Tithing Properly

[blestmomof4]

My hubby and I have been debating on tithing 10 %. We both believe you should give at least 10% but I think that it all doesn't have to be given to your home church. We have other ministries that we are involved with and I feel that we should support them also. Some (members of our home church) say that 10% should go to your home church and you support others above and beyond that.

I would really like others thoughts on this.

Have a Blessed Day, BB

[Spider]

Hi Bobby. Not sure if I know the answer to that one or not. I know that in the past, my DH and I have felt very lead to give our tithe to a certain person or organization instead of the church. Is that biblical? Jesus gave to the poor, so I use Him as my role model. Once when we gave our tithe to a certain person, they told us that they had been praying for a need and our tithe covered that need to a "T". To me that says we were listening to the voice of God and were correct in our response. Of course, that is only my opinion. Hopefully, others will come out and add theirs too. BTW

[HSmom]

I'm afraid that I'm not the best source of a Biblical reply, as I don't have references to back me. However, I believe the OT required quite a bit more than 10%. There was 10% for the basic care & feeding of the Levites who ran the temple, and then there were many other offerings beyond that. Offerings for sin, of course, as well as offerings for new babies and many other life events.

 

I don't recall any place where Jesus said to give 10%. He did talk about us taking care of the poor and taking care of each other.

 

Quite a few modern churches teach 10% tithe PLUS any gifts or offerings. For example, one would tithe on their income AND give to the building fund AND support a missionary.

 

I do not attend a church (for reasons that are valid, but too long to discuss here). I was tithing to official 'charitiable organizations' that offered a service with Christianity. I do still give to such organizations, but I also give ridiculously large gifts to people who are not a non-profits. Examples: our family supports other families at Christmas time. We tip our favorite waitress $50 about once a year. My neice is raising money for an overseas athletic trip. It used to be that I'd give her $20. I think I'm going to give her $200. I've also done as Spider wrote: One Sunday (when I did go to church), I tore up my tithe check and wrote another check for the same amount to an individual, whom God had impressed upon me would need it.

 

My belief is that God wants us to be generous and to trust Him.

[Belle]

The word 'tithe' means ten percent, so a tithe would be 10% of whatever your income, although it isn't, necessarily, only money.

 

For instance, if you have a garden, then 10% of that should, also, be given to the poor. If you raise chickens, 10% of your eggs (or butchered chickens) should go to the poor.

 

Of course, 'the poor' doesn't have to mean a church, or even some faceless organization. 'The poor' can be anyone who is in need - your family, neighbors, or a local food bank.

 

My personal preference is give to local food banks and individuals rather than any church. I don't know about other churches, but the ones I've attended are supported by the main organizations and do not depend on tithes or other donations to stay in business.

[Joanna]

Personally I've always given 10% to the church I attend and then b/c I don't have much finacually I tithe my time to help others. As for churches being supported by the main organization and not depending on tithe for support this is absolutly untrue. If a church is not self sustaining and is recieving support from the main organization this is b/c he tithe of the congregation are not sufficiant to meet the basic needs of the church, usually this means the church is considered a "missionary" church and the pastor/priest/rabbi is recieving such a small salary that he is reaaly volunteering his time. THis is very rare and there are only a few denominations which acctually do support "stateside, missionary churches". More common are independant churches which may or may not be part of an organized denomination but are recieving no financualy support fron that denomination. These churches despretly depend on the tithe of the congregation to pay their bills and staff. I once did the accounting for a church that the weekly tithe and offering was less than $.50 per person. This church was in a very wealthy town and the wealthyest people in town attended; however they saw no need to tithe and as a result all of the staff had to work two and three jobs and eventuallt left the church b/c the tithe was not enough to pay the staff a resonable salary.

I would never suggest that if God lays it on your heart to help someone finaciually that you forgo helping them to tithe to the church but I would suggest that you pray about how much God would want you to go to your local church as well. After all if you are a regular attender you are recieving a benfit from the staff, why not give back?

