German Catholics Told, "No Pay, No Pray"

In the News

Have you heard the playful twist someone put on 2 Corinthians 9:7? That verse, in the King James Version, reads "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." Some wit put it this way: "God loveth a cheerful giver, but he accepteth from a grouch." In Germany these days, it could be twisted a little further, to read, "God loveth a cheerful giver, but he accepteth from a grouch. The church booteth the rest."

Unlike in the United States, where church-state separation is a constitutional provision, in Germany, government tax offices collect a religious tax amounting to 8-9 percent of the annual tax bill of registered Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jews and then forward it to those faith groups. This tax amounts to perhaps 3 percent of a member's income. However, if a person officially declares at the tax office that he or she is leaving the faith, that person then no longer has to pay that tax.

Not surprisingly, some people have made the declaration so as to avoid the tax, but have continued to participate in their church.

German Catholics, however, may no longer get away with doing that. A little over a week ago, the German church's bishops issued a decree telling Roman Catholics who stop paying the tax bill that they will be excluded from all church activities, including participating in their parish, becoming a godparent, receiving the sacraments and having a religious burial.

"It's rubbish to assume one could leave the institutional church and remain a Catholic," said Rev. Hans Langendoerfer, the secretary of the German Bishops Conference. "Whoever leaves the church, leaves it completely."

The tax income is no small amount. In 2010, the German Catholic church received about 5 billion euros ($6.43 billion) from the tax, and Protestant churches got about 4.3 billion euros ($5.53 billion). From its funds, the German Catholic church operates a large network of schools, hospitals and charity projects and is a major contributor to the Vatican and Roman Catholic projects around the world.

The amount received by the Catholic church, however, has been impacted by an increase in the number of church-leavers in the last two years following revelations of decades of sexual abuse of children by priests.

The bishops' decree has been criticized by the Roman Catholic reformist movement We Are the Church, who have characterized it as "pay and pray." A spokesperson for We Are the Church said the decree sends the wrong message and "shows the great fear of the German bishops and the Vatican about further serious losses in church tax revenue."

Another group, the Union of Associations, which is loyal to the pope, nonetheless asked why the church would punish Catholics who stopped paying the tax but would permit those called heretics to stay in the church.

"So sacraments are for sale -- whoever pays the church tax can receive the sacraments," the Union of Associations said in a statement, saying the link the decree created "goes beyond the sale of indulgences that [Martin] Luther denounced" at the start of the Reformation.

More on this story can be found at this link:

German Catholics Criticise Sanctions for Those Who Opt Out of "Church Tax."  The Guardian

The Big Questions

1. Keeping in mind the financial state of your own congregation, would your church be better off in the ways that really matter for the kingdom of God if your members were taxed to support the congregation rather than asked to give voluntarily? Why or why not? What are the dangers when churches and the government get too comfortable with each other?

2. Is it possible to maintain a meaningful membership in your church without financially supporting it as you are able? Why or why not? (Suggestion: Take a look at the membership vows you affirmed when you joined the church.)

3. Do you consider efforts by your church to encourage you to contribute regularly as "less spiritual" than your church's efforts to encourage you to pray and read the Bible? Explain your answer. Would you prefer that your pastor never preach about financial giving? Explain your answer.

4. Thinking about all the things you personally spend money on, where on your priority list does giving money to your church fall? Why? How do you determine how much of your income you will give to your church? Are there any ways in which you view your giving to the church as a "tax"? Why or why not? How is a tax, such as done in Germany, different from an enforced tithe (or other amount) as a condition of membership in a congregation?

5. In most churches in the United States, what members give is not made public, even to other members. Thus, it's possible that some people who are quite able to give financially choose not to (or give only a nominal amount) but fully participate in the church otherwise. Is that a matter of sin, spiritual immaturity, selfishness or something else (and if so, what?)?

Confronting the News with Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

1 Samuel 8:15-17
"He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves"  (For context, read 8:4-22).
Malachi 3:10
"Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing." (For context, read 3:8-12.)

Tithing, which means giving a tenth, is often spoken of as the biblical standard for giving to your place of worship, but in fact, it is just one of the standards the Bible speaks of. What's more, tithing may be rooted in taxation. In 1 Samuel 8, after the Israelites, who had been a loose confederation of tribes to that point, demanded a king, Samuel tried to talk them out of it, using the words in verses 15-17 above.

Nonetheless, as Malachi suggests, giving a tenth, when done in the right spirit, reflects the generosity of God to us.

Questions: Do you think of your giving to your church as a way of thanking God for his generosity? Why or why not? In what ways does the percentage you give (as compared to your total take-home income) reflect your feelings about serving the Lord? (The most recent information we can find says that American churchgoers tithe, on average, about 2.38 percent of their income. See Tithing Hits Record Low. Christian Post.)

Would you be more likely to tithe if that money were automatically deducted from your checking account than if you wrote a check? Would you be more likely to tithe if that money were collected by the government and given directly to your church?

Deuteronomy 16:16-17
"They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you." (No additional context needed.)
Luke 21:1-4
"[Jesus] looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, 'Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.'" (No additional context needed.)

