I've been thinking about tithing lately, so I decided to blog about it and see if I can get any comments.
As far as I know, tithing is only mentioned in the Old Testament. I could be wrong on that. Jesus does say in the NT to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's.... so the argument could be made that He is referring to the tithe. I'm not out to argue whether to tithe or not. It does seem even the most conservative of churches pick and choose what parts of the Bible they want to follow or reason away, especially when it comes to the Old Testament, but whether or not tithing is only Old Testament, I am going with the premise that yes, we are to tithe one tenth to God - plus offerings.
What I want to get at, is where to tithe. If I remember right, the one verse says to bring your tithes into the storehouse. So where is the storehouse? Ask pretty much any preacher and they will say where you are getting "fed". Spiritually of course - your church. Of course they would say that - think they want your money going somewhere else? ;-)
When those verses were written, there wasn't a church. There was the tabernacle. And only one tabernacle..... so of course the tithe went there. Enter the New Testament and the Church. Back then there were no denominations, and probably far less churches than we have nowadays. We can assume tithe was paid into the church, but it was used for more than to pay the pastor and the bills. It was used to take care of widows and orphans.
But what if God doesn't care where our tithes go? As long as it is used for Him? I have some blogger friends, Craig & Heather, who go to a church where it is practiced that you put your tithe where you feel God wants you to put it. In the church, to missionaries, to someone having financial difficulties. Scriptural? Maybe so. I find it hard to believe that God just wants our tithe to go toward padded pews, new hymnbooks, refreshments for the youth gathering, etc.
I know I criticize my church a lot, but hey, it is my church. Better than criticizing yours. :-) I am going to go out on a limb here, and someone from my church may saw it off. So here goes....
What if you feel your church spends money unwisely? My church furnishes a house for the pastor to live in and pays all bills that comes along with the house. We had a decent house, but we did need more room. A wise thing would have been to build on...... but no, we purchased land and built a large, expensive house. A house that costs a lot more to heat, cool, etc. And don't get me wrong.... I want the pastor to have a nice place, but we went majorly into debt to build what is almost a mansion.... was that truly a wise investment of God's money?
Exhibit B: every year we get someone in to have our vacation Bible school. We pay them around $1000.00 for the week, as I understand - and that is all well and good. Meanwhile, everyone too old for the VBS, ages 13-? meet at the pastor's and different people from church speak eacj night on different topics. Something that has worked out well. This year, they got someone to come and do the whole week. So we paid around $1000 for the kid's VBS worker, and I'd guess $1000.00 for the youth speaker..... my church runs around 220-250, and we aren't exactly running over with cash....
The main reason the above bothers me is this: Take a trip with me about 2 1/2 hours east of me to a small place called Hillsdale, PA. My little sister and her husband pastor a small country church there, running in the 40's and 50's most Sundays. They did get someone to come for their VBS, but couldn't afford to pay someone for the whole week, so they did 3 days instead of 5. That made me sad, and when I see what my church spends on VBS, especially this year, it makes me wonder...... do we have our priorities where they should be? Instead of wasteful spending, shouldn't we be sending money to smaller churches that need it? Instead of building mansions and getting more speakers than we need?
And what is wrong with sending our tithe where it is needed more? Granted, it is God's money, not ours, but I don't want it used wastefully. The argument could be made that if everyone sent their tithe elsewhere, the church would collapse in financial ruin. Maybe. Maybe not. If people sought God's will, I believe it would all even out. Sure, my church might not be able to throw out $2000 for a week of VBS, but so what. Maybe churches would be more careful how they spend money if they had a little less.
I think we need to look at the bigger picture. It IS God's money, and I seriously doubt He cares if we give our tithe where it is needed more, instead of dropping it in the offering plate at our church. Here is a scenario to put it in perspective: Say my church takes in $500,000 a month in tithes alone - doubt it is that high, but I'm sure it is more than needed for normal expenses..... Would God be happier if that money was used on unnecessary ways, or put where it is needed - for a need outside of the church.
I believe Christianity in general has slipped far from what God intended. We are so shallow, selfish, self-absorbed, busy. Most of us are too caught up by the world we live in to listen to what God is saying to us, too busy to seek His will. We want a fast food, drive through religion..... but what if God wants something different with us? With our money? What if His will isn't always for our tithe to go in the offering plate at church, but go instead to hurting needing people, or even to smaller churches that are struggling financially?
In closing, I only used my church as an example because it is the one I am familiar with. I am sure there are churches guilty of even more wasteful and selfish spending.
Meanwhile, I am strongly considering sending my tithe to a small country church in Hillsdale, PA. It could be what God wants.
