How is tithing supposed to work?

It’s based on before tax income, and it’s a tax deduction as it’s a donation to a church.

I don’t think it’s legally enforceable, it’s voluntary, so if you can’t pay because of some other expense, they’re not able to collect on it.

Do people actually show their income to the church? Or, it’s based on the honor system?

You are supposed to give 10% on the honor system. Don’t think it happens much.

Deleted by me. Double post.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Really? You don’t think the Mormons give their 10%?

I think they take that pretty seriously, I don’t know many Mormons.

Not required. 10% of net income works. It goes towards the church and the pastor’s family. As the pastor doesnt get paid otherwise it’s not all that unreasonable.

The majority of people can easily get along without that 10%. And if you’re in the type of church I’m in.. you’d probably recieve a mysterious check to help with those life altering bills.. probably from the tithe income.

It isn’t mandatory for membership. Most members seem to understand that there’s certainly more to life than money.

^^So, it’s a semi socialized system. Money into a pot and the needy get helped.

When you tithe you are giving ten percentage of what YOU have to those WHO HAVE NOTHING! So, keep tithing everyone!

Somehow I don’t think that this would be considered giving to those who have nothing.

This would be though

My personal experience:

No, you don’t show your income.

You choose net or gross, but my church loved to preach that your blessing would be greater if your tithes were greater. They also kind of discouraged getting the tax break for the donations, though never in so many words.

Tithes were the beginning, not the end, of your giving. If you were going through hard times, you were encouraged to give more, not less so God could increase your blessing.

The tithes were, essentially, the pastor’s paycheck. He paid for the church’s bills with the pass-the-basket offerings and the Faith Promise monthly offering and the building fund.

I was on the ministry staff at one point, and had access to the list of “voting members” – that is, people who tithed at least once a month.

We were a small church, but at one point my pastor was pulling something like 15 times the minimum wage for a full time job. Enough to build a new house, buy a boat and new cars for himself, his wife, and three daughters, and keep them all in bespoke church clothes. This is all while members of his congregation lived in government housing and couldn’t afford Wal-Mart clothes for their kids.

And no, there was no homeless ministry or food pantry or anything else. They did go to Thailand once a year, to visit their tailor…

I say-uh! Do ya wanna net blessing-ah? Or a GROSS blessing-ah? I say-ah! The LAWD says-ah! That your giving-ah! Will be pressed down-ah! Shaken together-ah! And flowing over-ah he will give it back to you-ah! GIVE-ah! Until it hurts-ah! Like JESUS did-ah! On the cross-ah! Hallelujah!

A good friend of mine is Catholic and she and her husband tithe, and probably 10% if I know them (very devoted, devout, etc.).

People also donate land, cars, and whatever else through their estate, passed on when they die.

I understand that the Catholic church is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, landowner in the world.

@Seek
So basically, it is all a scam to part the gullible of their money.

@ragingloli – all religion is that. it’s a self-perpetuating phenomenon. Honestly, religion is the biggest Ponzi scheme in the world.

And the promise of forgiveness in heaven (when it isn’t worth a whole lot, because you’re dead) is the scam of all scams. (I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”)

“They did go to Thailand once a year, to visit their tailor…”
More like to rent an underage ladyboy.

I used to get really disgusted by the money, but then observed how for some people their church is a place that gives them peace, enjoyment, social interaction, and other things. If the church sponsors Easter egg hunts, has a large play ground, schedules family activities, and brings friends together, how is it much different than paying for a meal to meet with friends, or paying taxes for a community center?

@ragingloli – Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me. But I did actually meet the tailor. The pastor the congregation paid to fly him and his whole family here for like a month so he could make a sales pitch to the rest of the group.

Mark 12:41–44

41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

——————
I cannot support a church that would spend its money on a ridiculous statue in a lake.. or a massive set of columns out front. That’s a church I wouldn’t even step foot into.The idolization of money is so ludicrous in this world… even churches fall prey to it. But that’s clearly not what Jesus intended.

Just look at black friday.. the madness is funny for some.. maddening for others.. but for me.. it’s just incredibly sad. It’s just stuff. It’s just plastic and paper and wood and factory made gears.. It isn’t important! Lots of Americans consider themselves poor yet still have cable tv and high speed internet… they consider that 10% as something they can’t sacrifice.. the percentage isn’t even important.. where your heart is at when you give is.

Even sadder still, there are people who think the church is just a place to socialize.. a community building like the ymca.. based on themselves.. not on God.

I don’t know… I’m just glad that this world is not my home.. I’m just passing through.

Here is an interesting video of a pastor explaining over $40,000 in clothing purchases, a $2,840,000 house, and a Bentley and a Range Rover all paid for with church funds, in the name of his “ministry”.

and I’m only half-way through the video.

Oh, wait, just added in the cost to cut his Mercedes into a limo.

@Seek That’s not a pastor. It’s not a church either. He’s as legit as a television evangelist.

It’s terrible when people dress like one without being one. It leads to the superficial impression that pastor’s are like that.

He is a television evangelist.

You can claim he’s not a pastor all you want, but the people funding his criminal enterprise disagree with you.

@Seek is right. My guess is the fed acknowledges him too and he is tax free. Let alone his followers see him as a preacher of the faith.

Obviously my point is lost in this crowd.

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One Which point? That @Seek‘s example isn’t a real preacher. Why not? What makes one legit, and the other not? There is clergy dotted all over the US who are atheists, or don’t believe what they are preaching and just so it as a job. Some are in churches and religions that have been around for a very long time. Mainstream religions. How would you count them?

That’s because No True Scotsman is a logical fallacy, not a “point”, as such.

@whoever I just can’t believe the haughtiness.. I’m sitting here shaking my head…I don’t need this… it’s such a waste…