We have got to do better, Christians: Tithing and supporting our churches

Hey DWDI Family,

    I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend so far!  I read the following article a few days ago and I feel like I needed to say something about it: Reuters: Banks foreclosing on churches in record numbers.
The comments at the end of this article made me particularly angry.  People were faulting the churches for their financial problems when there is plenty of blame to go around in my opinion.  Some of you, or many of you, may disagree with what I am about to say, but I do not intend to hold my tongue on this matter.

     Firstly, based on Ephesians 3:9-11, the Church, the believers of Christ, has a mission to help everyone know God and His purpose for everything and everyone by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Since churches have a mission to get as many people saved as they possibly can by ministering the Gospel, or the good news that we are saved by the blood of Jesus and can have eternal life in Heaven by accepting Jesus, it is natural that their congregations will outgrow their existing facilities if they are handling Kingdom business (a.k.a. God's expectation of us to spread the Gospel and to strive to live as Christ lived as we anticipate Jesus's return back to earth).  To accommodate their growing congregations, it is natural and expected that churches would take out loans to expand their church buildings.  I attend a large church where our leadership had the funds to pay for expansions as it could afford and our congregation, including myself, committed to continuing to tithe to make that possible.  Not every church has members who prioritize tithing or who can tithe enough to facilitate an expansion, especially small churches in working class or poor neighborhoods in this economy.  Plus, the loans were to help spread the Gospel by accommodating more members, not as a measure of boasting or anything of that nature.  The increased membership should, in theory, help to pay for the expansion.  And, bringing more people to church and to Christ is a return investment you cannot measure in monetary terms; it is priceless.

     The fact that churches are being foreclosed on really hurts my heart.  It is horrible that so many people nowadays are losing their homes because of foreclosure.  To me, it is even worse that people are losing their spiritual homes to foreclosure for similar reasons.  Personally, I do not know why any lender in their right mind would give a church a balloon loan, where there are small payments for a certain period of time (way less than the 30-40 years people get for mortgages) and then one HUGE payment at the end of the loan.  Given the fluctuations in church congregations' income, why sell a church that kind of a financial product? Would it not be the best thing for everyone one involved to set up reasonable, fixed, monthly payments that are the same amount? Would it not be the best thing for everyone involve to extend the life of the loan so churches could have more time to repay the loan amount and have smaller monthly payments? Yes, some churches should have shopped around more for better loans,  but if there are lenders who have made a business out of loaning money to churches, you would think that those companies would have factored in my considerations before lending to churches if they were really concerned about churches paying back those loans.  No, no one should escape payment obligations but I think lenders should work more with churches and homeowners to prevent foreclosures (and with students, too, to prevent loan defaults, but that is another story).  Housing foreclosures hurt neighborhoods via declining property values.  Losing churches to foreclosures hurts neighborhoods and hinders the mission Paul gave to churches in Ephesians 3:9-11.  If your church is in that situation, I would strongly encourage you to seek help and guidance from God on what to do and to be led by Him.  If you want me to help through prayer (that is probably all I can offer and the BEST thing I can offer), please contact me and let me know.

   Speaking of not escaping payment obligations, Christians NEED to pay their tithes.   Look at Genesis 4: 1-7, Deuteronomy 14: 22-23, Numbers 18: 27-29, and Malachi 3:6-12.  Believers have always had an obligation to give their first fruits to God.  It shows we are good stewards of what He has given us (it is not our money anyways) AND we are giving to help further the church's mission to bring people to Christ.  We give away part of something that does not belong to us to benefit our future members of the body of Christ.  Some part of tithes goes to facities expansion and infrastructure (churches need things like running water, electricity, and a reasonably paid pastor), but that money also goes to help the poor among us and to missions work here and abroad.  While it not tithing does not change your salvation through Jesus, things work out so much better when you do tithe.  It means that you are obedient and that you have really made him Lord over your life. It means that you are a good steward over what God has given you and that He can trust you with even more blessings.  And, it means that churches do not end up in financial binds or unable further their ministries because of a lack of funds.  You give to something that means more than yourself and you give it JOYFULLY because you realize that.  I do get SUPER IRRITATED when I realize how little I have to give, but still give it anyways JOYFULLY because I could have nothing, but I see people I know with more who never tithe and do not feel the need to do so (this includes some of my own family members, by the way).  It is for something way more important than what we could spend it on! It does not stop me from doing so and I just hope to lead by example because chastizing has not worked.  You give in faith expectancy of God seeing your stewardship and taking care of you for having been obedient, even if you cannot see how He will do so.  That is what we do as Christians because we live by faith and not by sight.  Plus, you cannot shortchange God and not expect Him to take notice of that in the blessings department.  I am just saying...

   Well, I hope this was not too much of a rant, but I do believe that this post needs to be here.  Everything I wrote I wrote out of love for you all and out of love for God.  If anything on this post changes one person's mind about tithing, then my being led to write this post was well worth it.  We have too much to do and too little time to do it in for God's glory so let us do our best with what we have to make God's wisdom and purpose through Jesus known.  Have a good rest of your weekend, DWDI Family, and I will talk to you all soon!

Love,
CCC