There is a verse in The Salvation Army Song Book that says… Search your heart and then your pocket; In them both your sure to find Ammunition for the fight we are waging for the right oh there’s power when the purse and heart are both combined.
I just gave a message on giving and Michelle and I have been led to give more. So on the topic of tithing and giving I re-read The following writing by Keith Drury, taken from a blog from 2006 entitled "What Evangelicals Believe About Tithing" - let me know what you think...?
I just gave a message on giving and Michelle and I have been led to give more. So on the topic of tithing and giving I re-read The following writing by Keith Drury, taken from a blog from 2006 entitled "What Evangelicals Believe About Tithing" - let me know what you think...?
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I’ve been closely watching the laity the last few decades and I think I am ready to describe what evangelicals believe about tithing. Read it and see how much you agree.
To evangelicals… 1. “Tithe means giving not tenth.”
A term has little meaning in itself—it means whatever we decide it means. When we decide “gay” no longer means happy but homosexual then it means homosexual. When we use “worship” to describe music then worship will mean music. Such a thing has happened to “tithe.” While its root meaning may be mathematical, evangelicals now use the term to mea giving, not a tenth. This is why churches now invite members to commit to a “2% tithe, 5% tithe or 10% tithe—the best you can do.” Tithe no longer means tenth. It means “my charitable giving.” And, of course this may also explain why evangelicals give just 2.3 percent of their income on average last year.
To evangelicals… 2. “Tithing is not required by the Bible but it’s a good idea.”
In spite of all the preaching from Malachi and being reminded their “righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees” evangelicals refuse to be convinced the Bible requires tithing. They think it is a good idea. They admire “people who can pull it off.” They’ll even accept it as a goal -- “when we can afford it” but evangelicals are not convinced tithing is a Bible command. To evangelicals the tithing command is like the Sabbath command. They consider Sunday-not-Saturday as the Sabbath and they figure they’ve “kept the Sabbath” if they set aside a portion of the day for rest and worship (about 23%?). Evangelicals accept preaching on tithing “because it is a good plan for financing the church” but not because it is commanded in the New Testament. In tithing the laity follow Chuck Swindoll’s tack—it is a great idea but not supported by the Bible’s command.
So that’s what I think evangelicals think about tithing. At least most of them. Or, at least the average evangelical. Or at least the future evangelical. Don’t believe me? Then here’s my dare—do the math: Take the total income from your local church then multiply that figure by ten. Next divide that result by the number of Christian wage earners in your church. Go ahead and do it—even roughly. What’d you get? Is that final figure the average salary of your people. Is it? Or have you discovered what most pastors discover when they do this—if every Christian (even every member) wage earner in their church tithed a full 10% to the local church it would double the church’s income? For many churches it would triple the income. (For my church—five times!) I’m afraid there are few other issues where the laity and the pastor differ more. Most pastors say: 1) A tithe = 10%; 2) The Bible requires it; 3) It should go to the local church; 4) it is an obligation; and 5) it should be given without concern for being thanked. Those five views are just about opposite of the average evangelical’s view above. Which views are right? So what do you think?
To evangelicals… 1. “Tithe means giving not tenth.”
A term has little meaning in itself—it means whatever we decide it means. When we decide “gay” no longer means happy but homosexual then it means homosexual. When we use “worship” to describe music then worship will mean music. Such a thing has happened to “tithe.” While its root meaning may be mathematical, evangelicals now use the term to mea giving, not a tenth. This is why churches now invite members to commit to a “2% tithe, 5% tithe or 10% tithe—the best you can do.” Tithe no longer means tenth. It means “my charitable giving.” And, of course this may also explain why evangelicals give just 2.3 percent of their income on average last year.
To evangelicals… 2. “Tithing is not required by the Bible but it’s a good idea.”
In spite of all the preaching from Malachi and being reminded their “righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees” evangelicals refuse to be convinced the Bible requires tithing. They think it is a good idea. They admire “people who can pull it off.” They’ll even accept it as a goal -- “when we can afford it” but evangelicals are not convinced tithing is a Bible command. To evangelicals the tithing command is like the Sabbath command. They consider Sunday-not-Saturday as the Sabbath and they figure they’ve “kept the Sabbath” if they set aside a portion of the day for rest and worship (about 23%?). Evangelicals accept preaching on tithing “because it is a good plan for financing the church” but not because it is commanded in the New Testament. In tithing the laity follow Chuck Swindoll’s tack—it is a great idea but not supported by the Bible’s command.
So that’s what I think evangelicals think about tithing. At least most of them. Or, at least the average evangelical. Or at least the future evangelical. Don’t believe me? Then here’s my dare—do the math: Take the total income from your local church then multiply that figure by ten. Next divide that result by the number of Christian wage earners in your church. Go ahead and do it—even roughly. What’d you get? Is that final figure the average salary of your people. Is it? Or have you discovered what most pastors discover when they do this—if every Christian (even every member) wage earner in their church tithed a full 10% to the local church it would double the church’s income? For many churches it would triple the income. (For my church—five times!) I’m afraid there are few other issues where the laity and the pastor differ more. Most pastors say: 1) A tithe = 10%; 2) The Bible requires it; 3) It should go to the local church; 4) it is an obligation; and 5) it should be given without concern for being thanked. Those five views are just about opposite of the average evangelical’s view above. Which views are right? So what do you think?
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Live holy, preach Jesus!
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