My friend said it would be wrong to use our church's projector for my block party's movie night.  I can't afford to rent one, and I DO pay into the collection basket, so don't I own a share of this projector anyway?  It isn't stealing because it's kind of mine.  I know it is wrong to offend my friend's conscience, so I will make sure he doesn't know.  I'll take good care of it.  If he does happen to find out, what verse can I point to, so he sees reason?

Sincerely,
Host With The Most

Dear Host With The Most,

It would be hard to give you a verse to show your friend he is wrong because he is right.  The moment you place your money in the collection plate, it is no longer your money.  You are setting the money aside and taking up a collection to further God’s work (1 Cor 16:2).  That money is a gift that you are giving back to God, not an investment in future entertainment plans.  By your logic, the preacher’s car, home, clothes, etc. are also “kind of” yours.  Maybe you can drive his car (which is paid for from the collection plate) on Tuesdays at three o’clock, and others can use it at various times convenient to them… kind of like a timeshare.

The point is that our offerings to God should be gifts, and we should be cheerful givers (2 Cor 9:7).  Once you give the gift, it belongs to the church, and the church has very specific rules that govern its use of money (see “Blow Out The Candles” for further details on the specific responsibilities of the church).  So go ahead and avoid offending your friend’s conscience by leaving the projector where it is.

In answer to a previous question, you said: "The church’s work should be simple. The church of the first century wasn’t involved in every community and political arena. Their work was focused on three things – caring for needy christians (Acts 4:34), preaching to the lost, and teaching the saved (Acts 15:35)."

My church wants to sponsor a speaker to speak (it’s a lecture, not preaching) inside of our church building.  We would charge an entrance fee (or ask for a certain donation) and would pay the speaker for his time, accommodations, and travel expenses.  My conscious is deeply violated by this idea, and I believe it is unethical to have this forum in the church building itself - I don't mind if it is in a convention center or hotel or other location.  I will not be attending this lecture, but I feel like if my church does host this speaker, I can't go there and support them without violating my conscience.  What are your thoughts on this?

Sincerely, Conscientious Objector

Dear Conscientious Objector,

A church doing this doesn’t just violate your conscience; it violates God’s laws. The church of the first century wasn’t interested in the things of this world, nor was it involved in furthering secular education and studies. Jesus even said that His kingdom, the church, was not of this world (Jhn 18:36). The church and any teaching it does should impart spiritual guidance to people (Rom 15:27). This trend of congregations getting wrapped up in earthly knowledge, politics, etc. is indeed unethical.

Furthermore, the congregation is using this speaker as a fundraiser! The Bible only provides one way for the church to garner funds – with a collection made every Sunday from amongst its own members (1 Cor 16:1). Bake sales, entrance fees, garage sales, etc. are not Biblical ways for the church to acquire money. Far too often, churches have gotten so wrapped up in how to bring in more money that they are perpetually holding their hand out, begging, demanding, and selling themselves to increase their finances. “Mega-churches” and televangelists are just an extreme form of the epidemic that is sweeping through religion. Instead of giving the gospel away for free, they are selling it to the highest bidder! Simon was swiftly rebuked for this attitude (Acts 8:20), and any church today that tries to “drum up” funds rather than trust the faithful contribution of its members each Lord’s day should be rebuked just as harshly.

This congregation has a serious problem and has made an obvious decision to disregard some of the most basic teachings on the church; you are right to be upset with them. AskYourPreacher recommends that you ask your preacher where he gets the authority for the choices they are making and then swiftly leave unless they change their ways (see “Finding A Church” for help where to go if things don’t improve).

My boyfriend says that pastors are wrong when they say, “Give 10% in tithes."  He says that the Bible says 1/10^th. His argument: the dictionary defines ‘one tenth’ as ‘one part of ten’, and ‘10%’ is defined as ‘10 parts per hundred’, thus meaning that 1/10^th is actually smaller. So in all actuality, we should only give:

1cent, $1, $10, $100, etc. (not) 2 cents, $1.54, $12.25, $149, etc.

What he does is if he makes $487.00, he'll put $40.00 into his tithe envelope and another $10.00 into the offering plate going over the 10% anyway. When I ask why argue when you put in over the percentage anyways, he says it's not about the money; the preachers may or may not know the difference, but he does, and it's about facts. Is this true?

Sincerely, By The Numbers

Dear By The Numbers,

Your boyfriend is missing the point and using a modern definition for an ancient word. If I understand your boyfriend’s argument (and I’m not sure I do) it revolves around rounding numbers and an American dictionary. His point is that there is a difference between 1 part per ten and ten parts per hundred. This may be true in certain chemistry and technical applications, but it is not true in the normal usage of 1/10^th. Tithe does mean 1/10^th. It is a fraction. Ask any math teacher how to find 1/10^th of something, and they will tell you to divide by ten. The Old Testament doesn’t use an American dictionary for its word definitions, so the parts per hundred and parts per ten argument doesn’t hold water.

