OK, folks. If I've read this thread correctly, some view that I'm committing a sin for our manner of making offerings to the church. Is that the case?
Our church does not pressure anyone to give a tithe. When mentioned, it goes something like this. "Give only as you are led to do so by the Holy Spirit."
We chose to use the OT 10% tithe as our baseline for monetary offerings. Since we live on a fixed income that's a check on the gross once a month. Plus, any withdrawals from our retirement accounts. Additionally, we also give at every service where the offering plate is passed. No record of this is kept for tax purposes, BTW.
We also donate supplies to the church for various purposes. Sometimes the amount is recorded as a contribution. Often, it isn't.
And, we give our time, a considerable amount, for various ministries.
When I do our tax reporting for 2011, I'll have the final figure of percent of gross income compared to our "reported" amount of giving from the church. Right now, I'm estimating that it's between 15% & 20%.
Because I use the term "tithe" doesn't mean that we are following a commandment from the OT as if it were a "requirement". It's a base line that we chose. As you can see we exceed it quite a bit. We give this amount because we want to give it for the glory of the Lord. Not because we HAVE to give it.
Which one of the bold items below applies to us?
Freeatlast wrote:
No, here is what the scripture says;
KJV2Cor 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
ESV
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. It has nothing to do with how much we have. It has to do only what the heart will allow cheerfully. The intent is to reveal our hearts to ourselves. There is no amount or percent involved. Any person who follows the tithe or uses it for a model is in sin and any teacher or Pastor who teaches the tithe or to base our giving on the tithe is in sin teaching legalism because they are not following how the Lord commands us to give. It is totally a personal issue with absolutely no suggestion or command and totally without any outside pressure. The only guideline is the heart not the size of our weekly check or bank account.
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