Hey Christians: do you tithe 10 percent?

[pclstyle]

15%

 

[notfred]

The people who bought the Compaq center are certainly hurting for cash. Definitely more than a college student living in an apartment.

Churches can go fvck themselves. Asking for money from average middle and lower class people in order to build elaborate cathedrals and stadiums should be the sin, not refusing to give pay it.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: KarenMarie

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: spiderrasmon
you must give gifts in secret. Christ did not pass around collection plates, so any church that does is not Christian.

There is one wacko Baptist church in town that has slots on the back wall with family names on the slots. I was told that people are to put their envelopes with their tithe in the slot so it is known who has given and who hasn't. Basically pressuring people into keeping up with their tithe.

Supposedly their church has assigned parking spots too, so you know who is there and who isn't at a glance.

That is really really bad.
I remember when I was young... the church used to give out little envelopes during confession on Saturday to put tithe money in for Sunday. It was ok. There was nothing on the outside so no one knew who gave what. But once the envelopes were dont away with... everyone watched who put what in the basket. Probably why they did away with the envelopes. It was very uncomfortable.

The church my folks go to has envelopes for people to use, but mainly it is so you can mark it with your name and get a tax form at the end of the year indicating how much you gave.

 

[Plasdom]

Originally posted by: Nik
10% is actually just a "religious" installment, not what the original text said/implied. The original text described "first fruits" not a specifically set percentage of your monthly or yearly income. Furthermore, the original text doesn't say anything about giving directly to the church, either. You could be taking whatever you feel led to tithe and walking it down to a homeless shelter or donating it to charity or giving it to some homeless guy you see at random.

By all means tithe, but don't think that if you tithe anything other than 10% that it's some kind of sin.

I like your ideas. Links/quotes of original text to back that up?

 

[Mr N8]

We give about 5% to the church, and we give other money to a local food shelter and some NFP organizations.

 

[Godsend1]

10% right off the top.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Plasdom

Originally posted by: Nik
10% is actually just a "religious" installment, not what the original text said/implied. The original text described "first fruits" not a specifically set percentage of your monthly or yearly income. Furthermore, the original text doesn't say anything about giving directly to the church, either. You could be taking whatever you feel led to tithe and walking it down to a homeless shelter or donating it to charity or giving it to some homeless guy you see at random.

By all means tithe, but don't think that if you tithe anything other than 10% that it's some kind of sin.

I like your ideas. Links/quotes of original text to back that up?

Can you read Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic? :laugh: I did some seminary studying in high school and this is one of the many things I remember, but I threw away everything from high school the day I graduated including all my notes and study materials. I'm sure you can find non-bias non-"religious" studies of the original text around the net somewhere. I don't have the patience to search for it myself right now.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Parting with a significant chunk of your money is extremely difficult for most people. Look at the reactions here. That's because poeople love money. Even multi-millionaires have trouble giving up 10% of it.

God doesn't need my money. I think the reason He asks us to give is for ourselves.....to prove to ourselves that money (possessions) is not what life is about and shouldn't be our focus. If you can willingly give up 10% of it, you could, in your heart, give up all of it.

I happily give 10% plus extra for missions. I always have. Even when my wife and I were living off my $28k a year job with $925/month rent right after we got married. We always had enough. When I look at where we are financially 5 years later, I have no doubts it's because of God's blessing. And the healthy perspective on life we both have, due partially to not worshipping money, is, I'm sure, one reason for our happy marriage, wonderful children, and successful careers.

When you consider that 100% of what you have comes from Him, giving 10% is barely anything.....heck, think of it as getting 90%.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Originally posted by: Nik
10% is actually just a "religious" installment, not what the original text said/implied. The original text described "first fruits" not a specifically set percentage of your monthly or yearly income. Furthermore, the original text doesn't say anything about giving directly to the church, either. You could be taking whatever you feel led to tithe and walking it down to a homeless shelter or donating it to charity or giving it to some homeless guy you see at random.

By all means tithe, but don't think that if you tithe anything other than 10% that it's some kind of sin.

Actually, the Bible does have a verse in the Old Testament about giving back to God one-tenth of what God gave you, which is where the tithe came from.

In the New Testament, Jesus praises a woman for donating a couple coins to the church, because she was obviously in poverty and would miss those coins much more than the richer people would miss their larger contributions. Instead of a strict one-tenth rule, its more along the lines of "give according to your means". This is really the rule that most practicing Christians follow (fundamentalists notwithstanding).

