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ha! Sunday morning stickup. What an appropriate phrase.
Why do you give 10% to the church?
Is it peer pressure?
When I was in college, I attended a church group for a semester, and my peers were giving money to the church even though they were on student loans and had no jobs.
I gave a few bucks because I ate some of their food
I'm a member, but I don't have any money to spare. The total amount I've dropped in the plate over the past four years is somewhere under $30.
And if I did have money to spare, I would only give it if God prompted me to give it... and if so, in the manner that He prompts me to. Whether that is via the offering plate or through other means is His own affair.
I think the ushers handing out the plates does send the wrong message however
I'm a member, but I don't have any money to spare. The total amount I've dropped in the plate over the past four years is somewhere under $30.
And if I did have money to spare, I would only give it if God prompted me to give it... and if so, in the manner that He prompts me to. Whether that is via the offering plate or through other means is His own affair.
I think the ushers handing out the plates does send the wrong message however
How do you know the deity is prompting you to give?
People are very gullible when it comes to giving money to the church. I wonder how many of the extreme Christian pastors take their cut?
What do you mean take their cut? I get a salary from the church but I also donate back to the church. Am I doing this wrong... should I be just helping myself to some of the week's offering? What about e-giving where it just goes into our account? Get a debit card to withdraw my portion?
If I were a member of any entity that involved outlays of expenses and subsisted purely on the contributions of it's members and took advantage of all it had to offer, I wouldn't be proud of being a freeloader and would contribute what I could monetarily and/or bodily.
If I were a member of any entity that involved outlays of expenses and subsisted purely on the contributions of it's members and took advantage of all it had to offer, I wouldn't be proud of being a freeloader and would contribute what I could monetarily and/or bodily.
I'm a member, but I don't have any money to spare. The total amount I've dropped in the plate over the past four years is somewhere under $30.
And if I did have money to spare, I would only give it if God prompted me to give it... and if so, in the manner that He prompts me to. Whether that is via the offering plate or through other means is His own affair.
I think the ushers handing out the plates does send the wrong message however
I am not a Christian but this is somewhat shameful.
Take God out of it for second and think about audacity of using the facility but not helping the administration run it.
There is a cost associated with expenses to keep the building up and running. The govt or your taxes don't pay the bills faced by the church.
And nobody is asking you to donate in millions - just one dollar per visit is better than nothing.
For those who love their church, the congregation and community and opportunities for service it offers, it is often difficult to understand the thinking of those who partake but decide not to give an "appropriate" amount. We need to remember that that which serves as the foundation of our own decisions in that regard - the personal decision to give of our time, talent and treasure, whether we feel driven to do so by personal discretion or by some kind of supernatural calling to do so - serves also as the foundation of the way others understand and regard their relationship to the church, and they can build on that foundation reasonable perspectives that justify their non-participation, non-contribution, etc. If we insist on assessing their actions based on our perspectives then there is no defense we could legitimately put forward to defend against condemnation of our actions based on someone else's perspectives.
The are logistical and other rational considerations. If a church doesn't have enough money to pay the mortgage, then it won't survive, for example. If this situation comes about because the church was excessive in its avarice for building a palace for worship, then it deserves to fail. If it is reasonable and non-ostentatious in its expenses and still struggles, then a legitimate argument could be made that it is not doing a good enough job prompting people to contribute money. It is a ridiculously indefensible expectation (which seems to underlie some comments I've read) that people who care to give should be sanguine about the obstinate refusal by others who partake to contribute at least some significant amount of what they can afford. While it is unforgivable for a church to turn away or otherwise relegate those less fortunate who cannot afford to give (money), it is not inappropriate for a church to make financial contribution from those who can afford to do so an expectation. The attitude, "If it is so important to you, why don't you pay for it yourself?" on the part of those who are part of the community, is indefensible and worthy of condemnation. Being part of a community means honorably supporting the best interest of the community alongside one's own personal best interest, not allowing one's own personal best interest trump consideration of the community's.
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