I've known so many people who are up to their necks drowning in debt who continue to tithe religiously (including myself at a much younger age, before I got convicted about it). If you're in debt, that money isn't yours to tithe, it belongs to your debtors. One of the reasons we're told to avoid debt in the first place if we can.
Definitely something to think about. I also think about where Jesus talked about the poor lady who gave all which was much more in sacrifice than the wealthy who “gave” more.
What a good (and probably much needed) word from the Lord! I was "that mom" painstakingly tithing my spousal support while my children were sometimes deprived of needed food or clothing. My motive was to please the Lord, but my children were experiencing the opposite of Matthew 7:9. What's the expression now? "The math wasn't mathing".
Later on when I was directed to "well-known Christian financial program" I would leave and cry in my car at just how tone deaf the teaching was to people in that situation and finally stopped attending. I remember Larry Burkett having more grace, in the way you are expressing.
Thank you for this! We shouldn't have to go through it to learn it.
Here's another perspective on the topic. Some have been outspoken about the lack of generosity of believers. One study of the giving patterns among American Christians found that the median level of giving is less than 1% of their pre-tax income and 20% give nothing at all to the church, parachurches, or nonreligious charities. The study also found that poor Christians give more than middle-income Christians as a percentage of their income. Moreover, the study projected that if serious Christians in the USA (those who attend church at least a few times a month) gave 10% of their after-tax income, it would raise an extra $46 billion (in 2008, not adjusted for inflation), enough to eliminate world poverty. Good grief!
(See Christian Smith, Michael Emerson, and Patricia Snell, Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money (2008), New York: Oxford University Press)
I do understand because Jesus came to take our debt that we aren’t under the Old Testament law of tithing but I do believe we are to give whether it’s financially or our time or our gifts.
You are wrong. Tithing is one of the most important principle in a christian's life, without God's grace and mercy we are nobodies and we have absolutely nothing, everything we think we own hinges on God's grace including our lives and source of livelihood.. so why always make such a big deal over giving back 10% from something you do not even own in the first place?
Well delivered, well considered message. Your message, and your format, are welcomed words for this Christian spirit. 🕊️
I've known so many people who are up to their necks drowning in debt who continue to tithe religiously (including myself at a much younger age, before I got convicted about it). If you're in debt, that money isn't yours to tithe, it belongs to your debtors. One of the reasons we're told to avoid debt in the first place if we can.
Anyway, everything you said is 100% correct.
Well said!
Definitely something to think about. I also think about where Jesus talked about the poor lady who gave all which was much more in sacrifice than the wealthy who “gave” more.
What a good (and probably much needed) word from the Lord! I was "that mom" painstakingly tithing my spousal support while my children were sometimes deprived of needed food or clothing. My motive was to please the Lord, but my children were experiencing the opposite of Matthew 7:9. What's the expression now? "The math wasn't mathing".
Later on when I was directed to "well-known Christian financial program" I would leave and cry in my car at just how tone deaf the teaching was to people in that situation and finally stopped attending. I remember Larry Burkett having more grace, in the way you are expressing.
Thank you for this! We shouldn't have to go through it to learn it.
Here's another perspective on the topic. Some have been outspoken about the lack of generosity of believers. One study of the giving patterns among American Christians found that the median level of giving is less than 1% of their pre-tax income and 20% give nothing at all to the church, parachurches, or nonreligious charities. The study also found that poor Christians give more than middle-income Christians as a percentage of their income. Moreover, the study projected that if serious Christians in the USA (those who attend church at least a few times a month) gave 10% of their after-tax income, it would raise an extra $46 billion (in 2008, not adjusted for inflation), enough to eliminate world poverty. Good grief!
(See Christian Smith, Michael Emerson, and Patricia Snell, Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money (2008), New York: Oxford University Press)
I do understand because Jesus came to take our debt that we aren’t under the Old Testament law of tithing but I do believe we are to give whether it’s financially or our time or our gifts.
You are wrong. Tithing is one of the most important principle in a christian's life, without God's grace and mercy we are nobodies and we have absolutely nothing, everything we think we own hinges on God's grace including our lives and source of livelihood.. so why always make such a big deal over giving back 10% from something you do not even own in the first place?