Is the tithe for today?

Do you love enough to lay down your life?

See? I can do that too.

There is a universal non-optional principle at work. Christ cited it saying, "Where your treasure is, your heart will be also."

The tithe is a trapping of the law. It doesn't matter that one gives 10% if he does so begrudingly. It is cheerful, willing giving in which God is interested. And if one's heart is in the Gospel, it will be evident by the way he manages and allocates his resources.

 

Yep.

Lay down your life? Okay, go ahead.

Alright, so if you give 10%, your heart is 90% on earth. If you give 50%, your heart is half on earth, half in heaven? Right? Only if you give 100% is your heart fully in heaven.

Yeah, it does 'trap,' doesn't it?
So, a church should never try to persuade members who give little or nothing to start tithing, then-- if they were cheerful givers, they would already be doing so. If some are persuaded to do so, they are not cheerful givers or they would not need to be persuaded. Do you agree, then, that tithing should not be preached, or there should be not series of "stewardship emphasis" or whatever such a clump of weeks may be called?

Finally, do you give a100% of your income, or do you hold back your "love?"

 

Lol. Now there's some myopia.

What saith the Scripture? Lay aside according to what?

 

Nevertheless... if you give 10%, your heart is 90% on earth. If you give 50%, your heart is half on earth, half in heaven? Right? Only if you give 100% is your heart fully in heaven.

 

Lol. By the same manner that you say you love so greatly that you have laid down your life, I can say 100% of my resources are given to God.

 

Look pal I only make $15/hr and I live in the Denver metro area which is not exactly the best salary, so things can be tight if it were not for my student loans and credit card debts. I give what I can to the church and I love to do so. I cannot afford 10% but I give what I can. If you do not like this, then you can tell my ex-wife to start paying the 9 grand that she owes me which she has not paid anything.

 

"$15/hour...."
Won't define "sacrificial giving...."
"Cannot afford 10%...."
"Student loans and credit card debts...."
...but can spend $450 on an Apple watch....

Just sayin'

 

Once had a pastor say that God looks more at what we hold back than at what we give. I took that as applying to much more than finances, to include our whole attitude. "Man looks on the outward appearance, while God looks at the heart." Reducing to numbers our surrender to God seems to miss the point.

 

To give to those in need-- which is the giving under grace that is emphasized, not elaborate buildings or 'dynamic' pastors and other ministers--is not assigned any starting point. This struggling to recognize the tithe in some way, even for one who knows this is a very different system than an agrarian society with complex temple worship and priests, must come from years and generations of being fed that for the benefit of these structures and ministerial staffs that we aren't commanded to have at all.

 

To the one that much has been given, much will be required! And you are right, its to build up His Kingdom here, and not the ones of the false pastors of the flock!

 

I must have missed this post before, but I will do my usual thing and ask "How?" when I see someone say or write "God provided" or a facsimile. So how did this come about?