Via bcnn1.com Three Christian leaders weigh in on a difficult giving question.
In the March edition of Christianity Today, three men with backgrounds in church and personal finances were asked whether the jobless should tithe on their unemployment benefits. Read their answers, then share how your church has (or hasn’t) addressed this question as the unemployment rate remains at or above 10 percent for many parts of the country:
“Yes, if joyfully. … There are some reasons for jobless people–or anyone, for that matter–not to tithe. Do not tithe out of joyless obligation to law. Do not tithe if your soul requires nothing short of a New Testament demand to tithe (there is none). Do not tithe under the assumption that God will owe you anything. Do not tithe if you expect to default on a debt. Do not tithe if you will resent God for asking sacrifices of you–unless you intend the tithe, in the spirit of “I believe; help my unbelief,” as your invitation for God to purge your resentment.” –Douglas LeBlanc, editor at large for The Living Church magazine and author of Tithing: Test Me in This. Read his full answer here.
