Giving with Plastic
by Dave Ramsey
| Our church is considering letting members use credit cards to tithe or give to other programs. I’m trying to prepare for a finance team meeting, and I want to be prepared. What advice would you offer? |
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Dear Dave,
Our church is considering letting members use credit cards to tithe or give to other programs. I’m trying to prepare for a finance team meeting, and I want to be prepared. What advice would you offer?
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
My advice would be to say no to this idea. Do you really believe people should tithe or give to the church with a credit card when we live in a culture where the number one cause of divorce is money problems?
I know people will argue that it’s more convenient. Well, part of the exercise of giving is to build the character of the giver. I doubt anyone’s going to break a sweat writing a check, but if they do it probably won’t cause them any spiritual harm.
I would also challenge your finance team to find one place in the Bible where something positive is said about debt. God calls debt a curse and says the borrower is slave to the lender. When God talks that way about something, it makes me think it’s probably not a good thing.
This isn’t a salvation issue. But why in the world would leaders of a church want to steer the congregation toward something negative? Hopefully, you can put an end to this bad idea before it’s too late!
Dave
Posted by mary
from washington
While I agree that credit cards should not be used to pay church donations, many people are so computer savy that they don't have checks, so a debit card payment system would be useful for them. How to set it up I don't know, I'm not sure an ATM machine in the church would be a good idea, unless it was just a small machine like the ones at retail outlets use to collect purchase payments.
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Posted by David
from herald CA
One of the greatest economic challenges we face as a nation is credit card debt. Latter Day Saints are not exempt from poor judgement relative to the use of credit cards mainly due to their convenience and lack of consideration given when used to purchase. When onr tithes with check or cash he/she does not incur debt but is forced to reconcile family accounts which generally results in wise budgeting. This is due to the fact that you live on what you have left and you are forced to acknowledge what available funds you have to live on until the next payday. This is not the case with credit cards. The Church has always advised members to stay out of debt yet it is proposing to use a tool (credit cards) to incure debt with high rates of interest. Yes, you may say the church is not advocating debt by credit card but only offering a convenience for tithe payers. We know human nature, we know there are many saints who currently carry credit card debt, we know that credit cards are easy to use and you do not have to think about the cost until the monthly statement comes in and you realize you cannot pay the balance and incure more debt as a result. I see the use of credit cards as a bit contradictory to what our leaders have advised us to do relative to anaging our finances. At least now when you pay your tithing you have it in you account or you don't and you live with the consequence. No reason to offer opportunities for the Saints to sink further in debt especially in these economic times. Since when has tithing become more important than the welfare of the saints?
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Posted by Chris
from Nampa Idaho
My understanding of tithing is that it is paid off the money you earn. If you have not earned it yet you can not pay it. You can not pay tithe off future income. You can use your credit card to pay for special events or donations, but not tithe. Chris, Nampa
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Posted by Elizabeth
from San Diego
I would love to be able to use my ATM card or "pay" my tithe on line.
I only use my checks for church anymore.
I can pay everything else but church "stuff" on line or with plastic. No credit cards, only an ATM card.
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Posted by Anne
from Ohio
This is a terrible idea! Please do not even consider it. We have been counseled by our Prophets to get out of debt and stay out. I always write a check, and then I like to hand my tithing to a member of the Bishopric, so that I save the price of a stamp. This money is put towards a can of vegetables for my food storage. Come on Saints we have to be a peculiar people!
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Posted by K
from salt lake
Dave is a nationally syndicated columnist/ radio host. The questions come from people all around the U.S. They weren't necesarily saying that it is the LDS church that is considering accepting credit card payments...
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Posted by Jeannnette
from Payson, Utah
That is a stupid idea. I feel tithing should be cash or check with the money in the account and taken off the top of your income before anything else is paid. People will definitely get into trouble paying tithing with funds they do not have. This is borrowing and is not the principle of tithing. We need to be committed to paying immediately and not because a credit card is more convenient. Debt will go up if this is allowed.
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Posted by Nicholas
from Blackfoot, Idaho
It isn't readily apparent from this article, but this doesn't mean that the LDS church is considering allowing tithing payment with credit cards. The person with the question could be from any faith. Maybe the editor should have made that clarification, being that it is a magazine chiefly for LDS people.
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Posted by Cheryl
from Lamar, Colorado
David, are you assuming that since the question is about tithing, that it is thr LDS church? Other faiths pay tithing, too, and no LDS ward I've ever heard of has a Finance Committee. I agree with Dave Ramsey, too--not a good idea.
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Posted by Janet
from Ansbach, Germany
I hate having to mail in our checks. I don't trust the mail, nor do we get back timely (read any) receipts from the church that the checks ever arrived. Doing it by credit card/debit card/ or a regular bank payment would be SOOOO nice. Granted, people shouldn't go into debt to pay tithing, but getting points on my credit card wouldn't be a bad reward, either! Besides, you shouldn't use a credit card unless you pay the monthly balance in full, anyway. To me the convenience of the system would be the bonus.
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Posted by T
from Arizona
I see nothing that indicates that the person who asked about this is referring to the LDS church. He just said that 'his church...' Do some of your readers not know that many other churches tithe and pay offerings?
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Posted by Hilary
from Tucson
If someone doesn't have a checkbook but has a checking account, they can usually use an online feature like "bill pay" to set up recurring payments or one time donations that come directly from the account, and are mailed directly from the bank. These can be sent directly to SLC (assuming one is LDS) rather than your bishop. Ask your clerk for details if you think it is more convenient that way. Many people do this who are wary of others seeing their contributions in the bishop's office.
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