Speaking of “paying 10% for the privilege”, one of the things irked me was my dad’s insistence that tithes had to be monetary. Per him, volunteer work didn’t count.
I was roped into running the computer, or doing the sound, for all 5 services Saturday + Sunday, plus practice before hand. 16 hour commitment twice a month.
My day job was only 20 hours/wk back then, so in terms of time, my volunteer work was ~30% of all my work. Yet my dad still insisted I payed 10% of the taxed cash I received…
That was one of many “cuts” in my “death by 1000” for being religious.
Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man … living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money.
The bible never actually mandates giving 10% of your money to anything, much less the church, which didn’t exist. That said, it does say a lot about wealth and how it should be used.
" From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded."
“…The rust of your wealth will be used as evidence against you.”
In fact, a very central theme throughout the Bible is along the lines of, “I told you guys to take care of the poor and needy. You didn’t do that. I’m pretty pissed about it, FYI. So, I’m going to tell you again. Take care of the poor and needy. --Sincerely, God”.
Personally, I think people should be generous with their money. I think Christians, if they believe anything Jesus said, have an obligation to be generous. Our family gives money to our church but our church is highly mission centered and we do what we can to take care of those in our community who have needs.
It’s good to be able to help people but it’s also very sobering because you find out that the needs are enormous.
The fact that a lot of churches have a money furnace in the basement and don’t contribute anything meaningful to the world has earned Christianity some well deserved criticism. But not all churches are like that.
You should be charitable to the extent you are able. No more, no less. And money, time, and talent are all valid ways to do that.
Very true but the person you responded to talked about being forced to give, rather than choosing to either give or not of their own free will. Also, doesn’t it seem likely (by the mention of death by 1000 cuts) that Matthew 23:4-28 could describe the situation?
They pile heavy burdens on people’s shoulders and won’t lift a finger to help. Everything they do is just to show off in front of others.
e.g., the dad could have significantly eased the burden by giving the son the money to then hand over to the church, although ofc none of us will ever know what was going on inside the dude’s head.
Speaking of “paying 10% for the privilege”, one of the things irked me was my dad’s insistence that tithes had to be monetary. Per him, volunteer work didn’t count.
I was roped into running the computer, or doing the sound, for all 5 services Saturday + Sunday, plus practice before hand. 16 hour commitment twice a month.
My day job was only 20 hours/wk back then, so in terms of time, my volunteer work was ~30% of all my work. Yet my dad still insisted I payed 10% of the taxed cash I received…
That was one of many “cuts” in my “death by 1000” for being religious.
The bible never actually mandates giving 10% of your money to anything, much less the church, which didn’t exist. That said, it does say a lot about wealth and how it should be used.
" From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded."
“…The rust of your wealth will be used as evidence against you.”
In fact, a very central theme throughout the Bible is along the lines of, “I told you guys to take care of the poor and needy. You didn’t do that. I’m pretty pissed about it, FYI. So, I’m going to tell you again. Take care of the poor and needy. --Sincerely, God”.
Personally, I think people should be generous with their money. I think Christians, if they believe anything Jesus said, have an obligation to be generous. Our family gives money to our church but our church is highly mission centered and we do what we can to take care of those in our community who have needs. It’s good to be able to help people but it’s also very sobering because you find out that the needs are enormous.
The fact that a lot of churches have a money furnace in the basement and don’t contribute anything meaningful to the world has earned Christianity some well deserved criticism. But not all churches are like that.
You should be charitable to the extent you are able. No more, no less. And money, time, and talent are all valid ways to do that.
Very true but the person you responded to talked about being forced to give, rather than choosing to either give or not of their own free will. Also, doesn’t it seem likely (by the mention of death by 1000 cuts) that Matthew 23:4-28 could describe the situation?
e.g., the dad could have significantly eased the burden by giving the son the money to then hand over to the church, although ofc none of us will ever know what was going on inside the dude’s head.
Time is money