The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, is full of all sorts of information about us. I saw some figures from it the other day that I thought were interesting. They told us how much of our income was used for “charitable contributions.” In the table below various ranges of income are on the left. The percent given to charity is:<\/p>\n
| zero to $10,000<\/td>\n | 5.5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 10,000 to 19,000<\/td>\n | 3.2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 20,000 to 29,000<\/td>\n | 2.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 30,000 to 39,000<\/td>\n | 2.6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 40,000 to 49,000<\/td>\n | 1.8%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The table is not complete. All levels of income are not included, but there is a disturbing pattern. It seems that many of us who say, “If I had more, I’d give more” find ourselves practicing a lifestyle that says, “When I get more, I keep more.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Van James The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, is full of all sorts of information about us. I saw some figures from it the other day that I thought were interesting. They told us how much of our income was used for “charitable contributions.” In the…<\/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":[27],"tags":[194,159],"class_list":["post-57265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-benevolence","tag-giving"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20102,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/learning-the-secret-of-contentment\/","url_meta":{"origin":57265,"position":0},"title":"Learning the Secret of Contentment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ken Green \u201cNot that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content\u201d (Philippians 4:11, ESV). Do you find contentment to be elusive? Be encouraged. Even the apostle Paul realized being content was something he had to learn. If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/contentment-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-christians-choose-not-to-pay-an-income-tax\/","url_meta":{"origin":57265,"position":1},"title":"Can Christians choose not to pay an income tax?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Recently, a man teaching a Bible class made the\u00a0comment that \"We as Christians can choose not to pay our income taxes with a clear conscience as it was an unconstitutional act when these taxes were brought into law\" I disagree because\u00a0my understanding is that\u00a0Romans 13\u00a0and \"rendering to Caesar what\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":17221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-work-outside-the-home-so-i-have-no-income-how-much-should-i-give\/","url_meta":{"origin":57265,"position":2},"title":"I don’t work outside the home, so I have no income. How much should I give?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I discovered your site today and let me say I love it! I have a question about tithes. I'm a stay at home mom; therefore, I have no income. 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