Well, I did it...

I spoke about tithing last week. I began the conversation as it were. It took quite some time to get through the material but the end result was a solid introduction to the idea of tithing. We read 2 Timothy 5:18 together

Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching. Scripture tells us, "Don't muzzle a working ox" and "A worker deserves his pay."

and it really illustrates the point to me that we should be paying our leaders. There were some problems though. It seems when I told people that I am a strictly unpaid volunteer and have no stake in their tithing decision they got the wrong idea. Rather than realize they are abusing the leadership of the church by not paying them as scripture says, some got the impression that everyone in leadership should be unpaid volunteers rather than be paid by the church.

And it was mentioned to be that there is another type of giving...guilt-driven. Some people feel bad for what they've done through the week or feel bad for some situation the church is in and so they give a bit to feel better. I think I need to teach on this again. I'm encouraged to speak my heart, but the reality is my heart is frustrated. It feels almost like I continue to push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down before I make the top. By now a lot of regulars have heard about tithing in many different ways and their decision to tithe or not is something they are not going to change.

There are some who think we need to concentrate on new members and advertise that we are available for them to come and check out if they want. That just seems like we are encouraging a consumer mentality of church when we are trying so hard to just be real. I just don't know where that leaves us. We certainly can't continue to even exist at this level let alone move forward with our plans to expand what we're doing. People are getting tired, others have thrown everything they own into making this work and we're near the end. If we lost RCC I just wouldn't know where I could attend church.

I guess that's what I have to share in church tomorrow. Thanks for listening. :-)