Cheerful giver.

[Tithesmeister]

Originally Posted by coksiw

Hi,
First post in this forum. I go to a tithing church.

I don't see tithing as something the apostles taught anywhere, or even records of the early church tithing. If you are honest with yourself and lay out all the scriptures about giving in the new testament, and try to find patterns, you will find the obvious: there is no tithing, it was voluntary as in the wilderness with Moises. The how-much and how-often was circumstantial to the specific needs. The recipients where the leaders and the weak among us.

This is the way I deal with it: Referring at Romans 14, we see some christians back in those days that didn't eat unclean stuff. They probably had good scripture and arguments for it. They probably used Noah story to prove that there was a universal law regarding clean/unclean food (like today's christians go back to the old testament to prove that there is universal tithing law). Paul teaches us to put up with it and be sensitive to the issue. They Lord has accepted them, why don't we? Doesn't the Spirit of God move among them too? Tithing is not a salvation issue (Giving is, it is a fruit of repentance). If they want to believe it, so be it. Many really believe it, including pastors, it is not because of filthy lucre. They have sincere believes about it.

I currently use 10% as a reference number. I do 10% of take-home income (which is not a crazy amount of money for me right now) and then increase it until I feel cheerful about it. Then I put it in the envelope as "tithing". No I don't calculate tithing of gifts or pair of jeans somebody gives me.

It is not my intention to divide the church, or create confusion, but instead to remain united and work together for salvation. I just put up with it as Paul taught and keep it to myself and my wife. The only thing I can't do because of conscience is teaching about tithing. I leave that to others.

This is a good post. It seems to come from a heart that is wanting to thread the needle between going along to get along, and maintaining an acceptable measure of truthfulness to soothe the conscience.

My thing is that we should always err on the side of truth, and we should find truth in scripture. While I can certainly admire someone's good intentions, the truth is pretty evident in the Bible.

The truth is that the tithe was almost exclusively food and was never rendered in money. So if we work from this premise, we should come to the realization that IF we are to tithe, it should bear some resemblance of the biblical tithe. The biblical tithe was basically one tenth of the food the Israelites produced. So, what would one tenth of our food look like as a tithe.

If you do a search for the percentage of income that Americans spend on food, you will get different answers, but they fall in a range of 10-15% of income. Using this number a household that has an income of $100,000.00 per year (just to make it easy) would spend between $10,000.00 and $15,000.00 on food. Now 10% of, (or the tithe of) their food expense would be $1000.00 - $1,500.00 on this amount, where the tithe of their income would be ten thousand dollars.

So it is not in any way similar, but is up to ten times as much as what would equate to the biblical tithe.

The truth is sometimes shocking.

[Rudy]

Originally Posted by coksiw

Hi,
First post in this forum. I go to a tithing church.

I don't see tithing as something the apostles taught anywhere, or even records of the early church tithing. If you are honest with yourself and lay out all the scriptures about giving in the new testament, and try to find patterns, you will find the obvious: there is no tithing, it was voluntary as in the wilderness with Moises. The how-much and how-often was circumstantial to the specific needs. The recipients where the leaders and the weak among us.

This is the way I deal with it: Referring at Romans 14, we see some christians back in those days that didn't eat unclean stuff. They probably had good scripture and arguments for it. They probably used Noah story to prove that there was a universal law regarding clean/unclean food (like today's christians go back to the old testament to prove that there is universal tithing law). Paul teaches us to put up with it and be sensitive to the issue. They Lord has accepted them, why don't we? Doesn't the Spirit of God move among them too? Tithing is not a salvation issue (Giving is, it is a fruit of repentance). If they want to believe it, so be it. Many really believe it, including pastors, it is not because of filthy lucre. They have sincere believes about it.

I currently use 10% as a reference number. I do 10% of take-home income (which is not a crazy amount of money for me right now) and then increase it until I feel cheerful about it. Then I put it in the envelope as "tithing". No I don't calculate tithing of gifts or pair of jeans somebody gives me.

It is not my intention to divide the church, or create confusion, but instead to remain united and work together for salvation. I just put up with it as Paul taught and keep it to myself and my wife. The only thing I can't do because of conscience is teaching about tithing. I leave that to others.

[Apostolic1ness]

you cant out-give God.

[Tithesmeister]

Originally Posted by Apostolic1ness

you cant out-give God.

Is this post based on scripture, or is it just sound-bite theology?

There is a difference you know? You do know, don't you?

[Apostolic1ness]

Originally Posted by Tithesmeister

Is this post based on scripture, or is it just sound-bite theology?

There is a difference you know? You do know, don't you?

Malachi 3:10

[Tithesmeister]

Originally Posted by Apostolic1ness

Malachi 3:10

So you are a believer that we should tithe, and that the tithe should be food?

Malachi 3:10 King James Version (KJV)
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

That is what it says!

[Rudy]

Originally Posted by Apostolic1ness

Malachi 3:10

Who can out give God? God gave his son.Son gave his life. And we measure god"s giving by money.

[Apostolic1ness]

Originally Posted by Rudy

Who can out give God? God gave his son.Son gave his life. And we measure god"s giving by money.

Not sure who is measuring God's giving by or with money. You know all of our substance belongs to God, I see nothing wrong with financing the kingdom of God. It's not good to be greedy. To God be the glory our church just pledged last night to give an Evangelist $14,000 to help him and his family get a better RV to travel in.

[Tithesmeister]

Originally Posted by Apostolic1ness

Not sure who is measuring God's giving by or with money. You know all of our substance belongs to God, I see nothing wrong with financing the kingdom of God. It's not good to be greedy. To God be the glory our church just pledged last night to give an Evangelist $14,000 to help him and his family get a better RV to travel in.

It sounds to me like you are stealing from God if you keep anything at all. Have you ever read in Malachi where it speaks of robbing God?

Of course Peter had this to say about it in the situation with Ananias and Sapphira . . .

“Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?”

Peter evidently believed they owned it all.

[diakonos]

Originally Posted by Apostolic1ness

Malachi 3:10

I don’t grow crops. But I do like rain.