I was sitting in my office with a friend of mine on a Saturday afternoon, out of no where I asked; “Should pastors tithe to the church they pastor?” or “Do pastors tithe in the church they pastor?”Silence covered the room for about 3 minutes as the both of us searched for a response.
I think the topic of pastors modeling generous giving in the church they pastor is silent. We preach sermons to our members in an effort to increase giving but the question still remains; “How many pastors really tithe in the church they pastor?”
I have a lot of questions related to this issue:
What comes first in tithing, my position as pastor or my Christianity?
Is tithing on our church salary recycling church funds with a mentality that says; “I’ll give because I know I’ll get it back?
What does it say about the vision of the church if we don’t tithe to the church we pastor?
What does it say about our preaching on tithing? Are we convicted about what we preach before we preach it or do we preach tithing without having a personal encounter in private before going public?
Do we hold on to the tithe because the church isn’t paying enough?
Do we consider all other sacrifices that pastors make (financially) as a form of tithing?
Is the church suffering financially because the pastor is not tithing?
Unfortunately, seminaries don’t teach us about modeling generous giving as pastors.
I was speaking with a local pastor recently and he was explaining an incident he encountered in a church business meeting as they discussed details of their upcoming move into a new building. The ultimate disagreement in the meeting was money, could they afford the move or not? He explained that an elderly man in his church created such a uproar in the meeting that members began to second guess the move themselves. I listened to him as intently as I could and before long he made this comment to me: “They know how much I give to the church! I’ve opened my house and re-arranged furniture to make my living room look like a church. It’s my lights, gas, toilet paper, and water being used every week. My bills have increased since we moved back into my house and no one has offered me a dime on the mortgage or anything. They know how much I give.”
When he finished I said to him, “You’re assuming they know how much you give”. I further explained that I think one of my mistakes during our renovation project was cancelling the pastor’s anniversary as a sign of sacrifice. I assumed they would recognize my sacrifice but to my surprise they did not see it as a sacrifice and I’m not sure what they thought of it. However, looking back, I think the sacrifice would have been noticed and had much more impact if we continued with the pastor’s anniversary and then I TITHED (sacrificial gift) to the project.
It would have been recognized by the leaders because I filled out an envelope and to the members because I brought it to the offering plate. They don’t know what I’m giving but they do know I am giving something. I don’t have to say word because my sacrifice was seen publically and not behind the scenes, so to speak.
I believe we handicap our membership when we work hard behind the scenes to make things happen, financially. But what if we flipped the script and if the mortgage/lease/or rent needs to be paid, we tithe to the church and let the church pay for it. People will see our sacrifice through the tithe and not from our pockets (if that makes sense).
I think the model for generous giving works from top down and not from bottom up.
Think about it, pray about it, and then be about it.
Until next time be blessed,
Great post.
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