Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

I just finished the book, “This Bull Crap Called Tithing” by Nick Arandes. He had an interesting perspective on the issue of stewardship, money, and tithing. Some of the excerpts on the back of his book say, “How to attract unlimited wealth”, and Secrets of tithing that churches will not tell you.

Truthfully i don’t remember the whole secrets of tithing that churches will not tell you part, but i do remember his attracting wealth section. in a general sense he talks about how we think its greedy to want more money. In a sense he says so many tithers don’t have money and are broke all the time and struggling paying bills because they are always giving it away. He kind of goes off of common sense here by saying that if you give it, you won’t have it. In a sense that is true, and i agree. i have seen that first hand in my own life and in my family’s. As a child i remember my father being strict about giving our tithe to the church. Even if bills were not being paid, the tithe went to the church. The part i don’t understand about that is, he’s giving money so others can pay their bills, but that’s the logic of those who fail to see principles of stewardship because they are focused on task oriented christianity.

In this book he tries to attract the attention of people who tithe and tithe and are always broke. I don’t really care about the title. I think some authors make up titles like that to attract people’s attention (obviously it attracted min). Anyways, I think what he’s saying in the title is for those who think tithing is a magical obligation that you can do to gain financial security. So what people are realizing is that if you do give it away then guess what that means you don’t have it. It’s not like the stock market where you get a financial return on your investment. If tithing was the answer to exponentially grow your wealth, then it would be more popular than the lottery. Think about it this way. According to statistics(links below), the Jews are the richest nationality/religion in the world, and yet they don’t believe that tithing is commanded for them. That’s odd, don’t you think? You may think it’s because they are God’s chosen people and so on, but really although they are wealthy they are not a fortunate people. Just Look at the turmoil that country is in.

I hope this book review could help you making a decision on a book you want to buy on stewardship. I give this book a 2.5 out of 5 stars overall. It had some good points but i had mixed feelings about it.

(Jewish wealth stats)
http://www.halfsigma.com/2006/07/wealthiest_reli.html
http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/JwSocioeconomic86.htm

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Associated Baptist Press - Matt Kennedy
Rich pastors not common, but not endangered species

What a life to live. The luxurious lifestyle of being a pastor! Rich pastors will never be endangered. They will always exist. Why? I don’t know? Why do you think? Is it ok that some pastors are walking around with expensive watches, and suits? If one’s earned it, don’t you think that it’s okay for them to keep what they’ve earned? Why should everyone bash on TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar? I mean, God’s given that to them, hasn’t he? They have a right to choose to keep that which God has given them. Why should we make them feel guilty about taking so much, when we’ve taken so much in our own lives. Of course not as much as them in the amount, but proportionately, we have. At least i feel that i have.

I wish sometimes that there was no such thing as “things”. i wish it was just all dirt to me. What if they look at that stuff as dirt? Do you think that some of those pastors that live in mansions could actually be right? Do you think there’s anyone that can be justified for what they’ve got? Do you think it’s okay for any Christian to live in any mansion? How much do you think is the right amount for all pastors to make?

This article does talk about tithing. but it mainly is referring to pastor Rick Warren of saddleback church. He lives off of a reverse tithe. That means he lives off of 10% of what he makes and gives 90%. You’ve gotta hand it to the guy for doing this. Do you think Rick Warren is challenging other rich pastors by giving a reverse tithe? I would think Rick Warren would have more authority in finances just because he’s shown that he’s handled the grip of money so well. On the other hand when other rich pastors are preaching tithing, it’s hard to listen.[poll=2]

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Argus Leader News Article: Church Turns Gopher Holes into Golden Harvest

Now this is what i call practical. A church decides to turn a field that is deemed useless because of all the gophers holes, into something useful. They turned an empty field into an acre full of corn crops. The church is planning on donating a tithe of the whole crop to the community and neighbors. What’s the point of telling people that we have everlasting food when we have a hard time providing them the temporary food? It’s good to see that many of the churches have something to hand out instead of ask for at the end of the day. I’m all for giving our money to foreign missionaries, but if our neighbors don’t see our generosity, then we might as well move our location to where our generosity is going.

