If you went to the store and you picked up a movie and you went to the cash register and you gave the cashier $15 would you consider this a gift to the store? If you went to the movies and you were given two tickets and then you gave them $16 would you understand what you had just done as donating to the movie theater?
The examples I just gave illustrate that when money is given in trade for goods or services it (by most normal people) wouldn’t be considered a gift or donation.
According to some reading I have done 85 cents of every dollar donated or given to the local church body goes back into that local church body. That money is used to pay pastors, maintain buildings, build new programs, whatever it is, it stays right there. So my question is: am I really giving to God, or am I trading money (paying) for services?
The Ekklesia in Southern Maine 
August 25th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
You’re paying club dues. 🙂
August 25th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Fred
Sure feels like it sometimes! Thanks for the comment.
Dan
August 26th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Many churches pull out Malachi when they need to do some fund raising. They point there bony fingers and tell you that you’re robbing God if you don’t give 10% of your income to their church. It doesn’t count if you give it directly to the poor because it’s got to come into the “storehouse”. I feel a bit hot about this because this kind of bible cut ‘N paste causes great confusion in the minds of immature believers. This is adding conditions to the Gospel. “God loves you and forgives all your sins, now fork over 10% because you owe him at least that much.”
When someone is “giving” under these conditions, it’s paying a fee for services rendered.
August 26th, 2010 at 8:58 am
Bob
I agree that using the passage from Malachi to justify a modern tithe is gravely misrepresenting the Scripture. Paying a fee is exactly what was done in the Old Testament. There were a separate group of priests and those guys needed to be taken care of so they could perform their duties. So the rest of Israel had to provide for those needs. There is no longer a separate group of priests and no longer a need to provide animals for sacrificing so it doesn’t make sense that we would need to provide for priests or for sacrifices. We have a high priest who needs nothing and a final sacrifice that never needs to be redone. Thanks for the comment!
Dan