What shouldn't the Church use tithe money for?

[Timothy]

Well? What shouldn't the Church use tithe money for?

Further still - should a Church even allow itself to be in debt?

 

[christundivided]

They shouldn't receive the "tithe" to start with. Its funny how they love to change where the tithe was required to be sent. God never changed it. The last command he gave concerning the tithe..... was to bring it into the "storehouse". We all know exactly what that "storehouse" was.....

Its no longer around. Hasn't been in almost two thousand years. God never said one word about changing where the tithe should be given. Not one word.

Every pastor/teacher that teaches "tithing" to the local church.... is adding to what God said. They pervert the teaching.

It is interesting to note that when the first temple was destroyed, God no longer required the tithe. If he did, then prove it. It wasn't till Nehemiah chapter 10 that the tithe was even mentioned again.

 

[Binaca Chugger]

Gluttony.

 

[Castor Muscular]

Riotous living.  Why not?  The IRS does it. 

 

[Timothy]

Gluttony.

Almost tempts me to ask the question, "Are pot luck dinners appropriate as a Church function?"

or, "Should the local poor be invited to Church pot lucks"

 

[graceandtruth]

Gluttony.

Almost tempts me to ask the question, "Are pot luck dinners appropriate as a Church function?"

or, "Should the local poor be invited to Church pot lucks"

If Christians and churches were fulfilling their obligation to care for the poor EVERY day then an occasional pot luck wouldn't be a problem.  Now caring for the poor every day would require money so how do we finance this?  I know individuals can help but couldn't more be done by pooling our resources like the Christians did in Acts 2 and 4?

 

[christundivided]

Gluttony.

Almost tempts me to ask the question, "Are pot luck dinners appropriate as a Church function?"

or, "Should the local poor be invited to Church pot lucks"

If Christians and churches were fulfilling their obligation to care for the poor EVERY day then an occasional pot luck wouldn't be a problem.  Now caring for the poor every day would require money so how do we finance this?  I know individuals can help but couldn't more be done by pooling our resources like the Christians did in Acts 2 and 4?

If Jesus would come back... we wouldn't be having a discussion on how to spend His money. It must be Jesus's fault.

 

[Timothy]

Gluttony.

Almost tempts me to ask the question, "Are pot luck dinners appropriate as a Church function?"

or, "Should the local poor be invited to Church pot lucks"

If Christians and churches were fulfilling their obligation to care for the poor EVERY day then an occasional pot luck wouldn't be a problem.  Now caring for the poor every day would require money so how do we finance this?  I know individuals can help but couldn't more be done by pooling our resources like the Christians did in Acts 2 and 4?

Being of one mind clearly helped the early Church.

 

[Smellin Coffee]

What shouldn't the Church use tithe money for?

1. Mortgages
2. Building funds
3. Property maintenance
4. Utilities
5. Employee salaries and benefits
6. Most everything the church currently spends money on to make itself self-operating.

Further still - should a Church even allow itself to be in debt?

If the church was not an organization, it probably could not even accrue debt.

Frank Viola in his Reimagining Church gives a statistic from the Barna Group that shows that Americans spend between $9-7 Billion (yes, with a "B") annually just in mortgages and debt.

What would Jesus do with that money? What should we do with that money?

Imagine if all the churches were to use that money to help struggling church families, support foreign missionaries and projects, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, assist the unemployed, give medical support to the elderly and poor who cannot afford medicine, etc.

Imagine if the church actually cared about those who Jesus cared for rather than care about "stuff"...

 

[rsc2a]

Well? What shouldn't the Church use tithe money for?

Rat chili for the fellowship dinner.

 

[graceandtruth]

Gluttony.

Almost tempts me to ask the question, "Are pot luck dinners appropriate as a Church function?"

or, "Should the local poor be invited to Church pot lucks"

If Christians and churches were fulfilling their obligation to care for the poor EVERY day then an occasional pot luck wouldn't be a problem.  Now caring for the poor every day would require money so how do we finance this?  I know individuals can help but couldn't more be done by pooling our resources like the Christians did in Acts 2 and 4?

Being of one mind clearly helped the early Church.

How about quantifying what you mean by one mind and why would that be any different today.

 

[rsc2a]

What shouldn't the Church use tithe money for?

1. Mortgages
2. Building funds
3. Property maintenance
4. Utilities
5. Employee salaries and benefits
6. Most everything the church currently spends money on to make itself self-operating.

These aren't necessarily bad. Some are actually commended in Scripture. (Pointedly ignoring your view of Paul with this last sentence.)

[quote author=Smellin Coffee]Further still - should a Church even allow itself to be in debt?

If the church was not an organization, it probably could not even accrue debt.

Frank Viola in his Reimagining Church gives a statistic from the Barna Group that shows that Americans spend between $9-7 Billion (yes, with a "B") annually just in mortgages and debt.[/quote]

Viola's a bit of a nut when it comes to ecclessiology.

[quote author=Smellin Coffee]What would Jesus do with that money? What should we do with that money?

