Should struggling families tithe?

[GaryArnold]

They are tithing in my book. Anything you do and not get paid for is tithing because you do it so God can spend time watching over his other children. Believe it or not, God is a lot busier than we are willing to admit. If we mortal stop abusing his time and love by stop saying "God Bless You" everying someone sneeze or cough, maybe 9/11 wouldn't happen and tsunami would be nothing more than a surfer's wet dream.

You need to look up the word tithe in the dictionary.

A tithe is a TENTH PART, or a TENTH.

You are confusing tithing with giving.

[scfr]

You might as well ask a question like "Should families that are struggling financially keep their pets?" or "Should couples that are struggling financially get pregnant?" This is one of those questions on which there will never be consensus.

[disneysteve]

Says who? Some loan officer?

$1,400 a month mortgage payment out of an income of $5,000 is very reasonable.

Actually, for someone making $5,000 a month, I would expect their mortgage payment to be much higher than $1,400 a month.

I agree with you that $1,400 is reasonable on $5,000 income - that is 28% which is exactly what the mortgage lending limit has been for years (until the recent lending fiasco).

I certainly disagree that it would be okay to be "much higher" than that.

[abbottt579]

My pastor is broke like the rest of us.

My pastor is lucky to make more than $10,000 a year as a full-time pastor working around the clock all week. We have a pretty modest area we rent from the local community center. Lots of people attend in tight just plenty and it actually makes a difference in the community by funding several Outreach programs and mission trips. My church is always ready to help the poor and the needy. And on a separate note I've also attended what you would call a super Church. Even though their infrastructure is huge they service easily 1 thousand or more people at any given service date. And this church actually passes around a collection plate and tells anyone who is really struggling and in need to go ahead and grab some cash out of it if they need it. First time I've ever heard anyone say that. My Philosophy is to tithe what you can But be sure to actually tithe in your day-to-day life with small donations or acts of charity to anyone you run into that needs it.

[TexasHusker]

If you are going to follow the Old Testament tithing to the letter of the law, it is actually 23.3 percent of crops. So get out there and start raising some.

The tithe was instituted by God's chosen people, the Israelites, as a means of taxation. You gave 10 percent each year to support the clergy, 10 percent each year to support the widows and the orphans, and 10 percent every third year to help pay for special festival and holiday celebrations.

That's 23.3%.

If folks are desiring to tithe, I think that is great. I would simply advise them to study the origin, purpose, and amount of the tithe.

[disneysteve]

Since a new poster dredged up a 6-year-old thread, I'm going to go ahead and lock it.