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
I understand that a lot of Christians use the 10% rule. And it is supposed to be 10% of GROSS... or you are putting the government before taxes. I am all for the 10% rule, but I do not give to churches. I support soldiers thru packages to Iraq, give a LOT of money to animal charities and do other stuff that totals more than 10%... not cause God demands it, but cause it is the right thing to do.

When I was younger and went to Church every Sunday... I always felt uncomfortable when the collection basket was passed around.

if you read the actual text it says 10% of your increase. i've always read that to mean net.

increase. think of it in terms of agricultural. at the end of harvest, you put away your seeds, you put away what you are going to eat in the winter, and what you have left over is your increase.

 

[eigen]

altruistic suckers.

 

[BW86]

I give 0%

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Parting with a significant chunk of your money is extremely difficult for most people. Look at the reactions here. That's because poeople love money. Even multi-millionaires have trouble giving up 10% of it.

God doesn't need my money. I think the reason He asks us to give is for ourselves.....to prove to ourselves that money (possessions) is not what life is about and shouldn't be our focus. If you can willingly give up 10% of it, you could, in your heart, give up all of it.

I happily give 10% plus extra for missions. I always have. Even when my wife and I were living off my $28k a year job with $925/month rent right after we got married. We always had enough. When I look at where we are financially 5 years later, I have no doubts it's because of God's blessing. And the healthy perspective on life we both have, due partially to not worshipping money, is, I'm sure, one reason for our happy marriage, wonderful children, and successful careers.

When you consider that 100% of what you have comes from Him, giving 10% is barely anything.....heck, think of it as getting 90%.

I don't think it has anything to do with "proving" anything to God. You don't have to prove anything to God. There's nothing that you can do to prove anything if he already knows everything about you -including whether you really care about your money or not. Whether you give it away or not, you can still be a greedy bastard which is the real problem. You can hoard your money and not actually be greedy which would be better than giving all your money away and resenting it because you're still in the grip of greed.

The Pharisees did some amazing stuff for the community way back then, but Christ still rebuked them because the were doing it for the wrong reasons.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Parting with a significant chunk of your money is extremely difficult for most people. Look at the reactions here. That's because poeople love money. Even multi-millionaires have trouble giving up 10% of it.

God doesn't need my money. I think the reason He asks us to give is for ourselves.....to prove to ourselves that money (possessions) is not what life is about and shouldn't be our focus. If you can willingly give up 10% of it, you could, in your heart, give up all of it.

I happily give 10% plus extra for missions. I always have. Even when my wife and I were living off my $28k a year job with $925/month rent right after we got married. We always had enough. When I look at where we are financially 5 years later, I have no doubts it's because of God's blessing. And the healthy perspective on life we both have, due partially to not worshipping money, is, I'm sure, one reason for our happy marriage, wonderful children, and successful careers.

When you consider that 100% of what you have comes from Him, giving 10% is barely anything.....heck, think of it as getting 90%.

I don't think it has anything to do with "proving" anything to God. You don't have to prove anything to God. There's nothing that you can do to prove anything if he already knows everything about you -including whether you really care about your money or not. Whether you give it away or not, you can still be a greedy bastard which is the real problem. You can hoard your money and not actually be greedy which would be better than giving all your money away and resenting it because you're still in the grip of greed.

The Pharisees did some amazing stuff for the community way back then, but Christ still rebuked them because the were doing it for the wrong reasons.

I bolded the relevent part just for you. :lips:

 

[Hammerhead]

I don't tithe at Saint Mattress

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix

Originally posted by: Nik
10% is actually just a "religious" installment, not what the original text said/implied. The original text described "first fruits" not a specifically set percentage of your monthly or yearly income. Furthermore, the original text doesn't say anything about giving directly to the church, either. You could be taking whatever you feel led to tithe and walking it down to a homeless shelter or donating it to charity or giving it to some homeless guy you see at random.

By all means tithe, but don't think that if you tithe anything other than 10% that it's some kind of sin.

Actually, the Bible does have a verse in the Old Testament about giving back to God one-tenth of what God gave you, which is where the tithe came from.

In the New Testament, Jesus praises a woman for donating a couple coins to the church, because she was obviously in poverty and would miss those coins much more than the richer people would miss their larger contributions. Instead of a strict one-tenth rule, its more along the lines of "give according to your means". This is really the rule that most practicing Christians follow (fundamentalists notwithstanding).

Yes, you're right that the translated version says 10 percent. If I keep talking about this, it's going to nag at me until I go searching for the original word and finding its meanings to post here

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
I bolded the relevent part just for you. :lips:

It's still an incorrect idea. It's not about proving anything. You can't prove anything to yourself, either. You already know whether you're a greedy bastard or not :laugh: Folks can make the choice to change if they're greedy bastards (I like that word), but that's not proving anything that's just bettering themselves.

