Read This Very Interesting about Tithing?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by corvet786c

Wow very good points. I wish this was preached in our churches. Where is the faith of the church that God will bless them without recieving tithes? I was always taught that I would go to hell for not paying tithes as thiefs dont go to heaven so this topic is very sensitive to me. I am glad that the Lord opened my eyes to the truth which is to give from my heart and not be compelled or forced to give a mandate. Thank You again.

In preaching tithing we hear that Jesus said we "ought to pay tithes" based on Matthew 23:23 without an honest look at the people to whom He said it and which covenant it was under. He said it to Pharisees who were under the old covenant.

Malachi 3:8 is preached on about "robbing God" by failing to tithe. Again, this is not to the church. It was to the Israelites who were failing to properly distribute food to the poor.

And of course Malachi 3:8 calls tithing "robbing" God so anyone under the new covenant living in 2010 AD who does not give 10 percent of his salary to the local church is a "robber" and of course thieves and robbers are not going to Heaven.

[CAD/JPY]

I really appreciate this thread, as this has also been something I have been sorting out in my mind.... especially when I started making significantly less money than I had historically. Giving that 10% and going into debt seemed to have some scripture at odds with one another. Thanks to all the great posts on this topic.

A big factor on the "necessity of paying tithes" is the drive to have big church buildings, or to even own a church. It blows me away, that churches will take out these huge mortgages... almost as if it is a faith thing. "I've heard from God that we are to have this building, now lets figure out how to get the money to buy it."
Then the church is saddled with debt, huge monthly payments, and of course... they have to keep the tithes and offerings coming in, especially once the passion dies of owning that "new car" church.

So what exactly should a modern day christian practice in respect to giving?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by CAD/JPY

...
So what exactly should a modern day christian practice in respect to giving?

You have to do what you think is best for you and your family.

There are two extremes, both of which can be right for some and not for others.

We can give the first cake to the man of God like the widow in 1 Kings 17:8-16. Here a widow only had enough meal to make bread for her and her son but the prophet demanded she make him a loaf first. When she exhausted her supply to put God first, He multiplied her meal and it lasted as long as she needed it.

The second would be a combination of 1 Timothy 5:8 and Mark 7:9-13. Paul told Timothy that if a person did not provide for his family he had denied the faith and was worse than an infidel. In the Mark passage Jesus told them that they were disobeying God's laws by keeping their tradition. One of the examples was neglecting the care of their families because they would have to take money that was designated as "God's money" to do it.

So, we can take money which would be used for care and feeding of our children or owed to creditors and give it to the church and trust God to multiply what's left, or write checks to the church when there is not enough money in our checking and trust God to put enough in there to cover the check when it clears. That's option one and some would call that seeking first the kingdom according to Matthew 6:33.

Or, we can make sure our kids are fed and clothed and the utilities are paid and there is a roof over their heads and let the money designated for "church" move down the priority list.