As we said, tithing is not the only standard for giving that the Bible talks about. Here, in the Deuteronomy instructions for how the ancient Israelites were to give offerings, the standard is two-fold: 1) they should not come empty-handed, and 2) they should give as they are able according to what God has given them. (When Joseph and Mary presented the baby Jesus in the temple, the offering they gave was the small one permitted for the poor. Compare Luke 2:24 with Leviticus 12:6, 8.) Giving as one is able, however, implies that one should make an honest assessment of what one is able to give, not a stingy assessment.

The poor widow was, by the way, giving way more than 10 percent of her income!

Questions: Do you prefer this standard over tithing? Why or why not? If you prefer some other standard, what is it and why do you prefer it? To whom does all the money and wealth belong anyway? How does the concept of being a "steward" enter into this?

Matthew 17:24-27
"When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, 'Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?' He said, 'Yes, he does.' And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, 'What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?' When Peter said, 'From others,' Jesus said to him, 'Then the children are free. However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.'" (No additional context needed.)

During Jesus' years on earth, loyal Jews were expected to pay a tax to support the temple, but given that Jews did not have the taxation authority that their Roman overlords did, some Jews chose not to pay it. The precedent for the temple tax stretched all the way back to Nehemiah's day, when his people said, "We also lay on ourselves the obligation to charge ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God ... for all the work of the house of our God" (Nehemiah 10:32-33).

By Jesus' day, the Pharisees, basing their conclusion on Exodus 30:11-16, considered every Jewish male throughout the world to be liable for the tax. The Sadducees, who, ironically, included the temple priests, argued that the annual tax should be voluntary rather than an imposed tax.

The point of Jesus' comment to Peter is that just as earthly kings do not tax their own children, but others, so also the children of God are free in principle from supporting the temple. But then, Jesus went ahead and paid the tax for both himself and Peter. Most likely, Jesus was not arguing against supporting the temple, but against the Pharisaic interpretation of the tax as mandatory. In fact, in Luke 11:42, Jesus criticized the Pharisees for the strictness of their tithing compared to the laxness of their good deeds: "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others."

Considering Jesus' praise for the poor widow and her offering to the temple (Luke 21:1-4), it would seem that he was quite in favor of those who gave to the temple voluntarily.

Questions: In what ways is voluntary giving a measure of one's faith and commitment? Is giving voluntarily more "spiritual" than mandated levels of giving? Why or why not? Does voluntary giving make giving to the church less "essential" when your budget is not stretched?

2 Corinthians 8:12
"For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has -- not according to what one does not have."  (For context, read 8:1-15.)

In the context verses, Paul is talking about a "special offering" for Christians in need in Jerusalem. In this verse, Paul emphasizes that he's not asking people to give more than is reasonable according to what they have, but says that what makes the gift, regardless of size, acceptable is the spirit in which it is given.

Questions: Can a church offering that is viewed by the church as an obligation and collected as tax (or a pledge) nonetheless be given with eagerness? Can the offering still do as much good for the giver as a voluntary offering?

2 Corinthians 9:6-8
"... the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work."  (For context, read 9:1-15.)

We quoted 2 Corinthians 9:7 in the opening paragraph of the "In the News" section above. We repeat it here, including some of the context. We think it's easy to understand without additional commentary.

Questions: By using the image of sowing and reaping, is Paul suggesting that if we give cheerfully, we'll get a larger sum in return? Why or why not? In what ways is giving away money a source of cheer for the giver?

For Further Discussion

1. Tell why you think the following is or is not true: Someone has said that when we present our offerings in church, the most truthful offertory prayer would be, "Lord, no matter what we say or do, this is what we think of you."

2. Respond to this, from a TWW team member: "As I grew in faith several years ago, I felt God start talking to me about tithing. I was making a lot of money then, and after doing a little calculating, I asked God, 'Do you know how much money you're talking about?!' I was certain that my husband would never even consider making such an extravagant gift. To my surprise, my husband brought up the subject, and it seemed God had been working on him, too! Shortly after that, we began tithing, and ever since that time, the first 10 percent of our joint income has gone to the church. The amount went down as both of us made a career shift to full-time ministry, and it went down even further when my husband lost his job. But we are committed to the tithe, which means 10 percent of our gross earnings. When I reflect on the wondrous gifts God has poured out on me and my family, and when I acknowledge that everything I have and everything I am comes from God, then I am truly grateful that there is a benchmark like the tithe, because otherwise I would feel like I must give it all."

3. Can a church's decisions be affected by being a financial or political partner with a government? Review the Union of Associations' remarks about heretics (presumably those who do not follow a church's rules) being able to remain members while those who refuse to pay a government tax cannot. How much of a role does money play in decisions like this? How does your congregation worshipfully handle offerings?

4. Comment on this, from a TWW team member: "The New Testament Greek word oikonomia suggests not only household, but economy and church. We get the words 'ecumenical' and 'economy' from that Greek word, and the root for 'house' is also in there. The church is an economy. There isn't a wall of separation between what we think of as holy and the offering itself."

5. Respond to this: The news story mentions people leaving the church and what it means to be a part of the church. One TWW team member comments, "What I am noticing more and more is not just the decline in church attendance, but really [a change in] the definition of what it means to be a member. More and more, I see attendance in the church to be sporadic, once or twice a month, and yet many of these sporadic church attendees still feel highly connected to the church and [view themselves as] members of that [faith] community."

Responding to the News

This would be a good time to review your church's membership vows, and remind yourself what you promised when you joined the church.