counts and those that don't?

It doesn't feel right to me but that doesn't matter if there's nothing wrong with it.

Please share what you think with me.

 

[jas3]

Most of the churches in my area that I've visited expect members to tithe 10% to be in good standing. It's left up to the individual to do that, though. I personally don't see anything wrong with having that as an expectation, but it should be between you and God whether you're actually giving 10%. I've only ever heard of a pastor verifying that the amount given is exactly 10% in Mormonism.

In your congregation's case, I would guess the pastor meant to address people who are not only giving less than 10%, but are actually not giving anything at all, which would be easy to verify unless people are giving cash. It sounds like he was very rude about it though.