The other day I found myself in a conversation with my boss about tithing, or not....
I made the comment that we (my wife and I) do not turn in our tithes with our taxes. I base this on the fact that 1 God is not a "Charitable Organization" - it's His money anyway, 2 if I get a tax break (return) on what I gave then God did not actually get from us the amount that we intended to give and 3 Churches don't pay tax. I am taxed and I tithe based on what I make per year (Gross Income). If I get a tax cut on what I give then I didn't actually give based on what I make. This is just how I feel about this situation.
After about 3 minutes of conversation our whole office had chimed in with their opinion on how I am either right or how I am wrong to think this way. Either way people seem to be drawn to this topic. I can't imagine why??? MONEY???
Any Biblical precedent that anyone can offer as to why I am or am not right on this situation would be appreciated greatly.
I will update this post on the front page with all of your answers. THANKS!
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benjaminh said...
Wow Matt....I've never thought of it that way. How about this....If you did claim your tithes on your taxes and gave back (to God) any "tax break/return" that you may have received for claiming that then effectively God would receive all your tithe plus some of the governments money (because they would have kept it anyway). I think that is awesome....there are some Christian hating liberals out there would definitely not like that.
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Jeff Daniel said...
Whoa, I'm in the same boat as Ben...I've never given any thought to am I wrong to use tithes as a write off either. My first thought is that I've never had any conviction about turning it in (but thanks to you I might now!!!!!!!!) I'm not sure it could be defended biblically in favor of or against, at least not directly. The most direct instruction is to "give from the firstfruits" (which I translate to "gross income") I would say that any reason given as justification to use tithes as a write-off would be born from disobedience from a person who probably doesn't tithe to begin with. It's a spiritual/obedience issue, not a practical financial question. I put it in the category of personal conviction?...someone might be completely obedient to God by giving a strict 10%, while another feels led to give more. So forfeiting the increased gain in tax return could be justified as obedience to your conviction from God. Good topic!
Whoa, I'm in the same boat as Ben...I've never given any thought to am I wrong to use tithes as a write off either. My first thought is that I've never had any conviction about turning it in (but thanks to you I might now!!!!!!!!) I'm not sure it could be defended biblically in favor of or against, at least not directly. The most direct instruction is to "give from the firstfruits" (which I translate to "gross income") I would say that any reason given as justification to use tithes as a write-off would be born from disobedience from a person who probably doesn't tithe to begin with. It's a spiritual/obedience issue, not a practical financial question. I put it in the category of personal conviction?...someone might be completely obedient to God by giving a strict 10%, while another feels led to give more. So forfeiting the increased gain in tax return could be justified as obedience to your conviction from God. Good topic!
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2 comments:
Wow Matt....I've never thought of it that way. How about this....If you did claim your tithes on your taxes and gave back (to God) any "tax break/return" that you may have received for claiming that then effectively God would receive all your tithe plus some of the governments money (because they would have kept it anyway). I think that is awesome....there are some Christian hating liberals out there would definitely not like that. Ben
Whoa, I'm in the same boat as Ben...I've never given any thought to am I wrong to use tithes as a write off either. My first thought is that I've never had any conviction about turning it in (but thanks to you I might now!!!!!!!!) I'm not sure it could be defended biblically in favor of or against, at least not directly. The most direct instruction is to "give from the firstfruits" (which I translate to "gross income") I would say that any reason given as justification to use tithes as a write-off would be born from disobedience from a person who probably doesn't tithe to begin with. It's a spiritual/obedience issue, not a practical financial question. I put it in the category of personal conviction?...someone might be completely obedient to God by giving a strict 10%, while another feels led to give more. So forfeiting the increased gain in tax return could be justified as obedience to your conviction from God. Good topic!
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