45 replies to this topic

[Adam5]

Hi Folks, can someone explain to me about tithing. Its an alien concept for me.

Is this a common thing in some US denominations? In the Bible belt? In UK church I attended, you were just encouraged to give what you can, without specifying amounts. There some pressure always harping on about the running costs and repairs, but not too heavy handed.

Did the church you attend really push you for 10%? It does sound like an awful lot.

[mwc]

I have ran across some of the "give 'til it hurts" types but they were many years back. Most places like to lay a nice guilt trip on you to keep the money train rolling just like you mention. They always need money.

I've yet to hear a church say "This week we won't be passing the plates. We've got more than enough. Maybe we'll even give some refunds." If those bread and fish were money? Those people would have starved waiting for them to be multiplied.

mwc

Edited by mwc, 08 June 2012 - 04:51 AM.

[Adam5]

I've yet to hear a church say "This week we won't be passing the plates. We've got more than enough. Maybe we'll even give some refunds."

Refunds! Lol.

[scriptor]

The churches that I was a part of often claimed that tithing is not an option. It is a requirement. In fact, it is a minimum requirement. So, if you're not giving at least 10% then you are "stealing from God". But 10% is just the bare minimum that God requires. You can, and should, give more.

Edit: 100th post. Huzzah!

Edited by scriptor, 08 June 2012 - 05:12 AM.

[Adam5]

The churches that I was a part of often claimed that tithing is not an option. It is a requirement. In fact, it is a minimum requirement.

Which church was that? Was it in reality common?

Edit: 100th post. Huzzah!

You hit the big time!

[scriptor]

The churches that I was a part of often claimed that tithing is not an option. It is a requirement. In fact, it is a minimum requirement.

Which church was that? Was it in reality common?

Various flavours of pentacostal. As to whether or not it is common, I can't really say aside from my own experience. And my own experience has mostly been in fundamentalist churches where if you're not tithing, you're sinning.

[Adam5]

And my own experience has mostly been in fundamentalist churches where if you're not tithing, you're sinning.

I love goooold...

[Thought2Much]

The official Assemblies of God stance is that people should tithe. My father in-law's church won't even let you participate in a ministry unless you tithe.

[Leith]

How do they reconcile that with Matthew 6?


“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

[mcdaddy]

The church we just left was heavy about it. Brought it up every week at the same point in the service, quoting that verse in the OT about robbing god or whatever. Any givings to missions were supposed to be in addition to your tithe.

And it's GROSS, not net, if you want to properly appease the deity.

[Adam5]

How do they reconcile that with Matthew 6?

They don't is the short answer!! Oh yes, cause they have Gawd on their side

[LivingLife]

Tithing was for the farmers only. Offerings and alms to the poor was all one was expected to do. But of course they do not tell you this.

Tithing, the art of selling cosmic real estate. Bests ponzie scheme ever.

[expat674]

The church I attended back in the UK was all about the Tithe, and they expected their 10% GROSS

They would get around the Matthew 6 verses by trotting out Genesis 14 and the story of Abraham and Melchizadek.
Tithes were taken was always mid-service, just after the end of the one hour long group hypnosis session ( worship ) so everyone was emotionally preped to "give back to God." You were expected to give your "first fruits back to God", hence the demand to give your 10% gross.
They would always quote Luke 6:38 as everyone had to file up to the front to drop their envelopes onto the plates ( all under the watchful eye of the chief pastor of course ).

It became an even bigger circus whenever an itinerant pastor or one of the apostles turned up. Then we would all be expected to give even more to the mafia running the church.

[FeelHappy]

We were supposed to give at LEAST 10%, the arguments were over gross or net income. Furthermore when you got paid the first thing you were supposed to do was write a check to god BEFORE using a penny of it. My parents knew this was from god because my dad refused to write a check before he got to church (although he always gave more than 10%), then one day his truck broke down and he realized that god was pissed about him not giving the first fruits so not only does he now give above 10% he writes a check to god (the church) before he pays a single bill.

I said at least because 10% is the smallest amount you can give god, but god wants much much more. (Greedy bastard).

Praise jebus!

[Adam5]

We were supposed to give at LEAST 10%, the arguments were over gross or net income.

Seems like I got off lightly.

I said at least because 10% is the smallest amount you can give god, but god wants much much more. (Greedy bastard). Praise jebus!

LOL

[Vigile]

Hi Folks, can someone explain to me about tithing. Its an alien concept for me.

Is this a common thing in some US denominations? In the Bible belt? In UK church I attended, you were just encouraged to give what you can, without specifying amounts. There some pressure always harping on about the running costs and repairs, but not too heavy handed.

Did the church you attend really push you for 10%? It does sound like an awful lot.

In the church I grew up in, there was no pressure, but they did have meetings on building costs and such and kept the church's finances an open book. I guess this was a slightly backhanded way of encouraging tithes if you want to look at it that way.

The last church I was seriously involved with in my young adult life was completely different. The pastor would rant endlessly about tithing, would claim he loved to preach tithing because we would be so 'blessed' as we contributed, and, the real kicker, was that after a few months in the church, they pulled me aside and gave me a 'gift', which was a book on tithing.

To put this in context, not much later, they wanted me to get baptized in the church because, according to them, the baptism in my previous church (also protestant) didn't count because the church of my youth did not accept the doctrine of eternal security. It became an issue of serious contention, which was odd to me as the church I grew up in didn't make baptism a big deal.

My point is, this Baptist church, which was completely obsessed with baptism, was more concerned I be well versed in giving before they hit me up on my unacceptable state of being baptized under the wrong denomination.

On a Pascal's Wager note, If my last church was right about eternal security, I missed that boat as I never did get rebaptized, so add that hellfire to the other 13,456 hellfires I'm potentially subject to if one of them is perchance right.

[Vigile]

I've yet to hear a church say "This week we won't be passing the plates. We've got more than enough. Maybe we'll even give some refunds." If those bread and fish were money? Those people would have starved waiting for them to be multiplied.

mwc

The tithing church I mentioned above refused to help this poor kid who visited our church and didn't have enough money for food. He was new in town, living in his car and just got a job washing dishes at a local nursing home and wouldn't have money for food for a couple of weeks until he got his first paycheck. I know for a fact the church had enough money to perhaps give him a few restaurant coupons or a few bucks, but nope. Tough love. I ended up dropping a bag of groceries in his car while he was working as I quietly started to simmer about the lack of compassion shown by my church.

[Vigile]

And my own experience has mostly been in fundamentalist churches where if you're not tithing, you're sinning.

I love goooold...

Wanted to post an image of the Home Alone 2 Sticky Bandits glove, but surprisingly, it's not on google images.

[Adam5]

The tithing church I mentioned above refused to help this poor kid who visited our church and didn't have enough money for food.

Doesnt suprise me. When talking to my vicar privately once, he said to me something like:

"I dont like asking for money for renovations all the time when it we could be making a difference to the lives of children in the developing world."

Of course, the money went on the building.

edit: I do think they feel guilty about it.

Edited by Adam5, 08 June 2012 - 10:48 AM.

[Vigile]

Depends. Some feel guilty, a lot are sociopaths. I think you have to be a bit of a socio path to run a big church in the US. It takes an enormous lack of empathy to scam people out of the kind of money it takes to build a mega church.

Your vicars in the UK don't quite have the same challenges and perhaps ambitions given your churches are well established and not built quite so much on the entrepreneurial model that many new US churches are.

I agree though, some have their hearts in the right place even if their heads aren't.