[Belle]

Quote:

As for churches being supported by the main organization and not depending on tithe for support this is absolutly untrue. If a church is not self sustaining and is recieving support from the main organization this is b/c he tithe of the congregation are not sufficiant to meet the basic needs of the church, usually this means the church is considered a "missionary" church and the pastor/priest/rabbi is recieving such a small salary that he is reaaly volunteering his time. THis is very rare and there are only a few denominations which acctually do support "stateside, missionary churches".

I live in Appalachia, in one of the poorest areas, so maybe that's why so many of the churches are supported by the organization. I know both of the ministers that I've dealt with have been paid by the denomination organization (one was Baptist, the other Episcopalean). Neither church asked for donations, not even as far as passing the plate, and neither minister worked a second job. (One of those ministers was a homeschooler, homesteader, and prepper. We often exchanged ideas.)

[Darlene]

Well the way I look at it, everything I have belongs to God, and has been given by Him to me. So, being that I feel it's His money, I seek His will in prayer, as to how He would have me appropriate His monies.

 

For me, I'm comfotable giving a portion to the church, and a portion to various ministries that He lays on my heart. I also have no problem given to anyone in need if He so leads me, whether they are a believer or not...

 

It's very precious blestmomof4 that your heart seeks to please the Lord in dispensing of His tithe monies properly. I know that when you seek His direction, He will guide you according to His perfect will.

 

Welcome to MrsSurvival! We're so happy to have you join us. If you ever need a thing, please let us know.

[SueC]

Can I speak from the church perspective?

 

My husband works part time for the church on a voluntary basis. Officially he can do 20 hours a week without impacting on his disability pension. reality ... of course it is full time! If the church had tithers in it then that would not have been an issue and a full pay could have been paid. We were asked by the committee once if instead of being paid a small expense allowance (it covered petrol, phone, etc) we would forgo the small expense allowance so they could send more money overseas to missionaries. Effectively they wanted DH to work between 60 and 70 hours a week plus be on call 24/7 for nothing.

 

The key is that the tithe went into the temple warehouse primarily to care for the levites or priests. After that the poor, elderly, widows, and fathereless were also cared for. Today many people choose to send their tithe to other ministries, but when they have a need they then come back to the local church. My personal opinion is if you want to be cared for (visited when sick, prayer when needed,help when poor, bury the dead, christen the babies, marry the young ones, teach the children etc) and all else that comes from belonging to a local church, then is it really too much to ask that you support the church and indirectly the pastor of that church?

 

Having said that - Yes we went through a season, where God showed us to tithe elsewhere, but it was a season, it had a beginning and an end.

 

We also have been in a church where the majority of the people were on low incomes, but they all tithed and there were few needs. That church had the finances to buy land for cash within about 6 years of starting. God meets our needs according to our generosity, we cannot out give God.

 

Sorry if this is one sided but we have been living this way for many years and God has never let us down. At one point when we though we couldn't afford to tithe, we struggled, everything that could break, did! When we recognised what was happening, we started tithing again and our finances settled down again.

 

Sue

[Phatkat1956]

The new testament church members gave everything. Tithe means 10% and if that is what the Lord lays on your heart that's fine. It is what most churches teach and it if given by all members attending is enough to support the church. If desired you can give above and beyond the 10% and that is your offering.

 

One of the denominations that supports home mission churches is the Assembly of God and a friend of mine was just appointed to a church in Nevada. Her entire church is only a handfull of people, but she is happy to be there.

[blestmomof4]

Thank you all so much for your views. Mine are probably closest with Darlene's.

 

Have a Very Blessed Day,

BB

[Snowmom]

Our church does not get from organizations either. Our pastor gets a salary from the money taken in by the offerings.

 

Here are a few sites about tithing, and thougth you might like to read what is said there.

 

I have not read them, but, just did a google search for 'Tithing. Therefore, I may or may not agree with what is said at these sites.

 

http://bible.com/bibleanswers_result.php?id=161

 

http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/3658/tithing.html

 

http://cnview.com/on_line_resources/truth_...hing_part_1.htm

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithe

 

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-comfort/...ng-tithing.html

 

http://tithing.christian-things.com/