Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Liam S. on December 12, 2012 at 11:25pm

Paul doesn't specify anything one way or the other. I would expect support of the church can be extended more broadly than just your home congregation.  (1 Corinthians 1-2) And of course, what each man has decided in his heart to give. (2 Corinthians 9:7).

 

So I'd say you can give whatever you are comfortable with, to whatever church you feel merits support, and be covered under Pauline guidelines.

 

Most of the other guidelines are OT, and really to support a sacrificial temple system and priesthood (and add up to nearly 23% of income, if you really follow the rules). Deuteronomy 14:24 seems to support tithing locally, if it is inconvenient to tithe at an original (home) location. Unless I'm misreading that.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Shan Hefley on December 13, 2012 at 2:44pm

I believe the tithe should go to your home church where you are being fed. However, it really is between you and God. He is quite capable of directing where you should tithe. Ask Him! :) In all reality, He doesnt need your money, the tithing is really for you in obedience to Him and so that you can freely receive from Him.

Permalink Reply by Jack Bauer on December 13, 2012 at 3:13pm

Why wouldn't you want your tithe to go to your home church?

JB

Permalink Reply by Rebekah on December 13, 2012 at 3:17pm

To me, the Church is much bigger than the 25 local families of my parish. Also, as a young adult, there's a small handful of parishes and Christian organizations that supported me before I had an income to tithe. And they weren't parishes with "young adult" and "student ministries" as part of their "mission" and budgets.

Consequently, I divided my tithe among my religious communities during high school, college, and law school, based upon the earning capacity I gathered at each stage. My college parish is my present parish, so my local parish wasn't left out of my giving. Maybe this is a mercenary view, but I like giving, and giving to only one organization would be another kind of sacrifice. Bonuses, cash gifts, etc., were tithed to additional organizations.

My husband works with non-profits, and my approach is inefficient both for the economics of the parishes and for any influence I might want to have on the organizations. Better to give larger amounts to 1 or 2 places. But it's not as fun, and the amounts I can give aren't enough to influence these orgs' policy. I've been involved with several for long enough, deep enough, that yes, I do have insight into the budget.

All this mostly in the past tense because my tithe money is cut in half now that I'm married. [I consider it important that my husband have cash to tithe even though he has no income, and he attends other churches.] Also, marriage makes you re-evaluate priorities generally, so I'm reapportioning even what's left of my tithe.

Permalink Reply by Native Son on December 14, 2012 at 3:16pm

One should give to the best extent one's judgment, heart, and resources allow. 

IMHO, giving to your church, or to another church is discretionary concerning amounts of percentanges given.  if owning to pecuniary reverses you can only give 2% instead of 10%, you did your best.  You do need to give something, but I don't think the Lord expects you to beggar yourself in the process, particularly if you've a family to support.  My Church doesn't require a tithe, but our pastor suggests we try to donate 4% of annual net income to the full range of church sponsored religious, charitable, medical and emergency appeals.

A minor note:  Tithes first appear before income taxes...so Ceasar's been sort of busy in that ragrd with that secular tithe, i.e. income taxes for 2200 or so years.  Don't know if that formally counts, but it is a sort of tithe to another, albeit secular church. 

Permalink Reply by Rebekah on December 14, 2012 at 3:46pm

My personality, and middle-class lifestyle, requires a percentage. Or, maybe, a number. Jews have a dollar amount to be a member of a synagogue, not proportional to income.

Maybe my discernment's bad, but I have no good way of discerning "my best" for charitable giving. I save 7% of pre-tax income, instead of the recommended 15%, instead of Asia's 25%. Do I need to cut expenditures by 8% and save more? Do I need to increase charitable giving because I can save anything? We go out to eat 2x/week, but we never take vacations we pay for [Parents will pay for us to visit relatives.]. Lap of luxury, or deprived? Same thing for meals at home - We still eat red meat and processed foods, but we eat out less often than our demographic peers.

John Wesley's line about money was "Get all you can, save all you can, give all you can." I've always been particularly interested in how the second 2 interplay.