7 thoughts on “Ending Poverty With Global Christianity’s Phantom Trillion”
Your post was interesting but giving a tithe to the Church is about obeying God’s commandment of giving 10% of what you make. The interesting thing is that God does not need Christian’s money to solve world hunger or anything for that matter. He created the earth and everything to do with it. You are correct in the sense that Jesus while on Earth never told the Roman Empire i.e. government to take care of the poor and widow but he told the Church to do it. I believe that the average Church receives about 2% of what people should give to the Church.
Thanks for your comments, Scott. I believe that if all Christians really did give 10 percent of their incomes and these tithes were used to answer Jesus’ call to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, we’d solve these problems. God doesn’t NEED us do these things, but God does seem to be ASKING us to.
Great article, Chris. I especially liked this line:
Faced with the kind of evil that flourishes where hope and charity do not, perhaps the oft-repeated “Where is God in this?” isn’t quite the question. Consider this instead: “Oh, God, where are the Christians?
God most certainly seems to be asking us, even pleadng with us to answer the call to be our brother’s keeper. A big part of ending poverty and famine is knowing where our dollars go once we drop it into the collection plate, and holding Church leadership accountable in the distribution of the obvious wealth of the Christian church. Pastors are too often teaching prosperity doctrine while their struggling congregations finance leadership’s lavish lifestyles, and little else. Christianity has to “cease and desist” in its capitalistic ventures and become the non-profit Jesus envisioned. Otherwise, we will stop believing in the power of our tithe and just see ourselves as we currently are – hypocrites.
Initial thoughts about how to start change from the ground up:
I need to change first.
Meaning, the individual people who read, commented, shared, and agree that the phantom trillion from the Body of Christ could “feed everyone, clothe everyone, give everyone access to water, heal the land, clean the water, and clean the air in perpetuity” need to examine their individual lives’ and ask: Am I tithing?
If the answer is no (yet you still said amen to article), then why not? Then identify the barriers, talk to a friend about it, and make the next step towards giving a tenth part of your income. That’s change from the ground up.
If the answer is yes, then why? Then share why you’re tithing with one of your Christian friends who is not tithing. That’s change from the ground up.
Once we (Christians) understand “the economic power we possess and the practical implications of loving one’s neighbor as oneself, this phantom trillion would find its way to points of need.” The action step in this is if you’re tithing to your church: find out if you can be a voice in where the money is spent. Granted, the lights need to stay on, but “investing 10 percent of its (the Church’s) annual income to overcome the systems of injustice, hate, and other things we still call sin” is essential. That’s change from the ground up.
Or if you’re a Christian who is cool with tithing to charity:water, Compassion, World Vision, and other legit charities, tell your friends about them. That’s change from the ground up.
Chris Cocca 
Your post was interesting but giving a tithe to the Church is about obeying God’s commandment of giving 10% of what you make. The interesting thing is that God does not need Christian’s money to solve world hunger or anything for that matter. He created the earth and everything to do with it. You are correct in the sense that Jesus while on Earth never told the Roman Empire i.e. government to take care of the poor and widow but he told the Church to do it. I believe that the average Church receives about 2% of what people should give to the Church.
Thanks for your comments, Scott. I believe that if all Christians really did give 10 percent of their incomes and these tithes were used to answer Jesus’ call to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, we’d solve these problems. God doesn’t NEED us do these things, but God does seem to be ASKING us to.
Great article, Chris. I especially liked this line:
Faced with the kind of evil that flourishes where hope and charity do not, perhaps the oft-repeated “Where is God in this?” isn’t quite the question. Consider this instead: “Oh, God, where are the Christians?
God most certainly seems to be asking us, even pleadng with us to answer the call to be our brother’s keeper. A big part of ending poverty and famine is knowing where our dollars go once we drop it into the collection plate, and holding Church leadership accountable in the distribution of the obvious wealth of the Christian church. Pastors are too often teaching prosperity doctrine while their struggling congregations finance leadership’s lavish lifestyles, and little else. Christianity has to “cease and desist” in its capitalistic ventures and become the non-profit Jesus envisioned. Otherwise, we will stop believing in the power of our tithe and just see ourselves as we currently are – hypocrites.
Absolutely.
Initial thoughts about how to start change from the ground up:
I need to change first.
Meaning, the individual people who read, commented, shared, and agree that the phantom trillion from the Body of Christ could “feed everyone, clothe everyone, give everyone access to water, heal the land, clean the water, and clean the air in perpetuity” need to examine their individual lives’ and ask: Am I tithing?
If the answer is no (yet you still said amen to article), then why not? Then identify the barriers, talk to a friend about it, and make the next step towards giving a tenth part of your income. That’s change from the ground up.
If the answer is yes, then why? Then share why you’re tithing with one of your Christian friends who is not tithing. That’s change from the ground up.
Once we (Christians) understand “the economic power we possess and the practical implications of loving one’s neighbor as oneself, this phantom trillion would find its way to points of need.” The action step in this is if you’re tithing to your church: find out if you can be a voice in where the money is spent. Granted, the lights need to stay on, but “investing 10 percent of its (the Church’s) annual income to overcome the systems of injustice, hate, and other things we still call sin” is essential. That’s change from the ground up.
Or if you’re a Christian who is cool with tithing to charity:water, Compassion, World Vision, and other legit charities, tell your friends about them. That’s change from the ground up.
Now let’s get started.
Loved this comment, Brian. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Chris.