Cow-tipping and tithing.

I'm gonna point you to Grace's post about "Cow Tipping". She says cow tipping is probably impossible, likely dangerous, but even so, there are a number of sacred cows that need to be tipped. I like her list of sacred cows.

I wrote a long preachy post about one of the cows: tithing. Then I reconsidered posting it because I am a thinker and sometimes I can't help but think something to death, and in the process end up thinking I know all the answers. I realize it's a heated issue for many of us, so I'm just gonna pose some questions and try to reserve my opinions.

Is tithing Biblical under the new covenant? I believe generosity was one of the central points of Jesus' teaching. However, He didn't say give up 10%, He said give it ALL away.

• Should we teach that 10% is all that's expected, or is it just a recommendation or a starting point?
• Do you think people would continue to give anything at all if they weren't told they HAD to give at least 10%?
• How many people would respond to Jesus' mandate to "give everything" to follow Him, if we taught that?

Do you think most people tithe regularly? If not, why not? Our last church said this: 10% of the people carry 90% of the finances of the church. This isn't saying that that 10% of people are really wealthy and therefore 90% of of the church budget is made up from their tithes. It's saying that only 10% of the people truly tithe with any predictability.

• What would happen if everyone tithed? Or MORE than tithed?
• Do you think more people don't tithe because they can't afford it or because they don't think it's necessary?

Does tithing have to be monetary? In the OT times, the people didn't deal in money as much as they dealt in crops, livestock and other "goods". So the farmer might give 10% of his crops, the herder might give 10% of his livestock. They didn't write checks in those days (not that I know of, but Wells Fargo has been around a REALLY long time). Today, we generally don't have cows and corn at our disposal, but we do still have gifts to give that aren't cash.

• What if we are giving a service to the church? Can that be considered a tithe?
  
• Would you go so far as to say someone is not tithing faithfully simply because their tithe consists of a service rather than cash?
• What would happen if more people who can't/don't tithe monetarily started giving of their time or their skills?
• What if we were able to give of our time or skills not to the church directly but to another member?Could this be a tithe?
• What about giving our time or skills to a person who is not a Christian? Could this be considered a tithe?
  

Do most churches use tithes to regularly meet the needs of their members who are struggling financially? There are people in the congregation who are living on macaroni and cheese, but there doesn't seem to be enough money in the church budget to help them all. At our last church, people who needed rent assistance had to jump through a variety of hoops to get it, then they could only get help twice a year. I understand the need to not allow people to "abuse the system", but...

• Did Jesus ever say there should be a "system" to giving and caring for others?
• Is it possible for generosity to be abused?
• Should the church ever limit how much money they make available to members for financial assistance?
• Should churches try to reduce the size of their monthly obligations (mortgages, salaries, programs and building improvements) so they can assist more people?

Is it OK to use our tithe to directly help others?

• What if we have a brother or sister in Christ who can't keep the heat on in their house?
• Is it OK to fill a need we see rather than tithe?
• Does this approach have to fall beyond the tithe, into the "offerings" category?

What if we don't like the way the church handles it's budget?

• Is it any of my businesses what the church does with my tithe?
• If we don't feel the church handles it's budget well, or if we simply don't think the church needs our money, do we have the right to delegate our tithe somewhere else?

And what about blessing?

• Does God withhold blessing if we don't tithe?
• Does He punish if we don't tithe?

What about debt?

• What if we buy a house that we can comfortably afford, then there is an unexpected job loss or change of income? What if we can no longer tithe and still be able to afford our house? Should we sell, move into an apartment in order to be able to tithe?
• What if we have just mismanaged our money and can't afford to pay our creditors if we tithe?
  
• Which obligation is more important, debt or tithe?
• How understanding is God about this issue?

What if in a married couple one person believes in tithing and the other doesn't?

• Should one person ever tithe if the other person isn't supportive of it?
  
• Is it different if each person makes an income than if there is only one income?
• is it OK for a wife to tithe if her husband doesn't want her to? What about vice-versa?
  

Why not let this be a matter of conscience rather than an issue of specifics? Tithing easily gets caught up in the law.

• Are we distracted from the point because we argue about the details of tithing?
• Should tithing be taught at all?
  

How can we make tithing a non-issue? How can we tip this sacred cow?

• If we spent more time talking about all manners of generosity - not just giving money, but giving services and time and unconditional love - and stopped talking about tithing altogether, do you think after awhile we would stop HAVING to talk about tithing at all?
  

In the end, I think the point, like everything else Jesus taught, is LOVE. Love of others over love of self. We do have a selfish materialistic attitude in the US (myself included). We only love others to an extent. We think in terms of tithe being 10%. Under the law that was what God asked of us. Under grace, though, Jesus asked for us to be willing to give it all.

What do you think?