I appreciate there are many threads here which refer to tithing, and if I remember correctly I myself have posted some of my views. However, there has not been a recent discussion, I think, therefore I am interested in opening up yet again this hoary old chestnut.
To begin, let me state my position: I do not believe tithing is scriptural. My wife and myself will attend church, (any church, we are not members of any denomination), and we will place our offerings in the collection plate, according to our means. Greg Boyd talks sense here, I think, where he discusses how we might determine the amount of our offering.
http://www.gregboyd.org/
Regrettably his site is down at the moment, but if I remember correctly he looks at percentages of wealth which each of us might possess, and suggests giving an amount accordingly. He gives no admonition to give to the church, or even a church, leaving each of us to decide for ourselves to whom or what we might give our offerings.
My own personal view is that, because I enjoy the architecture of church buildings, the music and some of the liturgy, the presentations of which all have to be paid for, I will give freely in the same way as I am willing to pay for a ticket to a concert, a play or a film which might move me spiritually. If I come away rather flat and lukewarm, I suppose I am within my rights to ask for my money back, or at least criticise the performance, even in a church!
Listening recently to Derek Prince Ministries on the radio, the topic being money, he constantly used the phrase "giving to God". But God does not need money! In fact He does not need any material goods. He does not need a silver platter, a bag of corn, a chicken, or two goats! In the OT such gifts were given to the temple and the priests, and nowadays we are apparently expected to give to a church (well some of them anyway!), trusting that the clergy are Godly people and will distribute the collection in a righteous way.
God is a spiritual being, and the gifts we give to Him are spiritual gifts: our love, our prayers, our praise, our thanks and even our petitions. In return He will give us His love - what more do we want?
This leaves us to distribute our own material prosperity according to our own encounters with ordinary mortal people who appear to want some help. We pray to God that He will guide us in this, and help us to apportion our wealth, again as suggested by Greg Boyd, for instance.
As usual, I am not able to quote Scriptures in support of my view, but I am familiar with the rejection by non-tithe paying believers of a particular interpretation of Malachi 3: 8. The argument over this verse seems to be perennial, and I am unlikely to engage in this debate here. However, I would be interested in any critique of what I have already said in this post, including Scripture references, of course!
To begin, let me state my position: I do not believe tithing is scriptural. My wife and myself will attend church, (any church, we are not members of any denomination), and we will place our offerings in the collection plate, according to our means. Greg Boyd talks sense here, I think, where he discusses how we might determine the amount of our offering.
http://www.gregboyd.org/
Regrettably his site is down at the moment, but if I remember correctly he looks at percentages of wealth which each of us might possess, and suggests giving an amount accordingly. He gives no admonition to give to the church, or even a church, leaving each of us to decide for ourselves to whom or what we might give our offerings.
My own personal view is that, because I enjoy the architecture of church buildings, the music and some of the liturgy, the presentations of which all have to be paid for, I will give freely in the same way as I am willing to pay for a ticket to a concert, a play or a film which might move me spiritually. If I come away rather flat and lukewarm, I suppose I am within my rights to ask for my money back, or at least criticise the performance, even in a church!
Listening recently to Derek Prince Ministries on the radio, the topic being money, he constantly used the phrase "giving to God". But God does not need money! In fact He does not need any material goods. He does not need a silver platter, a bag of corn, a chicken, or two goats! In the OT such gifts were given to the temple and the priests, and nowadays we are apparently expected to give to a church (well some of them anyway!), trusting that the clergy are Godly people and will distribute the collection in a righteous way.
God is a spiritual being, and the gifts we give to Him are spiritual gifts: our love, our prayers, our praise, our thanks and even our petitions. In return He will give us His love - what more do we want?
This leaves us to distribute our own material prosperity according to our own encounters with ordinary mortal people who appear to want some help. We pray to God that He will guide us in this, and help us to apportion our wealth, again as suggested by Greg Boyd, for instance.
As usual, I am not able to quote Scriptures in support of my view, but I am familiar with the rejection by non-tithe paying believers of a particular interpretation of Malachi 3: 8. The argument over this verse seems to be perennial, and I am unlikely to engage in this debate here. However, I would be interested in any critique of what I have already said in this post, including Scripture references, of course!
