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    The Tithing “Money-Back Guarantee”

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    For Jan Smith donating to the church always has been a given, but when funds were scarce and paying bills was difficult, she felt giving 10 percent of her income, or tithing, was too steep for her pocketbook.


    "I can remember when my children were little and my husband had just gone into business, and we had four children to feed," Smith said. "I went ahead and gave the money I could."


    To encourage their congregation to tithe a full 10 percent, leaders at Gardendale Baptist Church recently challenged their members, including Smith, to tithe for a three-month period and in return, God would bless them. If not, a full refund would be provided.


    Gardendale, on South Staples Street, is not the first church to offer a tithing challenge. Bay Area Fellowship on South Padre Island Drive also has offered a guaranteed tithing program during the past six years but plans to discontinue the money-back guarantee after one congregation member recently became disgruntled, said Bay Area Fellowship Pastor Bil Cornelius.


    Cheryl Brooks, Bay Area Fellowship member and former employee, said the church owes her a refund of $21,000 for her contributions made during the past three years, the duration of her membership at the church.


    Cornelius said his tithing challenge was only for three months, and the church never promised to return contributions spanning years. Despite the three-month time frame, he did offer Brooks a refund of her 2004 contributions totaling $2,694 to settle the dispute, which Brooks refused.


    At Gardendale, administrative pastor John Gilbert said members accepting the challenge must fill out a commitment form, which acts as a contract requiring them to tithe a full 10 percent for three months. It is not until after the three-month period that one can request a refund.


    Gilbert said the church has such strong faith in God's promise to bestow blessings that they are confident their members will not ask for refunds.


    "God will bless you if you do what he asks you to do," Gilbert said. "At the end of the three months, if they don't feel they've been blessed, and they want their money back, they can have it. What we're trying to do here is not raise money, but what we're trying to do is grow people."


    Texas Christian University religion professor Jim Atwood said that although he is not aware of churches offering money-back guarantees, churches are becoming more creative with their fund-raising efforts.


    "There have been campaigns forever in religions," Atwood said. "One of the things churches are doing is looking for new ways to raise money to fund their ministries because they have more ministries now than in the past. The more services you have, the more money you need."


    Churches have offered variations of tithing challenges with refund guarantees for years, but usually it's always accompanied with a requirement that members also adopt responsible financial principles, said pastor John Smith at First Family Church in Calallen.


    "Most pastors will say if you will take all financial principles into place, then if you're not financially better off, they will refund your money," Smith said.


    Smith, of Gardendale, who now plans to tithe 10 percent, knows that life is never certain, but she said tithing and her faith are constant.


    "I think we grow as a Christian whenever we tithe," Smith said. "That's one of the things God wants you to do, and if you're obedient to him he will bless you."


    Brooks said she will never again donate such a large portion of money to a single organization, but does plan to spread donations among several charities in smaller portions.


    Any thoughts?

    We thought it was a good idea” department… check out this article from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.  It seems that Bay Area Fellowship decided to offer a ‘money back guarantee’ on tithing to show that God WILL bless you when you tithe.  It worked well, until a disgruntled member asked for her $21,000 back!

    Comments

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    1. Keith Duncan on Wed, April 06, 2005

      Give her the money back.  I know you don’t have to, but if she is that dissatisfied with the church and God, then let her get what she thinks she wants. 


      I think church leaders should be careful making promises that they cannot no the result.  God may not want to bless this woman financially in American terms.  He may be wanting her to learn how to depend totally on Him.  Too often American churches use modern Western success as the measurement of Biblical fulfillment.  God has a total worldview and in most of the world, the views about blessings are distorted.

    2. Keith Thompson on Wed, April 06, 2005

      Teach and preach God’s word and the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.  Tithing and offerings will always be a heart issue.  God does not need or want gimics.  If the church is in God’s will and obeying his word, he will provide for the ministries he has called the church to do.  Pastor Keith Thompson, 5-mile Community church, Spokane, WA

    3. Brian on Wed, April 06, 2005

      If the “church membr” wants the money back, she gave it for the wrong reason.  I guess being able to live in a free country, and having a healthy body, and family, and a Bible teaching and preaching church has no value.  Does’nt everything we have belong to God anyway?  He is allowing us to be stewards of 90% of it already.  Also the 10% factor to consider, are we not instructed in the New Testament to give of our increase, not just 10%.  The basic 10% is baby Christian stuff, we should trust God with everything and be willing to give whatever He asks us to give, including our complete selves.  How shallow we can be as humans.

