“Too Poor To Tithe” – Response by Sincere
I recently received an email from a man I’ll call “Sincere.” He was responding to one of my posts on tithing, Too Poor To Tithe, and was not happy with some of the remarks I made.
I decided to respond because, even though he disagreed with me, he wasn’t being disagreeable. Instead of calling me names and impugning my character he offered very sincere arguments.
There was a little bit of “mud throwing” – it’s hard to disagree and not fling a little – but for the most part he was thoughtful. I respect that.
I copied his email below for those who care to read it. What you will find is:
- He doesn’t disagree with tithing.
- He does disagree with the way tithing is taught but doesn’t repeat, ad nauseum, the same “Old Testament vs New Testament” arguments to suggest tithing is no longer valid.
- Although he makes it very clear that he thinks I am wrong, he doesn’t once lower himself to refer to me, or any other tither, as: thief, manipulator, liar, etc. No name calling.
- He doesn’t misrepresent my ideas either. He disagrees honorably.
I will offer a few responses but for now please take a moment to read what he says: Read more
Tithing On Limited Income
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With recent employment trends in the US going south, leaving a larger-than-usual number of people reliant on unemployment income to make ends meet, budgets are being radically adjusted.
Unemployment benefits are designed to supply only about half the normal income and in many cases it works out to be less. Obviously, under these circumstances some expense items have to go.
Since tithing’s status as a fixed expense is regularly debated in good times, it is no surprise that it is scrutinized even more closely during the bad. And most of the discussion focuses on one question:
“Should those living on unemployment benefits, hand-only-reaching-mouth-at-a-stretch, tithe?”
Not only are responses numerous they are often emotional.
We shouldn’t think that strange. It is inevitable that emotion would seep into any arguments about money. Contrary to what people like to think, we love the stuff. We love to keep it – meaning spend or hoard – or we love to brag about giving it away. The more we have to keep or give, the more attached we become to our pet ideas about managing it.
The arguments we put forth in support of our beliefs are no less emotional than the crazy perspectives we entertain about the filthy stuff.
Christianity Today, in their usual approach to dealing with searching questions about pressing needs, has offered three articles from three different perspectives addressing this very question. All of them are interesting. One, however, takes the emotional “cake.” Read more
Tithe – Net, Gross or What?
Skip to Calculating The Tithe
Although many practice tithing they don’t all agree on how to calculate the tithe, or more specifically, on what portion of their income should be included in the calculation.
- Some give a tithe (ten percent) of their gross income (pre tax).
- Some pay tithes only on net income (after tax).
- Some exclude more than taxes, e.g. pension contributions, before calculating their tithe.
But the stated reasons for each approach are rarely substantial and mostly unconvincing.
- Those who tithe on their gross income do so either casually, “just because” (glib), or adamantly for unstated reasons (legalistic) and both justify the practice with emotional arguments: “do you want God to bless all your income or just part of it.”
They also point to people who are extraordinarily endowed with the gift of giving, such as Randy Alcorn who gives far more than a tithe, to make their argument. These examples, however, if not correctly represented, argue against tithing and suggest we should give much more, although we can’t be sure exactly how much.
Truth? If the millions of Christians in the world who don’t fit the “Randy Alcorn” mold would simply tithe, the impact would be much greater than that caused by the excessive giving of a few Alcorn types. No disrespect intended toward Randy. We applaud the Randy’s of the world but realistically can’t expect everyone to follow suit. - Those who tithe on their net income suggest that because tax money is paid directly to the government – completely bypassing one’s bank account – it doesn’t qualify as “income” (semantics). That isn’t an argument and the proof is the fact that the government doesn’t buy it. The amount on which taxes are calculated includes the money paid in taxes.
- Those who exclude retirement investments plan to tithe on it later. Of all the arguments this is the most reasonable.
The problem is, all these different approaches creates confusion for those starting out and generates arguments among tithers. Anti-tithers freely use the disagreement to fuel the debate over the relevancy of tithing for the New Testament.
For this reason, tithing is not an issue about which we can be superficial or casual. Read more
Book Review: “Tithing” by Douglas Leblanc
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In Tithing
Instead, and probably because he is “no theologian or exegetical writer,” Douglas has found an intriguing way to cut to the real heart of the issue. He shares the experiences of eleven different couples and one lone Monsignor, all of whom practice tithing for a very similar reason: selflessness.
Each example demonstrates an intentionally cultivated concern for the needs of others.
And the people he features will surprise you. They come from a broad range of very diverse backgrounds, giving the impression that tithing is not a denominational distinction:
- Conservative Episcopalian
- Liberal Episcopalian
- Brethren
- Mennonite
- Methodist
- Bible Church movement
- Church of God
- Adventist (with Jewish upbringing and experience with Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God and Salvation Army)
- Jewish
- Catholic
Not only does he retain the old wine, he gives it a new skin and shows that the taste for it is thriving in many unexpected places.
What the book lacks in theology it makes up for in philosophical substance. The gems of wisdom are clear and poignant. Read more
Must Tithes Be Given Only To Church?
Recently on Yahoo Answers a person (we’ll call him Jerry) submitted a question about tithing:
“Does money I tithe have to be given to the church to be considered tithing?”
The reason for the question had nothing to do with selfishness, materialism or bad financial management. His question was motivated by generosity.
The church Jerry attends was preparing to send kids to camp and there were a couple of kids who couldn’t afford to go. Diverting Jerry’s tithe to this need for three months would cover the expense and he wondered if that was legit. Would that still qualify as “tithing?”
He also made it clear that he wasn’t questioning the rationale behind tithing (devoting ten percent of your income to God). In fact, he specified that only people who believed in tithing should respond and he further qualified by requesting only “respectful” answers. I almost laughed at the request. Having been scorched a few times by anti-tithers I wanted to put on a flack jacket before reading some of the responses. He had obviously faced a few also. Read more
Tim Pepper - Beautiful Frustration