Tithe or Lose Your House?

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?

Posted 10.03.2008

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steveharrison shared their voice on 10.03.2008:

Chris, thanks for sharing…interesting…got me thinking…

Chris shared their voice on 10.03.2008:

@Steve: Your brother twittered on the same story this morning - I told him great minds think alike :-)

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:

@Anne: Wow - never thought of it that way before. Kind of gives a new perspective in light of the whole “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” thing…. What if someone had to choose between paying their tithe or paying their taxes? Would it be ‘righteous’ to be thrown in jail in lieu of not tithing?

Maybe that’s a false line of reasoning, though - people throughout history have conscientiously objected to things that were lawful at the time for the greater Kingdom commitment.

Maybe it’s a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation.

Good words - thanks for the perspective!

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What Are Thin Places?

"Thin Places" are rich in Celtic tradition. They are the places in our lives where the divine and the natural worlds come so close together that we can catch a glimpse of God. For the Celtics these places were very real - places within creation where we could physically go. The Thin Places in our own lives are those moments where the space between us & the Kingdom is thin, when we are introduced to a greater glimpse of Who He is through our experiences and through the stories of others.