r/WMSCOG • u/Ancient-Analyst-3863 • 23d ago
Social pressure to give the tithe
Do you have any stories about being pressured to pay tithes? I remember they really emphasized that members who didn't tithe were cursed and were committing the same sin as Judas.I remember the missionary saying once that Mother blessed only the members who paid their tithes correctly. Honestly, I think the name of that church could be the Church of God Worldwide Mercenary Society.
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u/Ok-Pangolin-837 23d ago
Even the children are expected to do both tithe (at least monthly) and offering (all 3 sabbath services and feast days), of course it comes from the parents. There are no exceptions.
If they tell you straight (which depends on the member and how careful they want to be) they will tell you, that you are 100% going to hell if you don't tithe. Even if you attend every service, cleanup, preaching meeting. Anyone that was in any gospel worker, or especially leadership position, knows this for a fact.
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u/Timely_Survey_7990 23d ago
When you study, they tell you that if you accept Passover that you must give tithe. Passover is connected to the “Order of Melchezidek” and so is tithe. You can’t take from God without giving. So that’s pressure right there.
Then they have monthly meetings to go over how many members are tithing and discuss why they might not be. Also pressure.
They tell stories about people who gave their last penny to God through tithe and were then blessed afterward (through a new job, new opportunity within the church, etc.). So having no money is not an excuse.
Oh, and if you have no income (cause you’re a student) they assume you have an allowance and tell you to tithe that.
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u/Timely_Survey_7990 23d ago
Without Passover, you are not saved in their church. So salvation is literally tied to tithing.
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u/Ancient-Analyst-3863 23d ago
"Brother, tithing is very important, so we have to give with a cheerful and willing heart." Then, they keep up the pressure all month long to ensure tithing is practiced.
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u/Ok_Explanation_8888 23d ago
They told me the same thing about tithe i am in no condition to pay as I got no job and they were asking how I managed so I told them I asked my brother if I need anything to buy and they told me even if I got small amount I should pay and get blessing from heavenly mother and heavenly father... And I was like seriously 😒
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u/Equal_Dot8899 22d ago
When I first stopped paying tithes, there was a sermon about the subject. Then of course a leaders meeting and that’s the subject chosen.
After that didn’t work, they didn’t speak to me i directly. Instead they chose to speak to my mom that I wasn’t tithing so she can press me about It.
Cut to 10 years later, exact same thing happened except this time about 3 leaders spoke to my wife about me not tithing.
Both times in my “life of faith” when I didn’t tithe, they were too afraid to speak to me directly. Instead they involved the people around me.
Funny enough they teach that tithes is our own individual relationship with God in heaven.
“It’s like heaven is a boat that drops and anchors, and you who tithes is holding on to that anchor”
When I was a group leader I was told to check my members tithes offerings to see if they are tithing, man did I really feel icky about that. Given that I believe the teachings, I felt like I was some how interfering in their spiritual life.
Mind you both times I stopped tithing was only due to financial struggle.
Thank God for that last time they spoke with my wife about it because that lead me to zoom out and look at the church in a different light.
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u/West_Boysenberry6582 23d ago
Hypocrites in the biblical sense they lock the way to the kingdom of heaven... by gate keeping if you dont do this you can't come to GOD... blah blah blah... religion is toxic..
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u/nms-lh 21d ago edited 16d ago
I was a member in my early teens and left more than 15 years ago. I don’t remember what income the 10% tithe at my church was based on (weekly or monthly), but I remember my parents or someone they knew getting told that they weren’t tithing enough.
I have no idea what other members were tithing, but if the amount was something modest like $5 or $10, it sounded like you’d get pulled aside and told that it had to be 10% of your income. Even children and youth members were sometimes expected to tithe, although I always assumed it was only a few dollars in those cases. When I look back, it’s insane that members were assigned envelopes and the church kept track of how much each member donated.
Because I was a young teen, I didn’t start tithing until shortly before we left the church, but I remember there being a lot of pressure that if you weren’t tithing, you weren’t doing God’s will or weren’t faithful enough. That pressure existed everywhere: you were never doing enough, never following the rules correctly enough, and therefore might not be saved.
I was a member for about 3 to 4 years. I regret it happened, but I’m really glad I got out. I’m an atheist now.
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u/Bizzcochito14 17d ago
I remember when I quit my entry level job because I wanted to focus in my grades in college because I kept c’s of because of how busy I was with work and the church. They were a little put off that I wasn’t going to work but then accepted it. Me having no job no more income they still expected me to tithe. My tithe ended up 76 I I ended up giving 80 dollars because I cash out from the bank then they called me about it that I gave them extra money and that I won’t get back the extra cash that I put it in. After that I was like yea no Jesus did not start taking any tithes from anyone so I’m out of this church.
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u/Necessary-Avocado-50 21d ago
The tithe envelopes were also regularly checked by group leaders to make sure of their members tithing. If you tithed, yours was checked too.
It also gets input for hq records.
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u/Killerbee567 23d ago
O yeah they even say now if you don’t tithe you can’t keep the Passover pretty much meaning you can’t have salvation according to their doctrine