 

[Red Dawn]

Hey they need the money so they can pay for their Cadillacs and Satellites

Hush, little baby, don't cry like that,
God's gonna buy you a cadillac.
He's chosen you to do his will,
You can spread the word in your coupe de ville.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And if you still can't see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

Look to the heavens and see it shine,
Heal the sick and lead the blinds.
Tune it in and hear it say,
It's counting down to judgement day.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And if you still can't see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

Hey satellite man, your time has come,
Your word received by everyone.
And should you fall, well, that's okay,
You love the ones that you betray.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And when at last you see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And when at last you see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

God's gonna buy you a satellite!
Look to the heavens and see it shine.

 

[xSauronx]

i tithed 10% when i was going to church, dont go now, so dont tithe.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
I bolded the relevent part just for you. :lips:

You can't prove anything to yourself, either. You already know whether you're a greedy bastard or not :laugh:

Riiiiight. Yeah, I can quit smoking whenever I want, so I don't need to quit smoking. I know I can sky-dive, so I don't need to jump out of the plane...I'll just walk up to the door and look out and be satisfied with myself. I know I'm the kind of person who could work at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, so I don't have to actually go.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Hey they need the money so they can pay for their Cadillacs and Satellites

Hush, little baby, don't cry like that,
God's gonna buy you a cadillac.
He's chosen you to do his will,
You can spread the word in your coupe de ville.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And if you still can't see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

Look to the heavens and see it shine,
Heal the sick and lead the blinds.
Tune it in and hear it say,
It's counting down to judgement day.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And if you still can't see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

Hey satellite man, your time has come,
Your word received by everyone.
And should you fall, well, that's okay,
You love the ones that you betray.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And when at last you see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And when at last you see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

God's gonna buy you a satellite!
Look to the heavens and see it shine.

What's that? One of the Hippy hymns you guys sang at Woodstock while sitting in a big circle knitting socks?

 

[SouthPaW1227]

When I was younger and went to Church every Sunday... I always felt uncomfortable when the collection basket was passed around.

that's awesome about your giving!

And yes, to this day it still feels weird when it's passed for some reason. I would MUCH prefer it be off outside somewhere, and as you were leaving you'd drop some in IF you wanted. I don't like the glances you sometimes get.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Hey they need the money so they can pay for their Cadillacs and Satellites

Hush, little baby, don't cry like that,
God's gonna buy you a cadillac.
He's chosen you to do his will,
You can spread the word in your coupe de ville.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And if you still can't see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

Look to the heavens and see it shine,
Heal the sick and lead the blinds.
Tune it in and hear it say,
It's counting down to judgement day.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And if you still can't see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

Hey satellite man, your time has come,
Your word received by everyone.
And should you fall, well, that's okay,
You love the ones that you betray.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And when at last you see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

So jump in the river and learn to swim,
God's gonna wash away all your sins.
And when at last you see the light,
God's gonna buy you a satellite.

God's gonna buy you a satellite!
Look to the heavens and see it shine.

What's that? One of the Hippy hymns you guys sang at Woodstock while sitting in a big circle knitting socks?

No that's what I was whispering into your mother's ear the night you were conceived..through a bedsheet!:shocked:

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
I bolded the relevent part just for you. :lips:

You can't prove anything to yourself, either. You already know whether you're a greedy bastard or not :laugh:

Riiiiight. Yeah, I can quit smoking whenever I want, so I don't need to quit smoking. I know I can sky-dive, so I don't need to jump out of the plane...I'll just walk up to the door and look out and be satisfied with myself. I know I'm the kind of person who could work at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, so I don't have to actually go.

No no no no no.

If you can quit smoking (which you can) you choose to continue to smoke or to quit. That's not proving anything to yourself because you already know what you've chosen to do.

If you know you can work in a soup kitchen, actually doing it isn't going to be proving anything to yourself because you already know you can do it. You either choose to or choose not to.

 

[Gravity]

In my studies it seems that the tithe was for the Jewish sheeple ONLY. The old testament wasn't written to anyone but them. Christ also gave but we don't know if it was a tithe or not. We can assume that he practiced tithing since he was a Jewish man and most likely had an income as a carpenter.

As for me personally, I used to tithe but I found it difficult to believe that scripture was asking me to do so. Then, when the wife said that the scripture that says we shouldn't withhold sex from one another (1 Cor 7:5) wasn't true I gave up the tithe alltogether.

my .02