I have always wondered about the connection between money given in church and that money going to god.....I have always thought of it as one of mankind's greatest scams, but for those who believe in tithing, the following is interesting :)

I found the following article to be interesting:

"Will a man ROB God?" How many untold tens of thousands of men will give account one day for teaching this verse in Malachi 3:8 totally out of context for their own sordid gain. I couldn’t count the times I have heard self-appointed ministers of the gospel berate their congregations and listeners for "robbing God" in tithes and offerings. This verse in Malachi certainly means what it says. Someone was defrauding God of tithes and offerings, but wait until you find out who it is that God blames for this act.

On any given Sunday morning there will be numerous men-of-the-cloth who will be bellowing out over the air waves that people are being "cursed with a curse" because they have failed to pay God ten percent of their paychecks. And should such a gullible listener decide to repent and give God ten percent of his salary, just how would he do that? Just keep reading. These men of the cloth who often have unquenchable worldly desires of the flesh, will be sure to give you an address where you can send them (or, ah, rather God) your tithe. And do they have a right to quote these Scriptures in this manner? No they do not, and furthermore they themselves know better.

SOME SHOCKING TRUTHS ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN TITHING DOCTRINE

Abraham never tithed on his own personal property or livestock.

Jacob wouldn’t tithe until God blessed him first.

Only Levite priests could collect tithes, and there are no Levite priests today.

Only food products from the land were tithable.

Money was never a tithable commodity.

Christian converts were never asked to tithe anything to the Church.

Tithing in the Church first appears centuries after completion of the Bible.


So are Christians Biblically obligated to tithe money ?????, ed :)

I believe there is an obligation to give back, I dont know there is any specific obligation as it pertains to percentage

Tithing is a hoax, without a doubt.

Yet another lie that too many people believe blindly.

Does God really need money to perform a miracle... hell, no

It's not about money, it's about faith, Jesus said, "Freely you have received, freely give,'" in Matthew 10:8.

Money, time, meeting anothers need

I agree.

However, I do believe in charity and giving freely to those in need.

Tithing is not required but Christians should be doing it anyways.Tithing frequently goes to food banks,helping starving children,bills for the church,and world wide ministries.If you are not tithing you are not helping the Christian mission and only putting finical strain on the church.


God does say what you give will be multiplied many times over.This does not mean you should expect to see paychecks coming into your mail box from God every time you tithe but he does reward you I firmly believe that.Christians waste money on everything from beer to speakers.I don't think giving 10% to God is unreasonable.

Good advice for Christians and non-Christians alike.

Thomas 3474 wrote ".I don't think giving 10% to God is unreasonable."
and that really is my question....how does the $$ end up in God's hands ????

I agree with charity and helping people, actually wouldn't more people be helped if the $$ didn't go to religion....buildings, church bank accounts, support the Vatican etc... and just....help people directly ???

Thomas 3474 also wrote "God does say what you give will be multiplied many times over." As you know Joel Osteen makes around 80 million dollars each year conveying this message that God is honor bound and duty bound to return the favor.

Thomas, I appreciate what you wrote and I think it is exemplary for what many would write....

As we non-believers say "just be good for goodness sake"

Jesus said something along the lines of "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me."

Meaning that when you take care of your fellow human beings, you are taking care of God.

Ruth, how did you go from the utterance to what you think it means?

I am very, very curious. There must be a reasonable connection on some level. I wish I knew how you established that connection.

Context has to do with it, no? I never read any of the two bibles, so I am not sure what the context was. So my ignorance, if lifted, would give me insight.

As is, I just sit here, scratching my head, how did Ruth get from A to B?

Yes, context. Jesus was speaking to people about taking care of other people. The poor, the sick, etc. And, he said that "whatever you do to the least of these (meaning the sick, the poor, the children, etc), you do to me." (Jesus being God).

Christians aren't necessarily "obligated" to tithe. Giving money to the poor is a loving action done to help someone in need done out of just that, love. If one is forced to do something, it then isn't out of love. It's out of direst. It may have been food originally. But in this day and age it is more proficient and easier to tithe with money. If we were to tithe with food then the church(s) would have to provide a form of way to store this food which would then need refrigeration. With refrigeration needed that would take a large amount more of electricity, maintenance, and upkeep which would then need money. How else is the church going to receive money if not by people giving it to them? Is the money given to them not tithing the way we do it in this day and age? With just giving money rather then food we need no storage room and it can be used to help in other circumstance outside of just food. It allows help with repairing on housing, clothing, food, other things one may need, ect.

