The New Tithe: What Are Your Thoughts?
I saw this video last week via JesusNeedsNewPR and there is a lively discussion ensuing over there – but I wanted to get your thoughts.
Of course, I want us to discuss this with respect and civility, but when you see this video, how does it make you feel? Is their truth in it?
And I guess the big question, can it truly be considered a tithe if it is not going through and to the local church?
For those of you interested in fact-checking, the creators of the video listed their sources in the YouTube video’s description, which you can see here.
I have mixed feelings about the video. I think it is generated with a bit of bias against megachurches (some do give to the community more than they invest in their infrastructure). Though, I do tend to agree that investing in God’s Kingdom doesn’t necessarily equate to giving money to the church as an institution as much as it necessitates investing in the people of God and building the Kingdom of God. Ideally, investing in the church as an organization would be synonymous with investing in the work of the Kingdom. However, while I’m not saying it isn’t important to give to the local church and support local pastors, I do not think the investing in God’s Kingdom (whether tithes or offering) is bound to giving to a local church. I think it is possible to invest in the location expression of the church via supporting missionaries, para-church ministries, non-profits, individuals, and so on and so forth… and still be contributing your investment to the Kingdom. I think the key is your heart towards money and your heart to invest in the Kingdom. God is big enough and creative enough and sovereign enough to guide people who have surrendered their finances to Him to give their tithe and offerings to the right places.
Though, I must also note that I think it is an exception rather than the norm to be led to give the tithe to a place other than the local church. It is important to invest back into the places that have invested in you- so if someone is regularly attending a local church, it is important to sow into the ministry you are reaping the benefits of as well.. even if that ministry has money, part of trusting the community of the church is trusting your church leaders to be good stewards of their finances. The more funds a church has, the more generous the church can be. Just as an individual can give to the causes in the video, so can and should churches. In fact, I think it is often a bigger witness to the community to see the Body of Christ united in investing in a worthy cause. Instead of complaining about where churches spent money, perhaps people should be advocating ways for the church to invest in the things they believe that are God’s heart for the community.
At the end of the day, God has the final say as to what is a tithe and what isn’t. If a person is not giving their tithe to their local church, I think they seriously need to consider why. Perhaps God is leading them to give it elsewhere, or perhaps they simply have a trust issue with the church or an idolatrous issue with how they view their own finances. For most people, I think the tithe is only the beginning of regular giving. Perhaps the bigger question is why do we make such a big deal out of the tithe? 10% goes to the church, no matter how we interpret that. The bigger question is where does the other 90% of our money go. For those people are so concerned about the 10% and if the church is spending it appropriately, my prayer is that they are even more concerned and more generous with the remainder of their funds. What if every Christian above a living wage gave their tithe to the local church and then gave an additional 10% (or more) in offerings- to missions, to social justice, to poverty, to their neighbors…. what if we started seeing 100% of our incomes as God’s, as money that belongs to the Kingdom, instead of just the tithe itself? Now that is a paradigm shift that would change the world.
Sorry Blane, I should have (and may still opt to) replied on my own blog and sent you a link. HA!
Sounds like a good tithing plan for NON-believers.
I understand and agree with some of the problems that the maker of the video is talking about, but I completely disagree with the solution presented. Seriously? Giving money to fund art and yoga instead of church? Never mind that there are plenty of souls out there without Christ, let’s buy a painter some art supplies!
Yes, churches misuse funds because there are people in them. I don’t think the guy who made the video took much consideration that charities are often guilty of the same thing. The Thomas Paine quote that he used is pretty telling that his alliance is more to “help” than to what is truly important. (I also note that Thomas Paine was a rather anti Christian man). Christ said when tempted by the devil that man cannot live on bread alone. I think he would do well to pay very close attention to that statement. It’s not just bread, material things can be applied as well.
In my opinion the guy has missed out on what the church truly is. Understandably, because of the mass confusion that is American Christianity I can see why he takes such a stance. However, how would I be any different than a secular humanist if I decided to give to other causes rather than to the church?
I think you can give tithe without going through the local church. The local church isn’t God. It isn’t even the Body of Christ. It’s a 501c3 non-profit organization. The people make up the Body of Christ, so it makes sense that you could give a hungry person a piece of bread and literally be giving to God himself. There’s Bible to back that up.
The Thomas Paine quote at then end says it all about what this guy REALLY wants…
The solution isn’t to stop giving to the church because they’re not using funds responsibly – that would be like stopping medication to a sick person just because they’re selling some of the pills to friends (or throwing some in the trash). That sick person still needs the medicine that they ARE taking! Yea, there’s a problem. But the solution is for the people, the body of christ to call out the church on their horrendous misuse of funds, and to demand more accountability.
This guy misunderstands what church is about entirely. And it’s sad, because this is the majority. The title of the website says a lot, too – Jesus doesn’t NEED anything, especially not “better PR”. If that’s our attitude, this is the result.
+1 to Luke’s comment. I try to keep in mind that we are one body in Christ and of the same kingdom. With this logic, I judge its localization to be irrelevant. What do I find relevant is the fruit of these churches. Massive houses for preachers? I was disgusted by that…
A good solution to end such problems is for Christian individuals to take more interest in where their tithe goes. The ones I contribute to I know personally and know they would not do such things. I have trust in them and I see their potential in strengthening the kingdom.
Just my two cents…