Not to beat the tithing drum to death, but a Business columnist in yesterday's Washington Post discussed legislation that will allow those in bankruptcy to continue to tithe before paying their creditors. Currently, the law makes no exceptions for tithing.
Key part:
"Many who practice their faith and believe that they are bound by creed to tithe a portion of their income will find that Congress effectively decided that what credit cards want is more important than the deeply personal religious practices of Americans."
Littlefield's decision prompted Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to propose legislation that would allow individuals in bankruptcy to continue giving to churches and charities.
In the online edition of the WaPo, you are allowed to comment on articles. And many of the commenters took issue with the potential new law.
When you tithe with money that should have been going to pay your debts, you are not giving *your* money to God — you are giving other peoples money — and without their permission. It is not scriptural to tithe with money that belongs to others. If you want to be able to tithe, you should either cut expenses or work enough that you have some of your own money to tithe.
And another:
The Mormons use their tithe money to pay rent, buy food, and otherwise prop up the devout who run into trouble. This seems sensible – if you ask for 10, be prepared to help the people for whom that percentage could tip into despair. God doesnt spend money, people do.
And lastly, taking a shot at the church:
Bills first, always. Tithing is for discretionary income. If you have none, you dont tithe. God asks for faith only, not money. It is the church that wants your money. If the church requires its cut before your responsibilities are taken care of, then it isnt much of a church.
God asks for faith only, not money.
Funny how there’s an entire industry that’s been allowed to thrive in this nation which tells us the exact opposite.
If you get the chance, you should check Dobson’s interview with Charles Pickering this morning. What a couple of funky dudes. Listening to Pickering, I find it difficult to believe he got as close to the federal bench as he did.
That’s so true.
I’ll check out the Dobson interview. It sounds fun.
And here’s a quote in this weeks US News from former House Republican Majority, Dick Armey on Dobson
I have to agree. There is no such thing as “mandatory tithing” for the follower of Christ. Where did Jesus ever command anyone to give 10% to a religious organization? Nowhere! Religion has been scamming people all over the world for milleni, and the lemmings continue to blindly follow, questioning nothing, fearing Hell rather than learning what Jesus taught. Don’t get me started!
Mandatory tithe?……….No christian denominational environment advocates this kind of discipline unless you consider mormonism as a christian environment!?
Or maybe its just a semantic gaffe?
A good Christian will also be a responsible Christian and settle his/her obligations ASAP!
If a church stated in its employee handbook that failure to tithe is grounds for termination, would you consider that church to have a mandatory tithing policy? The Mormons have company pardner…lots of it.
Cowboy. You’ve been lucky – er – blessed then. Have you been around Independent Baptists? I have. It’s wasn’t pretty. And at the “bible school” I attended for one year, (what a fiasco but that’s for another blog) the staff checked up on students. We got our box of tithing envelopes for the year and you’d better well be putting something in. I got called in once for not standing up when they asked who was going “soul winning” on Thursday night. I knew I was going to be at work so I didn’t stand. In a gym packed with people I was seen not standing and the next day I found myself called to the dean’s office. it was all about appearance. As long as I wias going to be “doing something” during the week I should have stood up, so that the rest of the “congregation” would see us “students” doign our duty. I am SOOOOO glad I left that far behind.
Okay a correction is in order. My error. My humblest apologies.
Granted being in the I.B.s tithing wasn’t “mandatory” to the extent that you were denied membership or entry if you didn’t “give”, but you can be sure that they hammered the subject to death so that if you were not “giving” you were a low-life God-robber and should expect your car to fall apart, your house to burn down, you kid to get run over, or some other “evil” to befall you. That money wasn’t yours (so they seemed to say) and God was going to get it away from you one way or another. You might as well give it to the church, right? Who knew God was an extortionist? There that’s what I meant.
Tithing is for those who don’t have kind hearts… Kind hearts find people to bless everyday. Greedy hearts have to be reminded when to pay and how much and to whom… this isn’t that difficult of a subject is it?
Are we really this stupid? Are we gonna start the “moo” give
tomorrow?
Mandatory tithe??? Could be…
I told my pastor once I was no longer tithing to the church (his church) because I did not morally like some of the “ministries” it was supporting. He all but went ballistic on me. To the effect… HOW DARE YOU. This is your local church. THE BIBLE COMMANDS YOU TITHE to your local church… and on and on……
Me thinks he believes in mandatory tithing
I don’t tithe because I have to. I tithe and give because I want to. Everything I have is because God has blessed me with it. The least I could do is take the little that I have and combine it with my friends and be able to help reach and help some people. I seem to remember Jesus saying that we really need to give everything and follow after him. Now there is a concept. I bet that wouldn’t go over to well in church.
[Comment ID #12096 Will Be Quoted Here]
I actually tend to agree with this. You give because God has blessed you and you want to bless others. Not because your pastor browbeat you into giving, or because you think it will make you rich.
There was an article I read on the web a few years ago, about a pastor down south who embarked on a building program about the time he got caught with his pants down, so to speak, and church members started bailing out on him and the church. In turn he filed a lawsuit against the membership, to compel them to tithe alleging that they had obligated themselves to the church by approving the building plans and pledging $upport … if the ‘pants down’ incident didn’t drive the flock away, suing them sure did. He dropped the suit shortly thereafter … sorry I can’t find the article though. It’s funny in a sad sort of way.
Jack
I think it’s foolish to expect to get rich by tithing. The give to get menatility is childish. If you want to get rich, be smart about where you invest your money or go to school and get a degree in a field other than theology. We donate money all the time to great organizations like OPB & The Humane Society. We give to these organizations because they are doing a great job & we want to support them. This is the same mentality you should have with tithe. Churches who preach give to get are not representing Christ, and they are being manipulative. Tithers that buy into tithe-manipulation need to get smart or the only thing you’ll get is what you deserve–an overdrawn bank account.
–Karli