Having said all of that, tithing is an Old Testament Jewish practice, not a command for New Testament christians. Your boyfriend and your pastor are arguing about something that doesn’t even apply to christians! See this post for more details about tithing, and see this post for details about finding a faithful church. Though 10% is a good ‘rule of thumb’ for how much to give, the Biblical commandment for christians is to ‘give cheerfully’ and as you have ‘purposed in your heart’ (2 Cor 9:7)... which it sounds like your boyfriend has been doing. If the leadership of your church doesn’t understand the difference between Old Testament and New Testament teachings – they probably aren’t paying very close attention to their Bibles.

I tithe, but at the end of the service, should the leader go on and on, scripture after scripture, telling you that you are cursed with a curse if you don’t give tithes and offerings? Badgering people about this I feel is wrong, and I have an uneasy feeling about this the more I hear it. We are supposed to give out of love and with a cheerful heart. Is it wrong to hold this offering over the congregation’s head and to use Scripture to justify it? What happens if I don’t have the money to tithe? Am I going to be not as blessed as the rest of the congregation? I do believe God wants us to be blessed and prosper, but what about the people who are struggling and not prospering? Does that mean their faith is weak? I’m really troubled by doctrines and people’s perceptions of how we are supposed to be overflowing with prosperity and people are supposed to see that we are more prosperous than the worldly/secular people. Does God really want our bank accounts full when all of it is going to perish anyways? I would like to know if prosperity is truly what Jesus taught and what He emphasized.

Sincerely, Too Much Money Talk

Dear Too Much Money Talk,

Christians don’t tithe; Jews do. Christians also don’t have any guarantees of financial prosperity. Faithfulness doesn’t guarantee financial success. If that was the case, why did Paul end up in prison (Acts 16:37)? Why did Jesus say that He didn’t have anywhere to lay His head (Matt 8:20)? The most faithful people often suffer the most for the gospel. In fact, Christians are guaranteed to suffer for Christ’s church (Acts 14:22). If anything, prosperity is often a hindrance to faithfulness (Lk 18:24).

Tithing is an Old Testament command to the Jews (Deu 14:22). ‘Tithe’ means ‘to give 10%’. Christians are never told to tithe in the New Testament. We are told to be ‘cheerful givers’ (2 Cor 9:7). We are also told to ‘lay by in store’ and plan ahead before we give (1 Cor 16:1-2). We are never told a specific amount that we are supposed to give. Having said that, I think 10% is a good starting point for giving. Don’t let anyone badger you with the “You Have to Tithe” argument, though. Unless you are a Jew, you aren’t bound by the 10% rule.

It sounds like the church you attend teaches something called “The Prosperity Gospel”. The “Prosperity Gospel” is a false teaching that says if you serve God, you will have financial success; if you don’t, you will have financial failure. This is completely false. Job was the most faithful man on the planet in his day (Job 1:8), and he suffered more financial loss than anyone before or since. If the congregation you attend is teaching that… run. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15) who are teaching that Jesus cares more about money than He does about souls.

     The first lady (the title for our pastor’s wife) sent out an e-mail to the leaders of the church containing a grocery, toiletry, and cleaning supply list which details the first family's needs for the month of November.  The leaders passed out the list to the entire congregation last Sunday.  They want everyone in the congregation to contribute to all fifteen items each week.  There are fifteen items on the list for week one, fifteen items for week two, and fifteen items for week three.  On week four, they are asking for a monetary donation of at least ten dollars from each member.  We have one hundred members.  Should we comply with this list?  The pastor and his wife are well-off.  They have three luxury cars and a four-bedroom house with a two-car garage… while most of the people in the congregation, including myself, can’t afford food and have to go to the food bank each month.  They told us that 100% of the items will go to the first family and that God will bless us for doing so. Please advise.

Sincerely,
Church Mouse

Dear Church Mouse,

We get buckets of questions from people asking for help because every church they find seems to only care about money… it’s horrid what people have done in the name of religion.  Unfortunately, there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl 1:9).  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the same greedy behavior (Lk 20:46-47).

In the end, you want to be a Christian – not a Baptist, Methodist, Calvinist, Lutheran, etc.  Baptist churches only make Baptists, Methodist churches only make Methodists, and so on.  You need to find a church that belongs to Christ, not men.  This “first family” has warped and twisted the Scriptures to make religion all about them… and not about God.  Such people have a very strict judgment awaiting them (Jas 3:1).  We would be happy to help you find a faithful church that will teach the Bible and leave all the manmade garbage out.  E-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org if you would like help finding a peaceful, faithful, and godly church to attend in your area.