I think this is a good use of resources. It really doesn’t take much TLC to plant some crops. There are basically two big tasks - planting and reaping.

What do you think the benefits will be from doing something like this? How do you think the community will react? Do you think your church is capable of a task like this?

I read an article today on the Baptist Press by Kenneth Hemphill titled, “Generous Stewardship“. Ken, makes a statement that is very true and consistent among individuals today. He says that the average couple is spending more than they earn, and are getting themselves into dangerous debt. He was basically pinpointing that personally we are spending more on ourselves and that our church finances are struggling because of it. I agree with Mr. Hemphill, but what i am disappointed in is his lack of foresight on the issue.

Let’s take a look at the church as a whole. After all, it is an example to the believers as well as the unbelievers of how we should serve Christ. Let’s look at the debt that our churches are in. Let’s see how much we are spending on ourselves, our facilities, our programs, Yes - and entertainment! I think in every individual’s case, we only follow the leadership that is set before us. In that case, our debt is in direct correlation to the debt we see our churches getting into. Whose fault is it? Well, of course, every individual is responsible to himself, but who won’t answer for how one’s choices have effected others also.

Our churches and its leaders keep making the excuse to the congregation and to God that we need this debt to continue our pursuit of God’s calling. But on the flip side I am not allowed to make the same excuse for my own family, but instead my things and possessions are considered to be purchased in light of a self centered heart and poor stewardship. If my vision and goals are the same as my church then what’s the difference between my debt and the church’s debt?

I know one difference. Helping the church out with their debt is commanded by the pastor through the unlawful tithe, but helping me out individual finances will be overlooked without a concern. Does it ever concern you that our leaders feel the Spirit calling the church in a financial direction, but the followers are not allowed to discern through the same Spirit whether this cause is worthy to give towards? Let’s look at the scriptures and Israel for an example. Do you see how Israel was required to give a tithe by the commands of the law, because their calling came from the law? Can you also see how our own giving is commanded by the Spirit because our calling comes from the Spirit? A pastor cannot say this is our calling from the Spirit, so let’s give by the law. It would be hypocritical for the Holy Spirit not to empower financial discernment upon individuals that he’s asked to perform a task.

I could go on with example after example, illustration after illustration, verse after verse, but this is just food for thought.

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An article for the Christian Post, titled, “Religious Needs Drive a Market for Borrowing” goes over some speculation about the amount of borrowing that churches are doing lately. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with “churches” borrowing, I just hope that they counted the cost before they go into debt like that. The amount of borowing that churches are doing do not go away over night. They are 30 year mortgages, that would seem in my opinion, outlast the lifetime of some churches. I know my church had started our church with a 16 million dollar facility over a year ago. Now, it’s down to 8 or 9 mil. I hate to say that churches are wrong putting that much money into buildings, because i know there is a need for a safe social place for teens and young adults to hang around. Most of us don’t complain about the money that was put into the YMCA, because most of us don’t think twice that all of the money that was used to support the YMCA came from churches. The YMCA foundation was built to combat the social peer pressure and social illness that worldliness had to offer.

I think this borrowing dangerous, not wrong. Because as i said before, statistics show that the average church organization will not last as long as the mortgage. The other thing that’s dangerous, is that we are banking on future attendance of our congregation. I think our church started sweating a little bit because we had about 3 active NFL players that gave tithes in our congregation when we decided to build our building. Now one of them was traded, another became retired, and the last one i think left. Right after all that happened, it was amazing to hear the amount of time that was spent on teaching about tithing. I don’t really know why the number of tithing sermons became more often. That was just my guess. So anyways, you can see that many churches are somewhat betting on at least the attendance of their people.

I hope things work out for the churches that do spend lots of money, but more than anything, i hope that what they are doing is not all about money, but about people.

Someone asked this question the other day:

“If it was 10% by law why would it not be 10% or more under Grace?”

