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I have a question for you. I am a fairly recent convert who has not been as active in the faith as I should have been and am trying to do better.
I am married to a non-catholic but not necessarily a non-believer. He believes in Christ but he does not believe in a church. He maintains that churches are only in it for the money and people only go to socialize. His grandfather home churched his family when my dh was young so I maybe that is why he believes this. My question is this: what does the church teach about tithing and what is expected of me if my dh does not want me to tithe to the church? I feel like we could be so much more blessed if I tithed but I don’t believe it’s right to go directly against my dh wishes. Thanks in advance for your help because this has been a real sore spot for me.Shari
In summary, tithing is about more than money. A better word is stewardship. It’s really about giving back to God what God has given us.
Each person has certain talents given by God and is called to use them. One example of stewardship (or tithing) is volunteering time in church programs. Another is offering monetary contributions to help keep the building open for the good of the whole community.
At it’s heart that’s what it’s all about – sharing what you have for the good of the whole church community. When you do that you are truly living the Kingdom of God here on Earth.
First off welcome to the forum.
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The position your husband is taking is a common one. First to your tithing question that Catholic Answers does a wonderful job of explaining.[b:2nh95bla][u:2nh95bla]CATHOLIC ANSWERS[/u:2nh95bla][/b:2nh95bla]
[color=green:2nh95bla]Although the Church teaches that offering some form of material support to the Church is obligatory for all Catholic adults who are able to do so, it doesn’t specify what percent of one’s income should be given. Remember, tithing was an Old Testament obligation that was incumbent on the Jews under the Law of Moses. Christians are dispensed from the obligation of tithing ten percent of their incomes, but not from the obligation to help the Church.[/color:2nh95bla]As to your husbands statement about [i:2nh95bla]”churches being in it for the money”[/i:2nh95bla].Such a conspiracy theory is not something that many people take as a serious objection. I think the root of the problem may have nothing to do with his theory. But I wouldn’t know until I talked to him.
Hope that helped.
~Victor
That really puts my mind at ease. I have felt sooo guilty
” title=”Sad” /> for a long time! I was raised protestant and sometimes it seemed that tithing was all that was ever preached about in the churches we attended. I just assumed all churches felt the same about it. Thanks Jon and Victor. I really love this site. I wish I had found it long ago!Shari
[quote:2cxrw22a]That really puts my mind at ease. I have felt sooo guilty
” title=”Sad” /> for a long time! I was raised protestant and sometimes it seemed that tithing was all that was ever preached about in the churches we attended. I just assumed all churches felt the same about it. Thanks Jon and Victor. I really love this site. I wish I had found it long ago!Shari[/quote:2cxrw22a]
No problem. Peace be with you Shari.
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I remember when I was about 12 years old and a Lutheran (been a Catholic now for 47 years) my parents made sure I went to church every Sunday(but they never went “sad”).But I remember them giving me 2 cents to put in the plate and one time during the service I was bored so I put a penny in my mouth(don’t ask why)and it accidental went down my thoart(maybe that was God telling me something).My thoughts on tithing is pay God first and everything else will fall into place.
[quote:1bx4qjo9]I remember when I was about 12 years old and a Lutheran (been a Catholic now for 47 years) my parents made sure I went to church every Sunday(but they never went “sad”).But I remember them giving me 2 cents to put in the plate and one time during the service I was bored so I put a penny in my mouth(don’t ask why)and it accidental went down my thoart(maybe that was God telling me something).My thoughts on tithing is pay God first and everything else will fall into place.[/quote:1bx4qjo9]
Ha ha…good one. Thanks for sharing…
I am married to a non-catholic but not necessarily a non-believer. He believes in Christ but he does not believe in a church. He maintains that churches are only in it for the money and people only go to socialize. His grandfather home churched his family when my dh was young so I maybe that is why he believes this. My question is this: what does the church teach about tithing and what is expected of me if my dh does not want me to tithe to the church? I feel like we could be so much more blessed if I tithed but I don’t believe it’s right to go directly against my dh wishes. Thanks in advance for your help because this has been a real sore spot for me.
” title=”Smile” />
” title=”Sad” /> for a long time! I was raised protestant and sometimes it seemed that tithing was all that was ever preached about in the churches we attended. I just assumed all churches felt the same about it. Thanks Jon and Victor. I really love this site. I wish I had found it long ago!- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.