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Should a Church .....

Discussion in 'Money Talk$' started by wpe3bql, Jun 3, 2015.

  1. Afshin Yaghtin

    Afshin Yaghtin NewCovenantBaptist.Org

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    The problem with that is it can lead members into credit card debt, which is not something that God wants. Better to carry cash.
     
  2. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    It can but not always. If one uses a good rewards card and pays off the balance regularly, it's actually a good way to budget and keep track of what you've spent AND it gives you some money back in the rewards. But now if you believe in tithing, do you tithe on the reward?? ;)
     
  3. Afshin Yaghtin

    Afshin Yaghtin NewCovenantBaptist.Org

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    I actually don't believe in tithing, but in freewill offerings, as the tithes were specifically instituted for the Levitical priesthood, since they had no inheritance of land. In fact, even the offering plate itself is not Biblical. In the Bible, there was a donation box of sorts, where believers would put their money in (notice the passage about the widow who put in the mite). We have a small donation box in our church, where members can put in freewill offerings or donations, without any prompting to do so.

    Churches are partly run like businesses today, and I believe we should steer away from that. However, just so I'm being honest and disclosing everything, I do put a "donate" button on our website, which does use paypal. That's the closest we come to it, but it is unobtrusive.

    Just my "two cents". :)

    God bless.
     
  4. Internet Theologian

    Internet Theologian Well-Known Member

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    The church will take a certain percentage of a loss of those transactions, typically.

    There is a church around here that has on their envelopes a place to put your routing number so it can automatically deduct ten percent from the account regularly.
     
  5. JonC

    JonC Moderator
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    I would worry about this as well. While I don’t believe it the necessary result, I would worry about playing the part in another’s financial irresponsibility.

    More than that, and probably more of a personal note, for me giving via credit card would diminish an act of worship to a business transaction. Now, I know that “paying” by check or cash is also a business transaction (and I know that giving can be via credit card) but I think that I would feel more inclined to dismiss giving as a payment or a bill if I were to do it with a card. There is something, for me, about bringing my offering to church and participating corporately in this act of worship that appeals to me.

    That said, I don’t begrudge anyone who uses a card (or churches that accept credit cards…although now that I think of it, perhaps they should limit themselves to accepting debit transactions (if this is even possible). I do not believe it biblical for people to give what they do not have, so I am very apprehensive about some uses of these cards in giving.
     
  6. Afshin Yaghtin

    Afshin Yaghtin NewCovenantBaptist.Org

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    I am in 100% agreement with you on this. I am not legalistic about this, but I believe it turns churches into businesses, much more than the examples of early churches that we see in the Book of Acts, for example. Churches today are run too much like businesses. And that is where the danger lies in all of this.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  7. Rob_BW

    Rob_BW Well-Known Member
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    I can see where borrowing money, by swiping a credit card and not paying off the balance, would not be a good thing. But otherwise, a machine or paypal or even a check, they are all methods of transferring money with the convenience of not having to carry around hard currency.

    And even dollar bills or gold coins are much more convenient than the alternative. I don't believe most churches today are set up to deal in firstfruits anymore. Receiving grain, cattle, or textiles would be more burdensome than cash, check, or credit card.
     
  8. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    I would NEVER set up an account where they took a certain % out!!!
    For example - just the other day, I transferred some money from one account to another to pay off a bill. The way I read IT's , that large amount would have been subject to taxation by the church.
    In addition, suppose my employer deposited an amount in my checking account to pay for business expenses - food, lodging, travel ect.......
     
  9. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
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    I don't believe “giving via plastic” is not inherently sinful – no more so writing a check or giving a “Federal Reserve Note” drawn on the United States of America. If it is not wrong, should we move full steam ahead?

    While this offers a convenience for those who are going to give anyway, I think this should be a “road less travelled.” Two reasons I recommend we leave this alone are:
    • Credit card giving encourages debt giving. Perhaps not deliberately so – many churches’ online giving page warns against going in debt – but practically so, by holding out the ease and temptation to give what one does not have (2 Corinthians 8:11-12). When a person falls to the temptation, isn’t the church “bidding godspeed” – playing a part in another person’s financial irresponsibility?
    • Credit card giving enforces the perception that churches are “all about money.” Online giving instructions mentioned on a church’s web page may be unobtrusive enough, but giving centers placed all around a church’s facilities reminds visitors of the not-so-subtle push to fund the ministries of the church.
    The primary argument for “credit card giving” is convenience. The church sells it on convenience and the congregation buys it. Yet that convenience might be a hindrance both to those who cannot manage their money and those who think the church cares more for their money than their souls. Perhaps, like Paul, we should not use this power (freedom, liberty), lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
     
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