The Purpose Driven Life
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Question about reverse tithing
David
Nov 22, 2014 06:36PM
OK. In the book, Pastor Warren encourages people to exercise what he calls reverse tithing. Traditional tithing is when you give 10% of your earning (net or gross) to the church and keep 90% for your personal spending.
Reverse tithing is not when the church gives you money, but rather when your give 90% to the church and keep 10% for yourself. That is the reversal.
Anyway, Rick Warren must be super wealthy. Keeping 10% of your income still probably makes him one of the richest pastors in America and one of the richest people in general. Also, living in So Cal isn't cheap when you have a large family.
Listen. I'm not faulting him for being wealthy. He deserves everything he has in this world. And I'm sure it's not easy giving 90% to the church even if you make a lot of money. I'm just concerned about his advice to everyone else about reverse tithing. If I make a million dollars/year then keeping 10% for myself is still a lot of money to live on as long as I don't spend extravagantly.
However, if I make 50K/year then keeping 10% from reverse tithing gives me only 5K for the entire year while the 45K goes to the church. Five thousand dollars won't last a month for some people especially if they have children and personal, but necessary expenses like rent/mortgage, car payments, etc.
I guess I have a problem with this concept, but it could also just be my lack of faith. Realistically, I don't see how this idea can be applied to everyone. If you are wealthy making a million/year then 10% still gives you 100K/year to live on. That's good, and most people don't make that even without tithing. However, most Americans don't make that much money per year and if the average salary is 50K then that means we have to make ends meet with 5K. How does he really expect us to do this? Thoughts?
Reverse tithing is not when the church gives you money, but rather when your give 90% to the church and keep 10% for yourself. That is the reversal.
Anyway, Rick Warren must be super wealthy. Keeping 10% of your income still probably makes him one of the richest pastors in America and one of the richest people in general. Also, living in So Cal isn't cheap when you have a large family.
Listen. I'm not faulting him for being wealthy. He deserves everything he has in this world. And I'm sure it's not easy giving 90% to the church even if you make a lot of money. I'm just concerned about his advice to everyone else about reverse tithing. If I make a million dollars/year then keeping 10% for myself is still a lot of money to live on as long as I don't spend extravagantly.
However, if I make 50K/year then keeping 10% from reverse tithing gives me only 5K for the entire year while the 45K goes to the church. Five thousand dollars won't last a month for some people especially if they have children and personal, but necessary expenses like rent/mortgage, car payments, etc.
I guess I have a problem with this concept, but it could also just be my lack of faith. Realistically, I don't see how this idea can be applied to everyone. If you are wealthy making a million/year then 10% still gives you 100K/year to live on. That's good, and most people don't make that even without tithing. However, most Americans don't make that much money per year and if the average salary is 50K then that means we have to make ends meet with 5K. How does he really expect us to do this? Thoughts?
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I don't think he's saying that everyone, or even most people, should "reverse tithe". I think he is saying that for a person who is as financially prosperous as he is, it's an appropriate choice. For most people, 10% is a huge stretch. While I don't necessarily agree with him on a lot a things, at least he puts his money where his mouth is.
No deity has ever needed money and churches rarely disclose where the donations are going. Giving tithing is a bad investment, unless buying the pastor a vacation home is on your list of charitable acts.
I belonged to a church that told members to give 20% on most years (10% directly to the church, 10% for travel and holy day expenses) and an extra 10% to widows and orphans every three years. The 30% years made my modest budget extremely tight, if I had not been able to make rent and basic food, probably would have dropped the church a lot sooner. Anyway, since I had absolutely no way of finding out how the church was using the 10% or if my added 10% was actually making it to widows and orphans, I cut out the middle man. I now donate to hospice and foster services. Every once in awhile I'll give to disaster relief or an animal shelter.
If 90% is a possibility and someone wants to give that much away (BTW there are great tax reasons for doing this if a person makes enough money), I applaud them. Any charitable giving should be done with willingness not because they think they'll get treasures in heaven or a pat on the back from St. Peter. In other words, the percentage doesn't matter. Donate 1%, 5%, 10% whatever doesn't break the bank and is given with willingness to make the world a better place.
I belonged to a church that told members to give 20% on most years (10% directly to the church, 10% for travel and holy day expenses) and an extra 10% to widows and orphans every three years. The 30% years made my modest budget extremely tight, if I had not been able to make rent and basic food, probably would have dropped the church a lot sooner. Anyway, since I had absolutely no way of finding out how the church was using the 10% or if my added 10% was actually making it to widows and orphans, I cut out the middle man. I now donate to hospice and foster services. Every once in awhile I'll give to disaster relief or an animal shelter.
If 90% is a possibility and someone wants to give that much away (BTW there are great tax reasons for doing this if a person makes enough money), I applaud them. Any charitable giving should be done with willingness not because they think they'll get treasures in heaven or a pat on the back from St. Peter. In other words, the percentage doesn't matter. Donate 1%, 5%, 10% whatever doesn't break the bank and is given with willingness to make the world a better place.
Everything in this book is not applicable to everyone. Do what you can and obviously most people cannot reverse tithe. Rick's expectations are not Jesus expectations. The Lord find's 10% a sacrifice so if you are also giving an offering and giving your time, then you are exceeding expectations. Making 36k, which is only about 24k after taxes, living in Chicago is beyond difficult, so my 10% actually hurts me...that is a sacrifice. It is unrealistic to pay reverse tithes...for ME. To each it's own. I'd suggest you pray, ask God how much more he requires of YOU, that response will be different for each person...for Rick, the answer was obviously 90%. God bless his ability and obedience.
Tithing is Old Testament, for starters.
Be careful brothers and sister. There is no biblical basis for this idea. (Malachi 3; II Cor 8; Lev. 27:30) Whether we use old or new testament, this is not prescribed in scripture. The "best" sacrifice we can give is as God prescribed to Joshua 1:7...do not go the right or the left. Obey as God prescribes.
There is just one thing I would like to add. I believe that God wants us to tithe our money and our time and with that said. God will let you know according to His word, how much He wants you to tithe during the different seasons in your life. Rich Warren is in a different season from me and the Lord didn’t tell me to copy him, even after I read his book (which I did enjoy and practiced other things out of it) but what the Lord shared was that I was on the right track and continue in the way He has called me.
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