Giving to God isn't just giving to the church, either.
God may very well tell you to give to someone directly, or to a ministry of which your church is not part.
While Jesus praised the widow for giving her mite, I believe He would give us a royal chewing out if we went around teaching the widows MUST or SHOULD give those mites.
I believe rather He would challenge us to give to those widows rather than build a nicer newer Forward in Faith building, or make sure we order some new music, or any of the other luxuries we enjoy whether it be as individuals, church staff, or the church body as a whole.
Why Most of Your Church Don't Believe in Tithing
Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by gb93433, Feb 20, 2012.
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If one considers tithing to be the ten percent that belongs to God, but this is part of the Law so technically Christians don’t tithe, that’s fine. But then you have to look at the New Testament and one hundred percent of everything we have and are belongs to God. We are slaves, bought with a price. How then is our stewardship?
There is a point that tithing does cause some to view the 90% as their own rather than God’s. I had not previously thought of that aspect.
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My question still stands.
Another. Is the time frame of my question relative to life today in the Christian world? -
I think that the problem is larger than the article supposes.
During the last century the there has been a shift in the way that the Church defines itself. Focus has shifted from Church as a body of believers sharing life and functioning as the body of Christ - to Church as the body of Christ functioning to reach the world. Evangelism has always been important, but now evangelism and church growth is often viewed as the main purpose of a church.
Economic downturns will always be an issue, but there was a time when believers supported each other. It is difficult in our society because everyone is “alone.” If you can, you give to support the Church in reaching the world for Christ. This is not the type of love exhibited in the early church where you took care of a brother or sister, and they took care of you. That type of love seems absent in American Christianity – you attend Church a couple of times a week, but life happens outside.
Church is now something we do, not something we are. -
In my grandmother's day, folks did indeed take care of each other.
And while they tithed, it wasn't just writing a check for 10% of their paycheck.
In the first place, they might not get one during the depression. And if they did, all of it might be needed to keep the children from starving, the county from taking the farm, or to pay a dr finally.
But they gave what they had and what they could do--give the parson a chicken now and then, share their eggs with him, take a load of firewood down to the church, etc.
Nowadays it is SOOO easy to criticize how much another person gives to the church without walking in their shoes.
While I hope it isn't so, it may be God is about to bless a whole lot of us with abject poverty to teach us a thing or three about figuring out how much OTHERS should be giving. -
I take the position that we are to be good stewards of what God gives us. That means that we do what God wants us to do. When we give the focus is not to be on what we may get in return but when we give it is gone from our control. It is given.
I know a man who invested his money over a long period of time. Some of the homes he bought now generate enough rent that he gets back in about 3 to 4 months what he paid for them years ago. He gives away almost all of the money from rents (over 300K per year) and more. He has been doing that for about thirty years now. Another man I knew gave 1/2 of his wages and did not leave enough for his wife to bury him. He always saw others needing it more than himself. Imagine what his wife felt like. She had to sell the home. Both men were/are very selfless but went a very different path with their money. The man who bought homes is over 90 and the other died at age 76. It is easy to figure out which one has given the most dollars.
My wife and I were married in a church that gave 50% to missions and always had money. They used their staff wisely and trained people to do ministry. So from that experience I see most every church as wasting a lot of money on staff and things instead of teaching the people how to make disciples and letting that be the focus and lead the way rather than programs being led by staff.
A friend of mine who spent 23 years in a former communist country as a missionary and returned a few years ago can hardly pay his rent where he lives now. His wife has had to find other ways to generate income. I would hope you think that his situation is not tied to his giving money.
A few years ago I built a home with a friend of mine who spent 3.5% of his yearly income on the home we built him. It was his only home. He is not a Christian. How many Christians do you know who have given well who only spent that much on the home they live in.
The sun and rain falls down on everyone.
The way I see giving is to enable ministry to be done. But if you leave it at just that, then everyone should not support any church here and send it to Africa because a dollar goes a lot further there than here. If money is the only enabler of ministry and controls how much ministry is done then do not send any money to Europe and several countries Asia.
I will give you a real situation and ask what you would do. In a church I pastored was a man who was about 75 and had some serious health problems. He lived in a 12 foot travel trailer where it will get at least 115 degrees in the summer. His check each month was $450. How much should he have given?
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My wife finds it easy to give and wants to give to those who seem to need it. She encountered a huge problem when we were married. I owned a business where I might have large sums of money in the bank and then most of it might be gone in a few weeks. She complained that she did not know how much to give and save. It was a big problem for her for a long time. I see her trusting God a lot more now. -
John of Japan Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
I don't think giving to build theological schools in America rules out helping missions. In fact, theological schools can produce missionaries.
As for using American money to build theological schools in other countries, I disagree. My board supports what we call the indigenous policy, which means we don't do for the nationals what they can do for themselves. I've been to a very poor ministry in a 3rd world country headed by a Japanese medical missionary. I spoke in their dirt poor Bible school which they had taken responsibility for and built themselves. The students were passionate about the Bible and about the Great Commission, dedicated to God, winning Hindu and Muslim souls in the surrounding villages. I'd hate to upset that by an infusion of American money with the latest library and computers.
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Or to provide a lesson in faith. It is amazing to see the level of faith and reliance upon God Christians have in third world countries. It is also amazing to examine God working in their lives and communities. I do not know if abundance is a blessing if it lulls us into complacency.
Giving is not only an act of benevolence, but also an act of faith in God’s provision. -
I was an interim at a church awhile back and some of the leaders were so focused on money that they did not do any ministry. I kept telling them to quit worrying about the money and start working. Not one of them ever brought anyone to the church. When I addressed the issue one of them said that he did not trust me to control the finances. I reminded him that I had worked for a Christian man who owned the largest business in America in its type of business. It was a failing branch when I came. I was responsible for meeting all kinds of parameters set by the company. I grew that business 3.2 times in the first year where I was located. Everything the church owed and took in was less than what I dealt with in one week. For about the past five years it was such an issue that when I addressed the issue some of the leaders saw the way -
Glad to read what you wrote. I think I am on the same page as you. -
And how do you verify, or unverify, that?
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