Tithing is one of the most difficult aspect of the Christian experience for us to deal with. Like my sister who is an agnostic and hates the idea that I pay tithe for money I earned I gently tell her that it is He that gave me this body and breath to just be alive to work so I could pay tithe.
How is it that a 10th seems like so much when you have to pay it out according to the word of Scripture, but is nothing when we buy a TV, new tires, car, etc.?
Self is the center of this world and we have to constantly fight the fight of self with God working in our lives. Surrender comes against pride and so many other things that the world throws at us daily.
We are not to be blind guides, we are accountable for what we do and how we do it. Each of us are to answer to the One of authority of the universe.
Because someone in authority in the church does something wrong and makes us question paying tithe are we to follow in their footsteps by withholding tithe because of their actions? Do we cause the good pastors who depend on the tithe for their substance to be paid less or lose a job because we do not pay the tithe?
So Would it be better to work a situation in which we in the church pay our tithe directly to the pastor for his income? Can that be done?
When tithe has gone down do the Administrators of the church take a cut in pay so that more funds can be spent elsewhere?
The fact that members are not paying tithe should be more than enough for the administrators of the church to realize that they are not doing their job. These lack of funds is and has been a way for them to realize something is wrong.
It does not require a committe of 59 people from around the world to figure that out. By their fruits we know if they are serving God or self.
To be truthful I find it appalling to me when a pastor can buy a house and a member can barely feed their family, keep a roof over their head and are still expected to pay tithe.
So what is one to do?
Each of us need to study and in prayer seek the will of God for all that we do with the body of the church. We are to seek counsel and wisdom from those that have gone before us and left us with knowledge in how we are to conduct ourselves as Christians and the Spirit of Prophecy has much to say regarding the issue of tithe and many other parts of the walk with God.
This is what I am doing. It is not a guide for others, but it is what I have come to terms with from all that I have read, studied and prayed about. I do not pay my full 10th of my tithe. I give more to the local church budget for the church to use as they will.
What I do with the rest is my ministry with inmates in prison. I spend for the tools that I need to keep a fellowship as a pen friend through an independent ministry called SomeOne Cares that has been doing this work for 25 years.
This is a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and his wife that do this ministry. They do not just reach out to SDA's, but anyone who is in prison that desires someone to write to them. There are many of these programs on the Internet and God led me to this one in my search and it turned out to be my own denomination. There was no question in my mind that the Lord led me to this ministry.
One does not use their real name and all letters, though slow, go through the ministry between me and the inmate. It leaves it to their imagination where I live.
I use nice decorative paper and borders with color ink. I have sent them money to their account for stamps, paper and pens to write. I have sent them books to read and I write to them each time I get a letter from them that day.
One thing that did go wrong for me was that when I sent one a book the ABC sent them my address by mistake. Be very careful of that. One cannot send them a book, but it must come from someplace like ABC and they are not to send our address.
Our own brother Curt is in Jordan and needs funds. The Lord has blessed this ministry, but it still needs help. Brother Richard will be glad to give the address or go to the Evangelism forum for more information.
We have the poor in our own back door, there is so much we can do within our own church to start a program that will help the helpless.
Let us all be faithful to our onw stewardship of that which God has given us to be responsible for.
Liane, the Zoo Mama