Giving money to church

Hello everybody,

My first post on here, which I'd like to use to reach out to the wider Christian community for genuine advice.

I'd like to begin by setting a foundation.
My own beliefs (yours may differ) with regards to giving money to church is that if a large enough group of people come together on a regular basis such that rental or upkeep of a separate property is justified, then it is those people that should pay for it.

Therefore I don't have a problem in principle with giving to church, although everybody's financial situation is different: students, the affluent, the less well off, businesses at startup stage where cash is even more crucial, and do on.

I also believe that your relationship with God is personal, and that attendance at a church isn't even necessary to have a relationship with God.

So that sets the scene for my belief and my pragmatic approach.

The reason I'm posting this is because I am a member of a pentacostal Church in Newcastle (UK) and I feel that I am, essentially, being peer pressured to give financially to church.

It's not quite at the hassling stage yet, but certainly at the stage where I feel I've joined a member's club and I've come to the end of the free trial and now it's time to pay up.

There is in my view nothing wrong with 'passing the plate' or having the occasional reminder that the church is funded by donations, but there are talks on stage every other week, as well as various forms of giving:
The usual tithes, followed by a miracle offering which is basically an additional large collection once per year, then you've got prayer offerings which are collected for visiting speakers.

I feel that there is too much of a focus on money.

I run my own small business, which is in the startup stage.

The church also runs something called 'Kingdom Builders' which is an 'opportunity' for people who the church feels can afford to give more to go along and do just that, while being made to feel that they're a member of a special club.

Since starting my business I have been invited to Kingdom Builders, and I've also had people who are considered senior figures in the church talk to me about my own giving.
"I think you could be more generous with your money" and "so, when are YOU going to make a commitment to God and start tithing" has been said to me.

What do we think?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Most blessings.

There are many brances of Baptist churches. I know for a fact that Southern Baptist churches are notorious for their boxes of contribution envelopes.

You have things like the Lottie Moon Chrsitmas Offering and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

Adam77,


1. Although churches need money to operate, if the FOCUS of a church is on money, then their focus is on the wrong thing.

2. From your comments you already sound very disturbed by this whole thing, and like you've already decided they're focusing on the wrong things.

3. I think you already have your answers; the question is what are you going to do?
...

Does Christ rebuke the devourer if the Believer in Christ doesn't tithe?
Can a Christian test God in the New Testament? If so how?
Can a Christian live in the open windows of Heaven if they don't tithe?

Please post your scripture(s) to support your statement.

“8 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed You? In Tithes and offerings. (The question, “Will a man rob God?”, is blunt and to the point; it instantly portrayed Israel’s present condition, in that they had, in fact, robbed God! “Yet you have robbed Me!” proclaims unequivocally that they had robbed God, which is a serious charge indeed!

The question, “But you say, Wherein have we robbed You?”, brings back the quick answer through the Prophet, “In Tithes and offerings.” Some claim that “tithes” are a part of the old Mosaic system and are not applicable under the New Covenant! However, paying tithes was practiced long before the Law [Gen. 14:20; 28:22]; it was also commanded under Grace in the New Testament [Mat. 23:23; Rom. 2:22; I Cor. 9:7-14; 16:2; Gal. 6:6; Heb. 7:1-10].”

“Abraham, a type of all Believers, paid tithes to Melchizedek, a Type of Christ [Gen. 14:20], which sets the standard; inasmuch as we are children of Abraham, we are to continue to pay tithes to the Work of God, which, in effect, is the propagation of the Message of Christ and Him Crucified [Gal. 3:6-7; I Cor. 1:23].)

9 You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. (“You are cursed with a curse,” is dire indeed! The effect of this curse was scarcity and barrenness, as we see from Verses 10 through 12. Robbing God of tithes and offerings brings a curse. These belong to God by virtue of Covenant agreements with man; to use them for personal gain is robbery of that which rightly belongs to Him.

The phrase, “For you have robbed Me, even this whole nation,” proclaims the reason for the poverty, among other things, of the nations of the world.)”

