Congrats - You now have Auto-Tithe
Tithing. I grew up Southern Baptist, so it was a given. My parents were faithful in giving; they made sure my brother and I tithed out of everything. (And I appreciate them for that, and for the example).
Our church up here in NoVA doesn't take an offering, which I think many might say is more Biblical (don't let your left hand know what your right hand does), doesn't pressure someone to give, and lets you give out of your cheerful heart.
Except it's easy to forget. Especially when you're juggling two kids, a car seat, bible, coffee mugs, and coats into the service. And chatting (fellowshipping) with friends. So I seem to get to the end of the year and need to catch up for the past 8-10 months. What to do?
The auto-tithe. Set up an online, recurring payment using the church's easy website. Put a certain amount to be debited from your account weekly, monthly, however you like. You don't have to forget, because it remembers for you.
Except I seem to think you lose the "cheerful giver" part of the whole process when it's simply an online transaction. Where is the recognition of sacrifice (besides looking at your bank statement after the fact)? Where is the decision that this gift takes precedence over a new tv, that piece of software, that nice dinner in Georgetown (that trip to Italy!). I just haven't been convinced.
So for now, Ang is my auto-tithe. Not that I don't want to do it, but I'll likely continue to forget. If nothing else, she'll remind me, or I'll remember to remind her. And I think, sitting in the service during worship, it will tweak my attitude just a little bit to remember whose I am, and who it all belongs to.
2 comments:
Or you could join a church, like mine, that holds that while giving liberally as you are able and according to the needs you see (i.e., both through the church and on your own) is commanded of the believer, tithing (the magic 10%) is an old covenant measure which was not only abrogated, but is restricted enough (covering basically initial growth farm products and nothing else, without allowing deduction for investment costs, even though the economy at the time of the Pentateuch was complex enough that it could have included lots of other stuff) that it isn't a useful measure and should be abandoned in favor of the cheerfulness standard.
Do I have enough parentheticals?
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