Direct Deposit?
January 16th, 2008 by Stuart
I heard some interesting interviews with two pastors who have different views on the tradition of tithing. The tradition has roots in the Old Testament, with the likes of Abraham (Ge 14) and Jacob (Ge 28) giving a tenth of their belongings as offerings of thanks, but the two pastors in the interview have evolved that tradition differently.
One pastor says, “We do encourage giving and believe it’s a command. But we believe that tithing is an Old Testament principle, and we’re not under the Old Testament law anymore, we’re children of grace so we teach grace giving.” He’s got a point: we don’t live according to Old Testament law anymore, and thank goodness! Have you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy recently? So, since we follow the updated example of Jesus and live by God’s grace instead of strict laws, the Old Testament tithing tradition doesn’t necessarily apply anymore. While the pastor recognized the necessity of giving, it just doesn’t need to be a tenth of one’s monetary income. He encourages giving of one’s time, energy, support, and money, but doesn’t follow the “you have to give 10%” rule. Is that a valid interpretation?
The second pastor does stick to the 10% rule. To facilitate it, he’s invented kiosk machines called Secure Give that let people swipe their credit/debit cards to tithe electronically. His reasoning is that most folks don’t carry much cash or checks these days, so kiosks in church foyers let them charge their offerings. He deems the project successful because financial donations have continually increased. When I was a teenager, I heard the phrase, “God is not an ATM machine.” Well I guess he is now, he just only accepts deposits. Is swiping one’s card at a church ATM as ritualistically sacred as the physical handing over of currency/possessions?