This post is intended for those who think of themselves as committed members of the church. If that's not you, I'm sure you could find something better to do.
Allow me to make one or two points about Christian giving:
Planned giving is normally better than unplanned giving and if you can Gift Aid anything you give, the tax man will give an extra 25% at no cost to you. It would be mad (throwing money away) not to gift aid if you can, don't you think?
As the Vicar, I've no desire to know what any parishoner gives, either in cash terms or as a proportion of their income. We treat such things in the strictest need to know confidence and I have nothing to do with it.
It would be good, at least once a year, to review your giving to the church. Has your income changed? Should your giving change?
You will know that under the Older Covenant God's people were commanded to give 10% of their income to the church.
The beauty of this tithe principle is that it is fair and proportional. Everyone gives what they can, according to what they get. In absolute terms, some will give very little; some will give a lot.
Of course, no one can force you to give. And nor would we want to. We want you to give happily and cheerfully. It is a wonderful honour that God should allow us to contribute to his work. All that we have is his and he has an absolute right to all that we have and are. But even if we tithe, God leaves us with 90% of what he has entrusted to us.
It is hard to believe that God's New Covenant people would want to be any less generous than the people of Israel were commanded to be.
Many of us would hardly notice 10% of our income given to the church by standing order each month.
If every committed Christian tithed it would transform church finances. 10 wage earners ought to more or less cover the Pastor's salary on their own.
It maybe that you feel you can't afford 10% of your income. Perhaps your income has fallen and your mortgage has risen, for example. For myself, I don't think you should feel obliged to immediately sell your house so that you can give 10% of your income. It might be sensible to give less for the next 5 years and make up the difference when your circumstances improve.
Some of us may be asset rich and cash flow poor. We may wish to consider a legacy in our wills.
Thoughts? Do you agree? How would this go down in a letter to those on the Electoral Roll?
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
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2 comments:
You have to go to 2 Corinthians to get the new covenant motivation right: For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus,... Until we grasp how much we have been given, our hearts will never move us to give, or they will do so out of a moralistic demand rather than out of a gospel imperative.
Tithe stuff is helpfully explained though - might nab that myself for a future occasion.
Under the newer covenant Jesus commands tithing too:
See Matthew 23:23 & Luke 11:42
where Jesus says tithing should be practised... along with love and justice and compassion. Both and not either or.
Combined with OT teaching and 2 Cor, as J.O. says, there is strong, consistent biblical instruction on the topic.
Tithing isn't giving though, it's bringing (returning) to God what is His. Giving is extra to tithing!
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