Complaint-line follow-up: tithing, blessing, and the prosperity gospel
- Does faithfulness in giving guarantee material blessing, and does suffering imply unfaithfulness?
Ben reads his own complaint-line text challenging the prior show's tithe conversation: if giving brings blessing (Malachi's 'test me in this'), how should blessing be understood when faithful givers still lack basic needs, and does suffering imply unfaithfulness? The room clarifies the tithe was God's command to Israel, not a universal prosperity formula; blessing is primarily covenant relationship - land, offspring, presence - not fuller coffers. They push back on prosperity-gospel readings, note the widow's mite, and land on trust: giving tests whether you trust God, not whether God needs your money.
More on Giving
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Dear LFTP: the $8 spaghetti sauce in the grocery line
- Should I feel guilty for not covering the stranger's grocery bill when I could barely afford my own?
Boova (speaker-2, who reads the letter on-air) reads a Dear LFTP letter: at a grocery store, a young woman with an $8 jar of spaghetti sauce used the last of her food-stamp card,…
From No. 522 · Biking with Billy Shatner
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Only thirteen percent of evangelicals tithe
- What percentage of evangelicals actually tithe?
- Does a day set apart as holy still matter beyond legalism?
A giving study ("The Generosity Factor" finds only 13% of evangelicals tithe, half give less than 1% of income, and the median church giver gives about $800 a year.
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Practical kingdom actions: check-ins, restraint, and giving
- Should churches keep meeting in person during the pandemic?
Asked what the kingdom of Christ should be doing, a host gives three recommendations: make phone calls to isolated and immunocompromised people (even just dropping things on the…
From No. 398 · Thus It Begins…COVID
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Pennies on the dollar vs. paying the bill
- If a creditor will settle a debt for less than I owe, do I still owe the full amount — is paying less an integrity failure?
Back to the debt story: is it better to buy up old debt cheap or pay someone's current bill in full?
From No. 396 · Pet Pastoring and Confounded on Dear LFTP