New Testament grace was not intended to bring about a NEW revelation that we should happily give more than 10%. God never changed his principle of stewardship, and never intended for it to have a monetary starting place. Israel was to be stewards of 100% of their possessions just like the NT church is supposed to be. The only difference is, we have the Holy Spirit to tutor us, instead of the law.

So, to answer the question, “would [giving] not be 10% or more under grace?”
-Godly giving was never equal to 10% and never less than 100% stewardship. God never changes.

Your thoughts? . . .
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Out, are the controversial sermons, and the offensive gospel, and in, are the “one size fits all” challenges. Pastors are beginning to avoid controversial words such as “tithing“, and are using more generic terms, such as “offerings“, for doctrinal principles of giving. In order to accommodate the diversity in their audience, the mega-churches are the hot-spots for these generic messages. They stick to messages about prosperity, and joy, and avoid specific controversial subjects. Shortly, in the future, If their message does not change, their soft spoken-ness could come back to bite them. The obligation of giving is slowly disappearing amongst congregations, because tithes were the piggy-back of obligatory giving for so long.

Today, when people enter the church, convictions on singing, bringing their bible, tithing, repenting, are avoided for the sake of offence. There are few that are trying to hang on to strict interpretation of tithing, but for the most part, the obligation to tithe is slipping out of the minds of the rising generation. We can see this trend being proven with statistics from the recent years. www.barna.org has written an article in 2004 stating, “Americans Donate Billions to Charity, But Giving to Churches Has Declined”. In this article is proof that the force behind obligatory giving to the local church is dwindling down, but the freewill spirit of offertory giving is rising. In order to accommodate this swing in trends, and to avoid bankruptcy, Pastors, have no choice but to modify their message. In turn it will raise an oblivious generation that has not been confronted with the pressure to give a minimum amount to God. Of course there are many questions as to how this would affect churches of all sizes in the future. My feeling says it could affect many churches, if in some way they do not shift the focus from 10% tithing to 100% stewardship.

What do you see in the pew/chair in front of you at church, tithing envelopes, a bulletin, maybe a hymnal, or a pencil? Do you ever find chewed up gum stuck to a giving envelope all folded up? It’s usually from some teenager deciding to stash his used gum away for the next visitor interested in something to chew on, if the service had no meat to the message. This ABC gum is much like how the older generation passes along their commitments and debt to the next.

While sitting in my church the other day, I looked in the pocket of the seat in front of me, and noticed what resources they had provided for a welcoming experience. in the pocket was not just a giving envelope, but also a commitment card. On it, was a list of optional gifts you could donate towards the building debt. The card was a help to those of us who could not figure out what types of personal assets you could withdrawal value from. It listed many ideas such as, donating money from retirement accounts, old cars, and so on. The only other thing in the pocket was a pen - no bible, no hymnal, no bulletin. I guess there is no bible because the pastor expects us not to forget our bible at home, but on the other hand the commitment card is there just in case we forgot our money at home.

I know this similar phrase is used many times in correlation with tithing, but giving is an obligation as well as an opportunity. (In order to fit an Old Testament law under the age of grace, tithers say it differently, in that tithing is opportunity not an obligation) There are so many burdens of church debts that hinders us from practicing our opportunity to give. It’s like a bottom-less pit that we must constantly dig in order to stay on top of the bills and collectors. I pity the grandparents who feel they have to extinguish their dying assets to the church, instead of leaving an inheritance for their children. Read Proverbs 13:22, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children”. Because of debt, our giving is over-burdened with obligation.

Instead of leaving wealth to the next generation, we are leaving them with church debt and describing it to them as an opportunity for their era. These older adults have filled out their commitment cards without realizing that they’ve placed the card right back into the newly renovated pew with their wad of debt attached. Throughout the years many give thousands upon thousands to fulfill a dream of an organization and forget that their family is standing there wanting an inheritance. This older generation is much like the younger teenager who leaves a commitment card with gum attached for the next person to chew on. Stop leaving the next generation with your dreams and commitments with debt attached.