The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Since we're talking about money

Oh please. You guys are choking on the proverbial gnat here.

If I'm not mistaken the idea of a tithe is OT tithe being a word that means something like the tenth part. Most of the sermons I have heard on the tithe are OT based except that most prechers switch over to the part about "giving cheerfully" so that they don't have to hear too much griping about it later.

I can't think of a single NT reference to 10% but I do recall--was it Barnabas?--someone selling a piece of land and giving the proceeds to the church. Then Annanias and Sappira doing likewise but keeping part back and, well, they ended up feeding the worms. Obviously its not an issue that should be treated as lightly as it usually is.

But church is supposed to function somehow and its improbable that in todays world there are many pastors who would stick around if they didn't have a fat salary to keep them in beans and books while they preached the gospel.