I know tithing is not applicable under the New Covenant, but I was wondering what your view is on what exactly is gain or profit if one only receives wages.<\/p>\n
Is it only the amount by which they receive a raise on their paycheck each year? If so one could argue that it is (% Raise – % Inflation) or ($ Raise – $ increase in your cost of living). In today’s world, raises are really not a gain if you consider increases in the cost of living. Anyone that lives in the real world knows that government figures on inflation are far from the real-life cost of living increases.<\/p>\n
Is it the amount of your income left over after you pay for basic needs – food, clothing, shelter, medical? One can’t survive where I live without a car, so I consider that a basic need since I would end up in jail trying to ride a horse to work. If this is the case and someone wanted to estimate a gain for the year, I would think they would probably have to use an average figure to base it on and not actual money spent since the variance is too great to be fair.<\/p>\n
Anyway, it would be nice to have an idea for this so if one was discussing the tithe with someone, they could at least point out that not only is tithing not Christian, but they are being duped into actually giving far more than a tithe and they don’t even realize it. I find it interesting that some denominations not only call for a tithe, but they will also then take up special collections on top of that for Bible study materials and maintenance. What a great scam!<\/p>\n\t
“On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come<\/em>” (I Corinthians 16:2).<\/p>\n
“For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have<\/em>” (II Corinthians 8:12).<\/p>\n
“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver<\/em>” (II Corinthians 9:6-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There is no fixed amount or percentage given. It is what each individual decides and the amount is to be based on the prosperity of the individual. If the economic situation eats away at a person’s income, one expects him to give less. If he has been well blessed by the Lord, one expects him to be giving more. God did not give greater details and I’m not going to go beyond what He said.<\/p>\n
But I will point out that in your equations, notice that you are figuring what to give God from the leftovers. God told the Israelites to give of their firstfruits. In other words, they were to give to God first and then live on the rest. I use that in my own decisions. My giving to God has always been the first budget item. “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God<\/em>” (II Corinthians 9:10-11).<\/p>\n
Sometimes we focus on our personal situation and forget that the church and those supported through the church face the same problems. When the economy goes bad, it means the funds raised don’t go as far as they used to, so less is purchased. As an example, I work full-time preaching, but when the economy went bad, I had to take up a part-time job to make ends meet. Not that I’m complaining. I’m fortunate to have a part-time job that I can fit around my preaching. But sometimes people don’t realize that less given to a local church impacts what it can do and who the church is able to support.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I know tithing is not applicable under the New Covenant, but I was wondering what your view is on what exactly is gain or profit if one only receives wages. Is it only the amount by which they receive a raise on their paycheck each year? If so one could argue that it is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[157,159],"class_list":["post-29493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-contributions","tag-giving"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43448,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/may-a-church-receive-interest-on-the-money-it-has-deposited-at-a-bank\/","url_meta":{"origin":29493,"position":0},"title":"May a church receive interest on the money it has deposited at a bank?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The local bank, which the church here has been doing business with for over six decades, is closing its local office. The next nearest office is over 20 miles away. If we maintain our current account, the church treasurer would have to drive the extra miles to make the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-congregation-to-sell-land-it-no-longer-needs\/","url_meta":{"origin":29493,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong for a congregation to sell land it no longer needs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a congregation sells a plot of land (that was originally intended to build a building), is it unscriptural if it makes a profit? Answer: The congregation purchased the land for the intent of building a building and for whatever reason the plan did not work out (as sometimes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46807,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-contributions-be-done-through-pledges\/","url_meta":{"origin":29493,"position":2},"title":"Can contributions be done through pledges?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is pledging wrong, as a way of giving? That is, asking members how much they are willing to put forward for a certain project. They specify an amount, which is then collected at the right time. We must give on the first day of the week, that is set,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27357,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-do-you-start-in-helping-a-young-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":29493,"position":3},"title":"Where do you start in helping a young Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My wife and I are acquainted with a single mom with three children. Over the years the eldest girl left home and went away. The middle child remained and finally graduated from high school. Since that time, the mother has asked her to leave the home three times. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-get-a-raise-should-the-first-check-go-to-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":29493,"position":4},"title":"If you get a raise, should the first check go to the Lord?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been working for a year.\u00a0 I just recently got a raise. I paid tithe on the check the raise was on, but someone told me the first time it appears on my check I was supposed to give the whole thing to the Lord as the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4884,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/giving-to-the-lords-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":29493,"position":5},"title":"Giving to the Lord’s Work","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Bassford Of all of the spiritual topics that we might address, one of the most sensitive is giving. First of all, it\u2019s about money, which always has been very important to people. Second, though, the Holy Spirit\u2019s words on this subject have been misrepresented and abused for 2000\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}