    4. Julie Gibson on Wed, April 06, 2005

      Luke 4:7 “Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (citing Deuteronomy 6:16). 


      Also, Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”


      What matters to God is our hearts.  We should not give to get something in return, or test the promises of God.  We should give because we want to give - and then be amazed and delighted when God blesses us.

    5. bernie dehler on Wed, April 06, 2005

      Anybody who teaches tithing is teaching incorrect theology.  First off, did you know that Jesus never paid a tithe? He was exempt.  Tithing was only done by those in agriculture and livestock.  And the agriculture was only from that grown in Israel.  The Priests also tithed on their 10% they received.  Jesus was not a recognized Priest, in the Jewish system. (Don’t confuse tithing with Jesus paying the Temple Tax.)


      These churches are giving out false promises based on faulty theology, and unfortuantely, most churches perpetuate this based on, primarily, a faulty understanding of Malachi.

      To learn the truth about tithing and what it is, read this book:


      “Should the Church Teach Tithing: A Theologian’s Conclusions About a Taboo Doctrine” by Russell Kelly


      http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0595159788/qid=1112808060/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-5736630-7093557?v=glance&s=books&n=507846


      Church leaders should be teaching “stewardship,” not tithing.  Stewardship is a much higher calling… and it affects all of our life, not just financial…

       

      Here’s a good (short) article on tithing:


      http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=161


      ...Bernie


      http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247

       

    6. Benjamin on Wed, April 06, 2005

      I want to respond to Julie comment about not testing God.  If she would refer to Malachi 3:10 The Lord says to test Him in the area of tithing and to see the results that He will give and if He doesn’t He gives a list of things He will do.  One of the main problems that we have in our churches today is we keep asking for peoples money instead of showing them through God’s word what He says He will do if we are faithful to Him.

    7. Todd Rhoades on Wed, April 06, 2005

      I believe you’ve mentioned that here before Bernie.  Thanks.


      Todd

    8. Craig Loving on Wed, April 06, 2005

      The idea of a “money back guarantee” suggests that it isn’t the church member who doesn’t understand biblical stewardship, but the church and its leadership.


      Nowhere in the Malachi passage encouraging people to “test” God in the tithe is there a suggestion that if God’s promise “doesn’t work” that the tither can claim a refund. Somehow the idea sounds like an echo of Medieval indulgences: God’s blessings are for sale.  The price is the tithe.

    9. Benjamin on Wed, April 06, 2005

      You are correct about not being able to claim a refund, but He does promise that if you give it to Him faithfully and you don’t recieve the blessing that He will rebuke the devourer and pour out a blessing on you. (Malachi 3:10-12) It isn’t all about a refund it is about faithfulness and the ability to get beyond the theogical jargon and move on to seeing the work of the Lord done and His will carried out.

    10. Jade on Wed, April 06, 2005

      I grew up in a church that did this every year.  We never had a problem.  I always wondered if someday somebody would actually ask for the money back.  I know I probably will never issue this challenge.  Thanks for the input.

      Money is such a touchy subject.  Maybe that is why it is talked about so much in the Bible.

       

    11. bernie dehler on Wed, April 06, 2005

      Craig wrote:


      “Somehow the idea sounds like an echo of Medieval indulgences: God’s blessings are for sale. The price is the tithe.”


      If only it was that bad…  It’s actually much worse and sinister—now it’s give-to-get, the way to riches.  Indulgences were just to get one out of Pergatory, now they are teaching that tithing is the way to material wealth.  They are teaching that it is God’s will that we be rich, financially.

      And the saddest thing… the church at large seems to be buying into it.  The Church of Laodicia (Revelation 3:14-22)…


      ...Bernie


      http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/247

       

    12. Perry on Wed, April 06, 2005

      I have always found it incredibly interesting as a pastor to see that the people who seem to be most consistenly opposed to tithing are para church organizations.  They always seem to teach “giving” & seem to support that the believer needs to give wherever…and I am almost sure they would have no problem with a person dropping 10% of their income on them, and would never dare tell them that giving 10% was not necessary. 