" Giving money to the poor is a loving action done to help someone in need done out of just that, love. "

what does giving money to the church have to do with giving money to the poor?

What does God need with a 'tithe'?

There is not one single church that is god.

But there are many churches that have velvet curtains (costs money), limos to drive 'important' officials (costs money), expensive woods (costs), 'grand' architecture (costs a lot of money), travel agents (costs money), fancy garments (costs money), and many more 'expensive' bits of worldly goods...

At what point does enough get to the 'poor' and 'hungry' that they are adequately served as the Lord would have it?

Tithing is for preachers, not god.

That's only some churches. They will be judged on this action. The tithes are not ment to be used as such. And no the church itself is not God. But what does God have to do with tithe you ask? Our father has instructed us to help those in need, thus tithing to the church and the church will reach out to the community. Weather the church does or doesn't is irrelevant because they are suppose to and again they will be judged on their actions weather they do as they are to or they don't do as they are to.

Only god has the right to decide this: "Judge not, lest ye be so judged." You don't have the right to judge your Christian peers and whether or not they tithe incorrectly.

I never said they will have their judgment by me or any other person. Jesus is the only judge, he will be the one whom will judge us for our actions, thus the fact still remains "they will have their judgment on this action".

I'm only going on memeory here ms. harmony, I believe there is mention of a percentage. I'm thinking in the book of malachi in your bible. i'm sure someone here knows more on the subject.
The LDS (mormon) church does ask for 10& and it is required of them to be 'worthy' to go into their temples, among many other things. If they are behind on their tithing, they can't go to the temple till they get caught up. This is factual...

We all know it doesn't go into Gods hands.But we also know what we are giving in going to be used for Gods will.It will be used first and foremost to keep the lights and heat on in the church,helping the poor,helping the homeless,world wide missionaries,etc.In other words what ever it is going to we can rest assured it is going to a good cause that is biblically correct and something that would make God happy.


The answer to your second question in no it wouldn't.I have a member in my church that was at one time a powerful drug kingpin.He said he had bricks of cash in every room,a endless supply of women,and was snorting cocaine like Al pachino in Scarface.He said his life was totally empty and meaningless.He said only after he gave his life to Christ did he for the first time feel set free and happy.


In reality I think the majority of people would give anything to find inner peace,feel loved no matter who they are or what they have done,be forgiven for their past wrong doings,have true friends and a purpose in life,know where they go when they die,and know that someone is always looking out for them and caring for them.


Money can't do any of that for you but Christianity can.When people lose their father or mother you think giving them a hand full of cash will make them feel better?I don't.But telling them that their mother or father is in paradise where they will never feel sorrow and will never grow old will.


Christianity is the only religion that has millions of people from all walks of life all over the world that can claim it has changed their lives dramatically.From prostitutes,drug addicts,kings and queens,suicide survivors,Atheists,and everyone else you can think of they can tell you that Christianity saved their lives.You will never read "I was suicidal and Atheism saved my life".You will never read "I was in jail shooting a needle in my vain on the verge of a overdose but Buddhism saved my life".


Christianity is also the only religion that can perform healing right before your eyes.Millions of people all over the world are healed from everything from deafness,blindness,paralysis,and other problems.



You and others probably have no idea how much the churches help the world.Churches run probably all the orphanages,pretty sure all the food banks,and probably all the homeless shelters.Churches will give you a place to live if you lose your house,money to pay the rent and bills,and will take care of your children all free of charge.Churches run clinics to get people off of drugs and alcohol,and offer homes to battered and abused women.


Christian ministries feed starving children around the world,send doctors to poor villages for free medical care,build houses and schools,and do many other things with out one penny from our Government or ask for anything in return.No other religion or Government comes close to doing even 1/10th the Christians are doing.During hurricane Katrina the people who said they got the most help was from the churches.



Joel Osteen and others who makes millions are few and far between.The majority of pastors only make a average wage if that.You must remember many people loyal to the church often leave their house and property to the church.So if you have a mega church with 30,000 members that is a lot of money coming in.Is it unreasonable to live the life of a millionaire if you have $60,000,000 coming into your church every year?Not at all.It would seem ridiculous if the pastor of that church was driving up in a pinto and talking in old blue jeans and a white t-shirt.The bible says you reap what you sow.

A middle aged man in Washington state just won the megamillions...he and one other person. It was worth over 300 million. This man got on TV and said that the money belongs to God, it's all going to his church for any needed repairs the church may have.
Seems to me that half of that money (even after taxes) would better serve gods people by feeding them than sitting in a bank waiting for the church to need a new roof.

Yes, we should all give back, can people be forced to share...no.