I would love for a church to have a lock-box in the back of the sanctuary - and let the congregation give as they will. I can't stand the speech about tithes as well as the offering plate/bag that goes around. Who invented the offering plate? Didn't church begin with a lock-box in the back? The story of Yeshua and the widow with the two mites was her dropping it into the "treasury" of the temple. There was no "offering plate" passed around the rabbis.
Do they have an offering plate at a Catholic mass? I don't even know.
People shouldn't feel bullied/shamed/obligated to give. God wants us to give from the heart, and the only way to do that is for the offering to be graceful. My old church used to have a short word/mini sermon about tithes/offerings. Maybe just 2 to 5 minutes long, but still... Everyone knows you should give to the church. It's not a new idea. I wonder what would happen if a church tried the honor system offering.
Your local church is not going to function without it receiving some kind of income from its congregants on a regular basis. Most churches are probably 501-C3s, so they can use their money without paying taxes---so salaries, church upkeep and running, ministries to the pubic, are not magically being paid. So although the tithe is a part of the law, let's also know that giving unto God supports His church and gets us away from idolizing our money.
requirement to tithe is under the Law again , which Christ already fulfilled for us so that we could just give as we will , cheerfully .
The Word : The Lord loves a cheerful giver !
