I received a phone call about tithes

[Originalist]

Out of the blue today a very distraught brother called me.

He attends the church I stopped attending about a year ago. He informed me that the pastor has been hammering in tithes for the past two weeks. A couple of controversial statements have thundered from the pulpit both the past two Sundays.

If you are struggling financially, all I have to do is go look at the books in the office and I know immediately why you are struggling.

and.....

Tithe on what you want to make, not on what you make.

This man is a major play in the organization. It breaks my heart that an elder of so many years could be so tactless and clueless. He made the same remarks from the pulpit right before I left. About 18 months previously I had come to him to tell him that I had just experienced a 70% loss of income and that he could expect to see a decrease in my giving. I wanted him to know firsthand why one of his ministers was suddenly giving significantly less. I also informed him that for the past two years we had been tithing on the gross of our BUSINESS income BEFORE expenses were deducted instead of tithing on our salary. The only reaction I got from this was a raised eyebrow. Then soon after that the tithing sermons started and the same remarks were made then that were made the past two weeks according to the brother who called me.

So how did I get into all these financial struggles if I was really giving around 20% for two years?

The brother who called me is ready to leave the church and I do not blame him. On the one hand he wants to go to the pastor in love and ask him to clarify his remarks. But he knows that is basically suicide.

And God weeps.