I don’t tithe. Not anymore.

I don’t like that the plate is passed around during the service, right before Communion. It says “if you pay, you can play”. It says that God’s love can be bought. It isn’t at the beginning of the service, or at the end. It is right in the middle, before Communion.

God’s love, as demonstrated through the sacrifice of Jesus, was, is, and shall always be free. There are no strings attached. You can’t earn it, and you can’t buy it.

But I also don’t tithe because I feel like I’m supporting an addict friend. You know the one. The one who never quite seems to have enough money to pay his bills, but she has enough for soda and cigarettes. The one who always forgets to have his wallet on him when you all go out to eat. The one who never quite seems to have it together.

Now, certainly this isn’t the way with all churches. Some pool their money together and do really good things with it. If a hundred people donate a dollar each, that provides enough for four families to have a healthy meal. That kind of tithing I like.

But so often it isn’t that kind of tithing that happens. So often the money goes to buy more vestments, or pay the mortgage on the minister’s home, or to re-carpet the sanctuary.

The money goes to the church building, not the Church Body.

Perhaps I should look at it like when I get approached by a homeless person. I have no way of knowing if he is going to use it to buy a sandwich or a shot of tequila.