Tithe or Lose Your House?
Image by Jeff Turner
Read an interesting article this week from USA Today. The article talked about how there are many Christians who, even though strapped with overbearing mortgage payments (sometimes multiple mortgage payments) are choosing to face foreclosure instead of giving up their regular practice of tithing.
Here’s a quick excerpt:
Linda Ingram of St Louis, Missouri-based nonprofit Beyond Housing said, “Tithing is a very sensitive subject and you have to be careful as to how you approach it.”
Ingram said one of her clients was a 68-year-old woman who obtained a $62,000 mortgage on behalf of her daughter. When her daughter stopped paying the mortgage this spring, the woman was stuck with payments since her name was on the loan contract.
To stay current on the $500 monthly mortgage, she was faced with giving up a tithe to her local evangelical church of around $200 a month. Instead, she let the property go into foreclosure.
“I made an agreement with the Lord 30 years ago and I have tithed ever since,” said the woman, who declined to give her name in an interview. “Nothing could persuade me to give that up. My relationship with God comes first.”
It’s a common discussion in the Christian culture that houses of worship struggle when the country’s economy, in general, struggles. I can certainly relate to making giving a matter of non-discretionary income. But is there a line that brings tithing and giving into a place where one’s home is jeopardized or lost?
Not sure I know the answer. Just thinking out loud.
You can read the full article here: “Some Christians keep tithing even as they face foreclosure”
UPDATE: Read another separate, yet somewhat related story via Time: “Did God Want You to Get That Mortgage?”
Your thoughts?
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Chris shared their voice on 10.03.2008:
Anne Jackson shared their voice on 10.04.2008:
this is probably not the “norm” thought but when you’re in debt, that money isn’t “yours” to tithe anyway. it belongs to someone else to begin with. yeah, it all ultimately belongs to god, but you can’t give away something you don’t have.
is going bad on debt breaking a promise=sin?
is breaking a promise to god=sin?
ain’t so black and white, methinks.
Chris shared their voice on 10.04.2008:
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steveharrison shared their voice on 10.03.2008:
Chris, thanks for sharing…interesting…got me thinking…