      This is a debate that has existed for generations.  I say go to Scripture, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. 


      Someone said earlier that Jesus never tithed, let me point out that is an assumption.  You might say that because there is no record of that in Scripture…


      BUT…there is no reference to Jesus doing a lot of things in Scripture.  Just because Scripture is silent on the issue does not mean Jesus didn’t do it. 

       

      Just my opinion!

       

    13. bernie dehler on Wed, April 06, 2005

      Perry said:


      “This is a debate that has existed for generations. I say go to Scripture, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.”


      Exactly my point.  Go to Scripture and understand it.  The people who know the Scripture best, Seminary Professors, can instruct you correctly about how inappropriate it is to claim that Christians should tithe.  You have to understand, in context, what the tithe actually is.  You can’t fulfill the law if you don’t know what it means.  On tithe teaching, it’s amazing to note how ignorant it is from most pulpits.  It’s only gotten much worse from the “name-it-and-claim-it” folks. You need to read commentaries, but not from those of the “health & wealth” gospel ilk, who are polluting the gospel.

      The ironic thing is, if churches would teach stewardship rather than tithing, they would likely get more activity (financially, etc.).  That’s God’s blessing.


      Just my 2 cents. (It has nothing to do with being in a parachurch org, but rather from theology.)


      ...Bernie


      http://freegoodnews.blogspot.com

       

    14. Daniel Zepeda on Wed, April 06, 2005

      Christ came and set us free from the law. As Christians, we are no longer under the law but have become children of grace. The tithe is always presented wrongfully in that we must give to be blest. Truly, a crime against the body of Christ and one that many will answer to at the judgment seat of Christ. The moment I accepted Christ as my savior and Lord I became a joint heir with Christ which made available to me everything my Father has. Jesus said all that my Father has is mine. Lets us think deeply on what it means to be a joint heir with Jesus Christ. We have nothing in this life that was not given to us including the air we breath.


      The tithe in many cases is used to place guilt on the children of God whom Christ came to free from the curse of the law. Stewardship is always far superior to tithing in that the tithe works through the law and stewardship through love. We are blest when we give, but our giving should be based on our love of the Father and not greed.

    15. RLHand on Wed, April 06, 2005

      I must say that we sure do like to dodge this by saying “Law, Law, Law” and that Christ came to abolish the law. Remeber the first commandment? Did He come to get rid of that as well? Just because it is in the law doesn’t mean we are excused from its principles and teachings. Further, we need to think in terms of what the tithe is. It isn’t just about our money. It was initiated in a time of grace long before the law (see Abraham), God spelled it out in the law and in several places throughout scripture including the New Testament. This is not an offering or a gift, that tithe belongs to God, it is holy and He just wants to see if we will give it with joy. It represents a right heart toward all He gives us everyday. I love those that say “teach stewardship” and not the tithe, how can you do that??? Christ knew the law that notes that the tithe belongs to God and when He said give to Caesar the things that are his and to God the things that are His, do you think He forgot? We all tithe, W.A. Criswell notes, “some of us bring it to the storehouse, and God collects it from the rest.” Christ did come to set us free from the curse of the law, but the holiness of God did not change nor did His ultimate desire for us to recognize Him in our finances, after all they are all His anyway. Here is my challenge, do it your way and see what God does for you, or do it His way and see. We can argue till we die and the fact is that we will still die without ever coming close to paying the debt we owe Him. Let us not guilt those into giving what they cannot do joyfully, let us rather make sure in our own heart that we have brought our gifts in worship of our King. And let us make sure that they are worthy of that worship. David even said that he would not offer anything to God that cost him nothing. This whole money back thing is a gimmik to get people to do what they should be doing anyway. If the church of today will remind people that they are filthy sinners destined for eternal hell and that God secured a place in His eternal presence for them through the sacrifice of His own Son, then let them figure out how much they owe, I trust it would be plenty.  Just my take.

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