JSM

However, paying tithes was practiced long before the Law [Gen. 14:20; 28:22]; it was also commanded under Grace in the New Testament [Mat. 23:23; Rom. 2:22; I Cor. 9:7-14; 16:2; Gal. 6:6; Heb. 7:1-10].”

I don't understand all the Animus towards giving. understanding that under Christ we are under the new law which is the law of Liberty and of love. If you love God and you love Jesus then you love his children, and you loved his ministry. If you love his ministry and he loved his children and you love his Commandments, then why wouldn't you give to support it....

Really!
At our church we only have:

General 'compulsory' tithes and offerings

Annual miracle offering: Another opportunity to give a super big donation, so get selling your unwanted items on ebay!

Prayer offerings: Money collected so that visiting speakers, usually in the circle of friends of the pastor and the in-crowd, can be sent on their merry way with a pocket full of cash.

Kingdom Builders: If for whatever reason it is felt that you can afford to give even more (high paying job, own a business, whatever) you'll be invited to a 'special event' where for a couple of hours you'll be made to feel 'exclusive' and have smoke rings blown up your behind in an attempt to extract more money from your bank account through the process of osmosis.

Plus an additional collection at Christmas.

You don’t seem to grasp the distinction between giving and tithing. When you conflate the two ideas you end up with legalistic compulsion. I haven’t seen any animus towards giving.

Tithe simply means tenth, ...sure there is a legalistic mind set about it, but I am all about breaking legalism, and man made traditionalism. If I say I give a tithe, it means I give a tenth, nothing more nothing less. As Christians we need to learn to kick legalism and all its facets to the curb. This even mean associated legalistic vernacular, lingo, connotation, implication, and semantics. It's ok if a person says they tithe. It just means the give a tenth. Or if the observe the Sabbath that simply means they purposefully rest on the seventh day rather than work. Good for them if that's how they choose to honor God, because it's the fact that we choose to honor God. We can honor God in many ways. Isn't it written, one man eats and another does not. Let them both be full convinced, because they both do so unto God. And one man esteems one day as holy and to another they are all the same because they hold their conviction unto God. This let oneam tithe and another give as he purposes in his heart as long as they both do it to honor God. They are not breaking any moral law let them be. Leave such things between them and God.

We aren't discussing what people actually give. Rather, we are discussion what people should give, according to Scripture or, in the OP's case, the local church teachings/requirements.

Thank you.
Indeed, whether purposeful or accidental, the water continues to be muddied by people who are not reading the original post which sets out my pragmatic and fair opinion on general giving and not reading the entire thread, although fair I suppose as there are 5 pages at this point.

This is not about "churches have bills to pay and we have to acknowledge that they are, by and large, funded by voluntary donations (as they should be)".
This is about being pressurised and hounded to pay up.

Perhaps there is a larger reality here.
Given the sad economic reality that there are very many people worldwide struggling to make ends meat, let alone a decent living, most just don't have the spare cash to give a significant amount to church, if any at all.
But on the other side many community churches have been operating for hundreds of years and are considered a 'village tradition' (not that anybody goes to them, just nice to have them there, kind of like local pubs), pastors enthusiastically enter service having possibly studied religious studies at university (or something else at that level) and expect to make a decent living, and the non-religious tax payer would go mad if their tax money were to pay for the upkeep of religious buildings on large and ongoing scale.
But if the declining (and perhaps generally less well off, though the economic background of church members is actually irrelevant) membership of church feel they have a choice, the church would find itself in a sorry state.
So the church effectively uses its purportedly superior knowledge of scripture to manipulate people into handing over their money, when in fact they're already one of the richest institutions on the planet.

Thank you to everyone who has spoken to me about this.

I wonder why no one seems to complain when Churches give money to people? You know......those struggling to pay their rent, power bill, and/or purchase groceries? Never see a Thread were folks are complaining about that......

Y'all EVER WONDER where that money comes from?

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