Brian,
I will stand by Zac's admonishens and agree with him wholeheartedly. It is in fact the very process that I am going through; One goal with one mind; Out of debt.
This matter of tithing has been gone through here at length and if anyone takes notice, even in this posting ... there is a great deal of [i]opinion[/i] but not a lot of firm New Testament model aspects being applied.
That being said ... Have flipped flopped over this for years, have read a great deal on the proscriptions and am not convinced that the mode and model that has been established, the 'tithe' has any bearing on us as it is [i]prescribed[/i]
I am hesitating and it is difficult not to get a bit agitated over this. Our brother is 60K in debt. [i]$60,000.00[/i] If some of the more vocal commentators have not been or are not presently in this same neighborhood then it might be very easy for you to give your opinions. I am sorry, I do not mean to be harsh but there is a point where practicality meets the ashphalt.
Part of my indignation arises from past days under the influence of so much prosperity\\WOF constructs and even the borrowing of the greater majority of the evangelical ... setup. I wonder aloud what would happen if the members did a turn about and gave from the heart against this proscription? In both ways. That is, on the one hand those who can hardly afford to be giving anything though they might desire to, were upheld by those that could and that well beyond the "10%" litmus test. Even this very site, SermonIndex ... God will provide indeed. But to secure something as seemingly inconsequential as a new laptop for Greg appeared to be a strain at the resources of those of us who freely consume from the depth of this well.
This is and will always be a matter of heart and conscience, not prodding nor guilt association (despite my own beef mentioned a moment ago) nor manipulation. My ire gets up on a number of fronts over this. The flip flopping itself is one often conducive to all the past absorbed teachings, though they may be distanced they still come. As an example ... After we left the prosperity nonsense and went to another church, one that was at least disassociated from these things, we happened to arrive just at the time they were starting up their building program. Being naive on the one hand and yet still apparently effected by so much prior teaching, we attended their kick-off event and though we had only been there a month 'decided'(and 'prayed') that we would contribute 10K over the course of a couple, three years. I cannot and will not blame them but would to God that a man of the grasp and stature of Zac Poonen or George Mueller would have had the foresight to not only take note of the fact that we were very, very new members but if they new us better, that we were also under a mountain of debt as well. Again, I take the responsibility for my ignorance at that time, we should never had made such a commitment under a sense of obligation and compulsion. It was sheer foolishness.
Look, there is far too much of this in Christianity in this day. It is a contorting of the sheep - It is largely based upon a give to get scheme no matter how well it is polished up to look otherwise. This is the impression put into the mind, that it is [i]attached[/i] to monetary giving. We have all but forgotten the point of [i]But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be done in secret[/i]. Nobody knows but God, what might a teaching be upon this exhortation, that we ought to be trying as hard as possible to conceal that which is seen by men? How might it also apply to those who are being torn asunder because nothing more would please them then to give their money and themselves to the Lord in [i]secret[/i] and with no expectation of anything, just their desire to do so, [i]but[/i] they are shackled to this debt that is like a dead weight always upon their shoulder, often keeping them occupied with how to get out from underneath it so that they can give that which is burning inside them to give .... I am telling you, you have no idea how difficult it is. To do so sounds like boasting or pie in the sky 'what if' scenarios but I have been laboring long under this and it kills me when I want to secretly give to this very place and many, many others but know that this debt must be dealt with and dealt with first. The accumulation of interest alone is insanity. You can pay a fraction over your minimum and if you have some high interest debts paying $100 on a $50 minimum payment you may have just evened out, your principle ekes down a couple of bucks a month. There are other complications I have here with not everyone on the same page, it becomes a broken record, the economy is in very bad shape if anyone has taken notice and I am often torn between becoming something of ... a brut with the finances and just giving up on the notion of ever getting out of this hole. But I will press on and will, if need be take on even more work, every weekend if that is what it takes. I am so proud of Zac Poonen for the very fact that he does work and has seemingly told few if anybody what it is he does to earn a living outside of those in his area. What an example, what a stark contrast to ...
I have had my share of guilt ridden, self inflicted pummeling over this whole business, it creeps into your pores. Even the puritans who I love would be at odds I think in many ways with me. I do not 'tithe' any more and for the time being ... it is a secret between myself and the Lord what is done in this present time. It is very little if it must be known - out of debt. first and foremost.
I do not think many know what kind of burden this is for some of us - longing to do so much and shackled at that very point.
