Should a Church .....

The problem with that is it can lead members into credit card debt, which is not something that God wants. Better to carry cash.

 

I actually don't believe in tithing, but in freewill offerings, as the tithes were specifically instituted for the Levitical priesthood, since they had no inheritance of land. In fact, even the offering plate itself is not Biblical. In the Bible, there was a donation box of sorts, where believers would put their money in (notice the passage about the widow who put in the mite). We have a small donation box in our church, where members can put in freewill offerings or donations, without any prompting to do so.

Churches are partly run like businesses today, and I believe we should steer away from that. However, just so I'm being honest and disclosing everything, I do put a "donate" button on our website, which does use paypal. That's the closest we come to it, but it is unobtrusive.

Just my "two cents".

God bless.

 

The church will take a certain percentage of a loss of those transactions, typically.

There is a church around here that has on their envelopes a place to put your routing number so it can automatically deduct ten percent from the account regularly.

 

I am in 100% agreement with you on this. I am not legalistic about this, but I believe it turns churches into businesses, much more than the examples of early churches that we see in the Book of Acts, for example. Churches today are run too much like businesses. And that is where the danger lies in all of this.

 

I can see where borrowing money, by swiping a credit card and not paying off the balance, would not be a good thing. But otherwise, a machine or paypal or even a check, they are all methods of transferring money with the convenience of not having to carry around hard currency.

And even dollar bills or gold coins are much more convenient than the alternative. I don't believe most churches today are set up to deal in firstfruits anymore. Receiving grain, cattle, or textiles would be more burdensome than cash, check, or credit card.

 

I don't believe “giving via plastic” is not inherently sinful – no more so writing a check or giving a “Federal Reserve Note” drawn on the United States of America. If it is not wrong, should we move full steam ahead?

While this offers a convenience for those who are going to give anyway, I think this should be a “road less travelled.” Two reasons I recommend we leave this alone are:

• Credit card giving encourages debt giving. Perhaps not deliberately so – many churches’ online giving page warns against going in debt – but practically so, by holding out the ease and temptation to give what one does not have (2 Corinthians 8:11-12). When a person falls to the temptation, isn’t the church “bidding godspeed” – playing a part in another person’s financial irresponsibility?
• Credit card giving enforces the perception that churches are “all about money.” Online giving instructions mentioned on a church’s web page may be unobtrusive enough, but giving centers placed all around a church’s facilities reminds visitors of the not-so-subtle push to fund the ministries of the church.

The primary argument for “credit card giving” is convenience. The church sells it on convenience and the congregation buys it. Yet that convenience might be a hindrance both to those who cannot manage their money and those who think the church cares more for their money than their souls. Perhaps, like Paul, we should not use this power (freedom, liberty), lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.