Should I tithe on my stimulus check?
When Israel was wandering through the wilderness, God graciously provided them with a strange substance called "manna." The book of Exodus records that it was a fine, flakey substance the people could bake into bread for each day. However, it wasn't quite like anything they'd ever seen before - the name manna literally means, "What is it?"
As you begin to think about all the recent government stimulus, it's easy to ask the same question, "What is it?" How are we to think about whatever funds we've received from the government in the last year? Should a Christian tithe on those funds? What is the wisest way to use them? And where exactly did they come from to begin with?!
To answer these questions we have to answer two primary questions: 1) What is a tithe? and 2) How is the government viewing the stimulus?
What is a tithe?
The word tithe simply means a tenth. According to Deuteronomy 14:22-23, the tithe was the first and best of all that Israel produced or earned:
Further, the tithe had a theological purpose, namely, to teach the nation to fear God alone and display their trust in him for provision. Jesus also upheld the principle of tithing in the New Testament. While rebuking the Pharisees for their heartless but very precise tithing on their spice cabinets to the neglect of justice and actual love for God, he says, "These (tithing) you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."
Today, we see tithing on gross income or other wealth received or inherited as a biblical practice of giving our first and best to God through the church.
How does the government view the stimulus?
Technically, the government views the stimulus checks as an advance of a special tax credit for the 2020 tax year. Some credits simply reduce your tax bill each year, while others are considered to be fully refundable - meaning that if you don't owe any federal taxes, you will still receive a check for the amount. The stimulus checks are considered to be fully refundable.
The government does not consider the stimulus checks to be taxable income. When you pay taxes each year, you are being taxed on the portion of your gross income that the government deems taxable. Whatever refund you receive is therefore not income, but really just a return on whatever amount you overpaid in taxes during the year (i.e. your own money). This is why you shouldn't need to tithe on your tax refund - if you've been tithing consistently during the previous year, you would have already tithed on whatever amount you received back. The stimulus is really just that - returning your own tax money (and others tax money) to you.
Should I tithe on my stimulus?
Technically, the answer is no. The stimulus is not income earned or wealth you inherited, but actually a return of taxes to you. While it may feel like free money at the moment, it will be paid for at some point. There's a saying in economics that "there is no such thing as a free lunch." This is true - someone always bears the cost. In this case, we will all bear the cost to some extent through necessarily higher taxes in the future or through higher prices due to inflation. The wealthy are already bearing part of the cost as they pay more in taxes and didn't receive the same stimulus as lower earners.
Case closed?
While it's a valid question to ask whether or not we should tithe on the stimulus, the question itself can also reveal our hearts. Our obedience to Jesus is not based on technicalities and conditions, but rather on trust and submission. If we simply give based on technicality, we might find ourselves in the exact same position as the Pharisees.
As you receive your stimulus and consider that it isn't ultimately "free" - that someone will bear the cost - it's worth considering the parallel to the grace of God. Though it's "free" to us in the sense that it's undeserved, unmerited, and unearned, it wasn't costless; Jesus paid the cost. There is no free lunch - someone always pays the cost for sin. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
So what should you do with your stimulus? Whatever you want. But do so influenced by the grace of God in Jesus. Some of you may give an offering to the church (a gift beyond a tithe); others of you might bless someone else who could use it. Perhaps you will pay down debt or apply it to another wise cause. Or maybe you will buy something you'd like to have. Those are all fine options, so long as they are done with thankfulness to God for all he provides.
As you begin to think about all the recent government stimulus, it's easy to ask the same question, "What is it?" How are we to think about whatever funds we've received from the government in the last year? Should a Christian tithe on those funds? What is the wisest way to use them? And where exactly did they come from to begin with?!
To answer these questions we have to answer two primary questions: 1) What is a tithe? and 2) How is the government viewing the stimulus?
What is a tithe?
The word tithe simply means a tenth. According to Deuteronomy 14:22-23, the tithe was the first and best of all that Israel produced or earned:
[22] “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. [23] And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
Further, the tithe had a theological purpose, namely, to teach the nation to fear God alone and display their trust in him for provision. Jesus also upheld the principle of tithing in the New Testament. While rebuking the Pharisees for their heartless but very precise tithing on their spice cabinets to the neglect of justice and actual love for God, he says, "These (tithing) you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."
Today, we see tithing on gross income or other wealth received or inherited as a biblical practice of giving our first and best to God through the church.
How does the government view the stimulus?
Technically, the government views the stimulus checks as an advance of a special tax credit for the 2020 tax year. Some credits simply reduce your tax bill each year, while others are considered to be fully refundable - meaning that if you don't owe any federal taxes, you will still receive a check for the amount. The stimulus checks are considered to be fully refundable.
The government does not consider the stimulus checks to be taxable income. When you pay taxes each year, you are being taxed on the portion of your gross income that the government deems taxable. Whatever refund you receive is therefore not income, but really just a return on whatever amount you overpaid in taxes during the year (i.e. your own money). This is why you shouldn't need to tithe on your tax refund - if you've been tithing consistently during the previous year, you would have already tithed on whatever amount you received back. The stimulus is really just that - returning your own tax money (and others tax money) to you.
Should I tithe on my stimulus?
Technically, the answer is no. The stimulus is not income earned or wealth you inherited, but actually a return of taxes to you. While it may feel like free money at the moment, it will be paid for at some point. There's a saying in economics that "there is no such thing as a free lunch." This is true - someone always bears the cost. In this case, we will all bear the cost to some extent through necessarily higher taxes in the future or through higher prices due to inflation. The wealthy are already bearing part of the cost as they pay more in taxes and didn't receive the same stimulus as lower earners.
Case closed?
While it's a valid question to ask whether or not we should tithe on the stimulus, the question itself can also reveal our hearts. Our obedience to Jesus is not based on technicalities and conditions, but rather on trust and submission. If we simply give based on technicality, we might find ourselves in the exact same position as the Pharisees.
As you receive your stimulus and consider that it isn't ultimately "free" - that someone will bear the cost - it's worth considering the parallel to the grace of God. Though it's "free" to us in the sense that it's undeserved, unmerited, and unearned, it wasn't costless; Jesus paid the cost. There is no free lunch - someone always pays the cost for sin. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
So what should you do with your stimulus? Whatever you want. But do so influenced by the grace of God in Jesus. Some of you may give an offering to the church (a gift beyond a tithe); others of you might bless someone else who could use it. Perhaps you will pay down debt or apply it to another wise cause. Or maybe you will buy something you'd like to have. Those are all fine options, so long as they are done with thankfulness to God for all he provides.
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