Originally Posted by Brad

There is, it seems to me, an intimation of privacy in this passage, in that each man is to purpose in his own heart in such a way as to give ungrudgingly and not out of a burdensome sense of duty, but cheerfully. What comprises cheerful giving will certainly be different from one man to the next.

I've been in Churches where tithing was preached as a duty with regularity, and the effect seemed the opposite of that desired; folks were offended and gave less. I've been in Churches where a duty to tithe was never mentioned, and yet the level of giving was high, because the Gospel was preached and believed, and the members took responsibility for the work the body was involved in.

I've also known of Churches where some officers had the idea they needed to see members' tax returns to determine their level of giving. That's nuts. What the scriptures say is for each to give cheerfully. What Ananias did was lie about the amount. It had nothing to do with the amount itself, it was his to do with what he wanted. That event was not recorded to imply that Church officers should be monitoring income and giving levels of members. I personally would be offended if an Elder came to me concerned about my spiritual condition based on information he had gleaned from the Church treasury records. It would be a sad statement that he had to find out about problems through a bean-counter's book rather than by knowing me well enough to notice trouble, and having the courage to ask me directly, and the trust to believe my answer.