Maybe we should break things down in a few forms of giving.
1. User Fees \ Dues
2. Tithes
3. Offerings
I'll cover user fees \ dues first. Let's face it. Many, if not most of us go to a church with a building, usually a rather nice building. These churches usually provide us with various services and ministries and many of us take advantage of the good they do.
I think if anyone attends a church with the nice building and ministry and services and they take advantage of the good they do, then they should at least pay their fair share to help the ministry keep afloat. It's only fair. I wouldn't categorize this giving as 'tithing'. I'd categorize it as reasonable user fees and dues, since many churches kind of act like a club or organization anyways.
Tithing!
Expresso quoted Matthew 23:23 and they said the verse said...
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,[a] but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things"
But I looked at the verse in three translations and here is what I got.
KJV
23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
KJV
23"(
Y)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
NIV
23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
I don't know what version Expresso is using, but Jesus doesn't seem to directly command tithing in my three versions like in his verse. If you're going to say Jesus is commanding anything in these verses, then you better go to your local herb store and get some mint, dill and cumin and put it in the offering basket. Might look good in your pastors wife spice rack.
My two cents. Jesus came to bring the full meaning of the old testament laws. He tells adulterers to not only be faithful to their wives, but to also think pure thoughts. He tells the angry folks to not only refrain from killing, but to NOT think evil in your heart. The same pattern follows for giving. It's not just about giving a 10 percent. It's about something deeper and Paul hit right on it.
2 Corinthians 9
6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
New testament believers look deeper than the surface areas of not committing adultery, not murdering and giving the tithe. New testament believers strive to have a pure heart, have a loving heart and have a giving heart.
Do you have a giving heart? If yes, then you're on the right track.
And really if you have a giving heart, you'll do MORE than tithe, You'll 'sacrifice'.
So where should you give? If you're making use of a nice church building and growing because of its services, it just makes common sense to give your fair share.
7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? 9For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."[
b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned?
10Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?
The people in a church who serve and provide you with things, deserve to get some kinda compensation. It's only fair.
