In my lead posting to this series on tithing, I quoted from a recent survey amongst evangelical leaders that says:
. . . according to the February Evangelical Leaders Survey, most evangelical leaders do not believe the Bible requires Christians to tithe. The survey showed that 58 percent do not believe the Bible requires a tithe, while 42 percent do.
I would be doing our Evangelical friends a disservice if I didn't cover more of what was said in reaction to this survey. Mormons can certainly learn from them:
Alan Robinson of the Brethren in Christ Church said, “. . .  it is my view that Christian generosity will, at a minimum, reflect the Old Testament requirements of the law and should, in fact, greatly exceed it.”

David Neff, Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today, added, “Anything less [than 10 percent] seems like an ungenerous response to God.”

Although most leaders do not believe the Bible requires Christians to tithe, the overwhelming majority, 95 percent, indicated that they give at least 10 percent.

Jerry Dykstra of the Christian Reformed Church in North America who believes tithing is required and indicated that he tithes said, “If folks actually tithed, churches would not know what to do with the money.”
From "Evangelical leaders differ on tithing from church members" from The Denver Post:
. . . Brady Boyd, senior pastor at Colorado Springs- based New Life Church.
Jesus didn't command us to tithe, Boyd said, but neither did he countermand it. In fact, he said, Jesus told people to go way beyond tithing.
"Jesus taught a lot about money — more than he taught on prayer," Boyd said.
And Jesus certainly didn't tell people to hang on to their wealth.
"Here's what I teach at New Life: Live below your means, and lead a generous life," Boyd said. "It's a great joy to give."
From "Most Evangelical Leaders Say Tithe Not Required By Bible" in The Christian Post:
Dr. Kurt Fredrickson, director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., said the language he is increasingly hearing among pastors is whole life stewardship.
"It is about how do we give our whole selves to God, which includes money of course, but also our time and gifts," said Frederickson, who was a pastor for 24 years. "I like David Neff's comment ... there is certainly the sense that the way we spend our money says an awful lot about who we are as a person."
The Fuller professor pointed to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, who gave away more of his income as he earned more and kept his living standard the same. He ended up giving away about 90 percent of his money and living on 10 percent.



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