NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Can Time Replace Money for Tithes?

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Time Tithe: 10% of your work week served in specified areas at predetermined times consistently.

Anyone Can And Should
Give Their Time To God
Should We Consider It A Tithe

A person’s time can qualify as their tithe but under what conditions? Can anyone do this? Would all time-served qualify?

Just off the top of my head, I came up with a few thoughts on the matter. You be the judge but keep this in mind. For time to qualify as a tithe, it must add value to the organization.

Churches are not aimless. God commissioned them to do many good things in this world and, large or small, they need some kind of structure to get the job done. Tithe money is the resource for funding the effort so if time and service are to qualify as a tithe then following are some possible ideas for gauging the effectiveness of a person’s time.

It doesn’t have to be overly rigid but a few guidelines to keep in mind are:

  • Serve the same amount of time regularly.
  • Serve in a pre appointed time slot or at lease one that coordinates with the church schedule.
  • Serve in a capacity you can handle.
  • Serve reliably.
  • Serve cooperatively and under the direction of the organization.
  • Provide a useful service.

Tithing For Today: Why Tithing Is Good For Everyone In Every EraSounds like an employment contract and it should. Giving your time as a tithe instead of money should work very much like a job. Employees work at a designated time and perform specified functions for which they are paid, usually by the hour.

Not showing up on time or performing poorly can be more hurtful than helpful, just like a job.

The time you serve in church shouldn’t be treated any less significantly than any other employment. It is important. It needs to add value.

THINK!AboutIt?

Be A Chopstick Not A Chop

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Church Equals Individual Efforts Combined and Well Coordinated

What Do Churches and Chopsticks
Have In Common

We recently had “Chopstick” Sunday at church. The title of the sermon was “Be A Chopstick Not A Chop” and the message was quite simple.

Instead of being just an individual attending church, each person should aim more and more toward becoming a collective part of the whole.

The word Church, after all, is a collective noun. It refers to one entity but is made up of many parts working in unison – church members – and chopsticks illustrate what that looks like in practice.

You could say the word hand is also a collective noun. It is one appendage on your body but it has several parts – digits – that work well together to do many complex things, like hold and use chopsticks. Easier said than done.

Chopsticks are very simple gadgets but aren’t so easy to use. They enable a person to eat food one-handedly but it takes more than just chopsticks to accomplish this. It requires the synchronized effort of at least four fingers coordinated enough to perform the task.

Each finger has a different part to play and must practice to get the movements correct. The skill to grip a piece of food with chopsticks and transport it without incident from plate to mouth doesn’t come naturally. It requires each part to perform a different function separately but in unison to accomplish this goal.

I’m not sure why anyone would want to eat food one-handedly but they do and chopsticks in a deft hand make that happen. The point is, like chopsticks, the church involves many different parts working together, with coordination, to accomplish whatever goal they visualize.

And just like chopsticks, it takes practice to get it right. This is important because in a word, the best way to describe a human being is: limited. We are not stand-alone entities. For any individual to accomplish any notable thing, others must do their part. Therefore, the philosophy is: [Read more…] about Be A Chopstick Not A Chop

“Home” In Perspective

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Institutions Stabilize Society

Following are a few thoughts I threw together for a group discussion on the topic of the “Home.” The intention was to see the home in perspective, relative to other important institutions.

So the discussion began with:

The Home is one of three primary institutions

An institution is any organization or structure in society which influences or regulates human behavior or encourages social interaction. There are two categories: primary and secondary.

Primary Institution

A Primary Institution is an organization that…

  • Is designed and created by God
  • Derives its authority to exist from God
  • Is sustained by God
  • Is regulated by God

The three primary institutions are: [Read more…] about “Home” In Perspective

Must Tithes Be Given Only To Church?

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Tithing expresses devotion and meets needs.

Good Question
Deserves Thoughtful Answer

Recently on Yahoo Answers a person (we’ll call him Jerry) submitted a question about tithing:

“Does money I tithe have to be given to the church?”

The reason for the question had nothing to do with selfishness, materialism or bad financial management. His question was motivated by generosity.

The church Jerry attends was preparing to send kids to camp and there were a couple of kids who couldn’t afford to go. Diverting Jerry’s tithe to this need for three months would cover the expense and he wondered if that was legit. Would that still qualify as “tithing?”

He also made it clear that he wasn’t questioning the rationale behind tithing (devoting ten percent of your income to God). In fact, he specified that only people who believed in tithing should respond and he further qualified by requesting only “respectful” answers. I almost laughed at the request. Having been scorched a few times by anti-tithers I wanted to put on a flack jacket before reading some of the responses. He had obviously faced a few also.

And sure enough one anti-tithing respondent spewed the venom we have come to expect: calling names, restating old arguments and generally abusing those who disagree. I wont’ waste time responding.

The truth is, this is a good question. It speaks to one particular issue about tithing, “where are tithes to be offered” and it deserves a thoughtful answer.

To be clear the question here is not, should I give tithes to my church but rather must I give all my tithes only to my church. That is an important clarification. Even anti-tithing folks give money to the church they attend.

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Some tithers, however, do argue that every cent of the tithe belongs to the church and they usually refer to this practice as “storehouse tithing.” The argument is based mostly on one passage, Malachi 3:10 which literally says…

“Bring all the tithe into the storehouse…”

Storehouse Tithing

Tithers equate the storehouse in the Old Testament, the Temple, with the church in the New Testament. Anti-tithers debate this, suggesting that tithing was rescinded in the New Testament.

Both ideas can be debated. [Read more…] about Must Tithes Be Given Only To Church?

Church: Building, Crowd or Team?

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“Church” as defined in the Bible is not a complex organization. The leadership are few (elders and deacons), its purposes are defined very broadly (preach the gospel, disciple believers, minister to the poor) and the executive processes are abbreviated (whatever you agree to on earth, God agrees to in heaven).

Under these general guidelines many different “versions” of church have developed none of which represent the New Testament pattern exactly. I wouldn’t accuse any particular “church” of being completely wrong but it might be fair to suggest that we have all missed the point to some degree.

If we are going to get “church” right we must consider carefully the words and actions of Jesus. He introduced the idea so He sets all the precedents. Understanding “church” from His perspective should be our primary objective. So, the question is, what did Jesus say and do? [Read more…] about Church: Building, Crowd or Team?