Gross vs. Net: Thoughts on tithing
The question came up years ago whether as Christians we should tithe out of the gross or the net pay. The “conservative” bunch wants us to all think that you take 10% of the gross and the government just does whatever about their part. Well pay wasn’t handled the way we do now when Jesus was in the flesh. Trust me. They weren’t taking taxes out when people sold things or got their pay from their employer. There were tax collectors who went around to gather in the funds and see to it getting to the regional governor for transport to Rome. That appears to be the system that was in place until Rome fell. But during the time of Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees confronted him about whether to pay the offering or the tax. Jesus said “…render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s. (Matthew 22:21)” It has always looked to me as though Jesus was making a distinction between the two and that therefore we could pay off the net if we wished. When I said that at church I was told that it took “more faith” to pay off of the gross. Well when you get your paycheck, the taxes are gone. Caesar has already taken out his portion and if you don’t give him enough he’ll demand more in April. More faith, less faith, whatever. The money’s gone. You have to take care of whatever other obligations you have in life out of what is left. There is support in scripture for choosing to pay off of the net. St. Paul says let each give what he has purposed in his heart … for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). As a believer you have to make that choice for yourself. I say if you are able pay out of the gross pay out of the gross, if not, pay out of the net. As for the way things are for me right now I am tithing out of the net. I plan to increase the amount as I am able and will eventually be paying out of the gross. As far as other people’s opinions and attempts to beat me down with a faith-bat, I’m not going to worry about all that. I’ll get with God’s CPA on the other side and hash out the details of what should or should not have happened when I see him.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 23:26 and is filed under Christianity, Church, Finance, Money, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
