10% Tithes -- who really gets what (read details)?

Question

Imagine that I tithe and that I just made US$100.

I tithe $10 of it.

The church gives this to a homeless person who, in gratitude to God (so much for my hard earned money...), tithes 10% of it back, or US$1.

They put this $1 to charitable work. A tithe of US$0.10 is paid on it.

They put that dime to work. A tithe of a penny is paid on it.

Ultimately, the church ends up with... surprise surprise... NOTHING. (that is to say, the limit of 0.1 ^ x as x approaches infinity is 0)

Can anyone tell me why I should tithe to the Church instead of walking down the street and handing the $10 directly to the homeless guy I pass on my way to work then?

The church ends up with the same amount, in the end, and the homeless guy has $10 instead of $9.

SeeTheLight:

I don't tithe at all, I'm not a Christian or even a theist. For me the question is purely one of mathematics and morality, not one of religion.

Acid_Zebra:

The vatican wealth argument doesn't hold water in the slightest, but as that's irrelevant to the immediate conversation, so email me if you'd like to know why I feel that way.

Answer 1

That is why I believe when a person gives charity, tithes, tzedukah. Or what ever you want to call it.

They should give it to any charitable organization or individual they wish.

Their should be no hard and fast rule that it should only go to the Church/Synagogue/Mosque that you belong to.

Give where you think it will do the most good and where you want the money to go.That will encourage you to give more and keep on giving.

Answer 2

If your only person is to get $10 into the hands of the homeless person, you are absolutely right. Some organizations, instead of putting $10 into the hands of the homeless person, administrate it in a way that might be more helpful to the person.
You might prefer to give it to that organization. In any case, no matter how the money gets to the homeless person, whether directly from you, from a charitable organization, or from a church, he will not have to give $1 to the government, since he is not earning enough to be taxed.
Why give to the church?
If you don't believe in the ministry of the church, then there is absolutely no point. If, however, you are a believer in the Gospel, and in the ministry of the Christian church, then you want to support that ministry: its pastors, missionaries, buildings, teaching materials, and charitable works. No sense at all if you don't believe; all the sense in the world if you do.
EDIT:
The preferable practise for a believer would be to tithe to his local church (on the condition he can have some say in how the church budget is managed), ad over and above that, to give generously to the needy.
In North America most of us who are using this YA page are really quite wealthy, compared to the rest of the world.

Answer 3

Tithing/offering isn't, per se, giving to the church, although it does end up in a church.

Offering/tithing is just a way to remind us that God comes first in our lives.
That we acknowledge everything that we have is from God, and that we are giving back to God, what God gave us in the first place.
You might be saying, God doesn't need our physical and material gifts, which is true, but by offering 10% of what we earn, we are just reminding ourselves that God comes first in our lives and not money and our material possessions.

Technically, you wouldn't have to give the church your tithe.
However, if the church does it job, a church should provide you with love, support, a safe place, and help you in your walk in life. Why not support the family that helps you..?

I don't know what i said, if it doesn't make sense, please ignore.

Answer 4

Well, you don't have to give to your Church. You can be a one-man show if you want, but it will be expensive.

I think if there is strength in numbers, then there is also strength in donating collectively as a body of Christ.

You can send supplies to missionaries that you support, have a kindness bank, stock the Pantry with food for those who need a little help between paydays, send youths to camp who would otherwise not be able to go, send a team with supplies to a place(s) that has recently experienced a disaster, supply bibles for jail ministry, etc.

The more money you collect, the more you can serve. You just need to be sure the money is used for these things.

Answer 5

It does not work that way. If you do not want to support your church, then don't. If you give your 10 dollars to the homeless, that is fine.

But I can tell you that you will do much better with 90% of your income with God's blessings than 100% of your income of your own.

If you tithe, you can deduct it on taxes and if you give that tax credit back to the good deeds, you can do more with you 10%.

My church teaches 10-10-80 plan. Give to the church 10%, save for yourself 10% and live wisely with the rest of the 80%. Our church also asks us to give above tithing, that is called the offering. Tithing is the only spiritual obedience that you cannot fake. : )

It is all Gods money anyway, He just asks you to give a little bit back for the kingdom purposes. : )

PS: Take the ' you' as general 'one' : )

Answer 6

It is GOD command that we must give something to the church. Remember what he said, give what to ceacar is to ceasar and give to GOD is to GOD.
If you want to give some more out of thaat gave from church and give it to the homeless you can do that. However, you can not steal from what you need to give from the church.

Answer 7

Except, given the wealth and size of the organised churches, they didn't exactly give it away now did they? Or did that Vatican art collection magically poof into existence? (I'm not specifically picking on the catholics, just one example of many)

Answer 8

I can give you a good reason to give your money to the homeless man. If you give it to him, he may use it to buy food. He might also buy booze but that's beside the point. If you give it to a church, they will use it to build a bigger, fancier church.

Answer 9

Our church gives us a monthly expense report. On the first Sunday of the month our money goes to missons.

Answer 10

Once it leaves your hands it is no longer your concern. Those who are stewards over the tithe are responsible for it.