Real Help for Real People

During an extended conversation with a friend recently, he came up with what may or may not be a good idea.  At the time, it sounded good, but I am still giving it some thought.  So, I thought I should ask for your help. 

We were talking about stewardship (I do have other interests, by the way), specifically excuses people offer for not giving.  One of the more frequent problems people cite that prevents them from giving is that they are in debt.  Many times, I have heard people say they will tithe as soon as they get out of debt.

My friend suggested that it would be nice to belong to a church that cared enough about its members to provide concrete help when debt is a problem.  What would happen if the church responded to the problem of debt by paying it off for the family?  This would free up their finances and allow them to tithe.

If you are like me, your first thought is, “That’s dumb!”  However, give it some more thought.  This action of the church might have some very positive ramifications.  For example, a typical family might have $5,000 in credit card debt with an income of $40,000.  (I’m just making up these numbers for the purpose of illustration.)  The $5,000 paid by the church will be repaid by the family tithe in a little more than a year, and in two years, the return will be significant.  Thus, my friend’s idea might make financial sense for the church. 

However, just because it might make financial sense, does not necessarily make it proper.  Think about the spiritual implications.  We know that being in debt is not the real reason people do not tithe.  Tithing is a spiritual matter, and when a person gets their heart right, they will be obedient, regardless of their financial situation.  So, we might conclude that the church does not need to pay their debts, just help them grow spiritually. 

While the above statement may be true, it is contrary to what the church does to help people in every other area.  If people do not appreciate the hymns we sing in worship, what do we do?  We change our music so they will like the songs.  If a person is not interested in Sunday School, what do we do?  We provide a home small group meeting that will interest them.

My point is that the church is always doing things to help members walk faithfully with the Lord.  Would it be wrong to help them get their finances in order so they could walk faithfully in their giving?  Or, would it be a great encouragement to a family if the church said we are going to remove the obstacle to your obedience. 

I wonder if this family might be overwhelmed with this kind of love and concern demonstrated by their church.  It might make the kind of impact that would transform them into more obedient followers of Jesus Christ.

What do you think?  I know what some of your comments will be, but I will reserve my opinion. 

… and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. (Acts 2:45)

Comments

[Melba]

It is a novel idea...I tend to think about the practical side of things--how would it be implemented? Would the tithing after the debt is paid be monitored? if it isn't, how would the church know that the family really did tithe? The door would be wide open for abuse, and while we are to care for those with needs we are to be wise in how we do it. What about those who are in debt but still tithe? One question leads to another...

[David Kimberly]

Bro. Terry, I think this can be both positive and negative. The individuals may welcome the financial help to a point then there is the real possibility that when the debt is paid for a number of reasons, like they are embarrassed to come back to church...etc, they would leave...what have they learned? They could be so overwhelmed that they would immediately start giving to the church...but not likely. I know there are safe guards that could be put into place, but would the church have the courage to enforce them when we won't discipline the membership for moral misconduct? Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit must lead the congregation and Staff to seek the Lord's direction...and one of the best ways is for our lay leadership to be convicted to share personally...one on one what tithing means to them and suggest a way for a family that is strapped financially might begin to have the right spiritual priorities. This is just a thought.
David Kimberly

[Steve]

Here is a new reason I believe that is worth pondering. Of course all preachers quote scripture that says God commands they give 10% to God as a tithe. But here is the problem. Who says that preacher is God's collector? In this age, I believe there are as many false preachers (or more) than those ordained by God. In any one church however, I am sure you can find members who weep and gnash their teeth defending the fact that God placed their particular pastor as head of their church. I know of one church where the members actually turned over all of their finances to the church, lived poorly on a stipend, while the pastor had multiple houses and swimming pools he bought with the "tithes." When he went to prison for tax evasion, the members continued giving for over three years until he was released again. So does that make the members "faithful" or "fools"?

Ministry has become an attractive profession and often salaries rival or exceed those outside the church, which makes it easier for individuals that are not truly called to ministry to go in that direction. I am not saying one should not return a tithe to God, I am just saying, there are a whole lot of couriers that can't be trusted to get it there.

[Geoff Bray]

There are several churches that have actually done this. Here's an article (it's a bit dated).

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_4_33/ai_93307087/

One of the other cases I've heard of is that people have to be in the church's financial management group / class / whatever. After they've been faithful for at least a year then they are eligible to put their name in the hat to be drawn out and have their debts paid off.

We just finished doing the Dave Ramsey videos at our church as part of our effort to help people deal with this. As we're praying and looking long term on this ... I wonder about paying off some of the debts. As people get their debts paid off then they can contribute some of that towards a fund to help other people get theirs paid off.

Definitely want to make sure that something is in place to help people change their thinking / liftestyle ... otherwise they'll be back in the same place in no time. I've seen that happen again and again. And that's a major reason that we did the Dave Ramsey thing. I don't agree with everything he says and he's a bit cheesy, etc. but overall it's a decent program. I think we'd require people to be committed to staying debt-free and that they get rid of their credit cards because for most people if you keep using the cards it's just a disaster waiting to happen.

[Denny Wright]

Terry: a church here in North Little Rock has been doing this for years. It's called Project Jubilee. If the couple will agree to ongoing financial counseling & reamain accountable, then the church will pay off their CC debt. At the end of the process they pay back the debt INTEREST FREE! A great model! There's many more details they have worked out, problems they have encountered, but a legitmate model being tested in a real church!

[Roger Shumaker]

As an attorney involved in representing charities and individuals in the trust and estate area (also a Certified Kingdom Advisor), the tax law would present some serious impediments--income to the recipient and endangering the tax exempt status of the church because of the private enurement issue--I know we all get alot of intangible and tangible benefit from our churches, but it isn't usually in cash. Of course a loan to replace the loan would be ok but it doesn't address the underlying financial management issues. That's why Ramsey's FPU and Crown are so effective. People learn how to get out of debt and stay out of debt based on God's word and Biblical principles. Ramsey in his intro on the DVD promotion of his Momentum program says that in his experience the people of God don't give because they are tapped out by irresponsible spending--they want to give but they can't because they have bought into the consumerist culture. So learning to live the way God wants us to is critical. Help them with the fundamentals and the giving will follow.

[ginger]

This has nothing to do with your article this week- which by the way, does pose an interesting idea.
My question is, do you have any control over the "ads" that are included on this site. Is it necessary to have the one from the Art Institute of Philadelphia? Just wondering.

[Randy Evans]

The only way that a church could pay off a member's debt and protect itself from abuse would be to convince the member to start tithing and use their tithe to pay off the debt over a period of time. This way, if the member quit tithing the church is not obligated to pay the rest of the member's debt. There are tax issues that would have to be addressed first before a church could start this kind of program.