Imagine if all the churches were to use that money to help struggling church families, support foreign missionaries and projects, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, assist the unemployed, give medical support to the elderly and poor who cannot afford medicine, etc.

Imagine if the church actually cared about those who Jesus cared for rather than care about "stuff"...
[/quote]

Sometimes that "stuff" is used to do what you described above.

 

[graceandtruth]

What shouldn't the Church use tithe money for?

1. Mortgages
2. Building funds
3. Property maintenance
4. Utilities
5. Employee salaries and benefits
6. Most everything the church currently spends money on to make itself self-operating.

These aren't necessarily bad. Some are actually commended in Scripture. (Pointedly ignoring your view of Paul with this last sentence.)

[quote author=Smellin Coffee]Further still - should a Church even allow itself to be in debt?

If the church was not an organization, it probably could not even accrue debt.

Frank Viola in his Reimagining Church gives a statistic from the Barna Group that shows that Americans spend between $9-7 Billion (yes, with a "B") annually just in mortgages and debt.

Viola's a bit of a nut when it comes to ecclessiology.

[quote author=Smellin Coffee]What would Jesus do with that money? What should we do with that money?

Imagine if all the churches were to use that money to help struggling church families, support foreign missionaries and projects, shelter the homeless, feed the hungry, assist the unemployed, give medical support to the elderly and poor who cannot afford medicine, etc.

Imagine if the church actually cared about those who Jesus cared for rather than care about "stuff"...
[/quote]

Sometimes that "stuff" is used to do what you described above.
[/quote]

Yeah........what he said.

 

[Smellin Coffee]

These aren't necessarily bad. Some are actually commended in Scripture. (Pointedly ignoring your view of Paul with this last sentence.)




Viola's a bit of a nut when it comes to ecclessiology.


Possibly. But he does bring up many valid points of consideration (even though most of his argument is Pauline in nature.)

Sometimes that "stuff" is used to do what you described above.

Never said that churches don't. Sometimes it even provides a facility for service. But if you look at ALL the religions in this country with ALL the properties and ALL their stuff, religion has become more about commercialization rather than actually being benevolent, not only to outsiders but those who meet WITHIN their own walls on a weekly basis. IMHO, of course.

 

[Castor Muscular]

The church shouldn't use tithe money to turn the Sunday night worship service into a prostitution ring since most of the people who attend Sunday night are women. 

 

[Ransom]

Well? What shouldn't the Church use tithe money for?

Cocaine?
Prostitution?
Hiring a hit man to whack the unpopular former pastor?

Further still - should a Church even allow itself to be in debt?

Not to Tony Montana, Upgrayedd, or Murder Inc., anyway.

 

[subllibrm]

I guess I am missing the point somehow. Why are buildings bad? Where do all these people meet to plan where they will do all these ministry efforts? Who coordinates these activities and how do we get ahold of them or they us? How does this organic, unmanaged group get anything done? How do we get this single mindedness without a place and a leader?

FWIW it sounds like the silliness of the hippies back in the day.

 

[rsc2a]

I guess I am missing the point somehow. Why are buildings bad? Where do all these people meet to plan where they will do all these ministry efforts? Who coordinates these activities and how do we get ahold of them or they us? How does this organic, unmanaged group get anything done? How do we get this single mindedness without a place and a leader?

FWIW it sounds like the silliness of the hippies back in the day.

The church I am currently attending meets in a school. I know another church that meets at a community center and "gives back" what they would have spent on a building to the community. Their plan is to divide into two services when they get too large for the center then split off and form another church in another community when they start getting too big for that to work.

 

[Timothy]

Gluttony.

Almost tempts me to ask the question, "Are pot luck dinners appropriate as a Church function?"

or, "Should the local poor be invited to Church pot lucks"

If Christians and churches were fulfilling their obligation to care for the poor EVERY day then an occasional pot luck wouldn't be a problem.  Now caring for the poor every day would require money so how do we finance this?  I know individuals can help but couldn't more be done by pooling our resources like the Christians did in Acts 2 and 4?

Being of one mind clearly helped the early Church.

How about quantifying what you mean by one mind and why would that be any different today.

People don't do more "together" because of their differences. I believe the early Church together saw a specific need, agreed on a solution, listened to the Spirit, and did what God asked. Today we see different needs, have multiple solutions, can't agree, confuse flesh with spirit, and divide over doctrinal issues.

 

[Timothy]

I guess I am missing the point somehow. Why are buildings bad? Where do all these people meet to plan where they will do all these ministry efforts? Who coordinates these activities and how do we get ahold of them or they us? How does this organic, unmanaged group get anything done? How do we get this single mindedness without a place and a leader?

FWIW it sounds like the silliness of the hippies back in the day.

The church I am currently attending meets in a school. I know another church that meets at a community center and "gives back" what they would have spent on a building to the community. Their plan is to divide into two services when they get too large for the center then split off and form another church in another community when they start getting too big for that to work.

If a Church does build it should be more like a community center. I like the ones that include a indoor gym for children. I know one local Church that did this, and they are debt free.