Dear Dave,
Should my wife and I tithe on our stimulus checks? She thinks we should, but I’m not sure. In my mind, we already gave our money to Caesar—so to speak—and now he’s just giving it back. What do you think?
-Luke
Dear Luke,
Well, it’s your money you’re getting back. The government doesn’t really create anything, it only takes money from us. And in this case, it gave you back some of what it took. I don’t really see that as a tithing circumstance.
The other side of the coin is that you really can’t go wrong being generous. The tithe is your baseline for generosity. You shouldn’t tithe or not tithe because of a set of rules, but if you’re having a theological or philosophical discussion about the tithe and how it works, I think your reasoning is sound.
It’s certainly not a salvation issue, but generosity is a good rhythm to have in your life. And honestly, these stimulus checks are kind of like tax refunds. You gave it to the government, and now they’re giving it back.
So, in my mind it’s okay either way. I’ve just always had an attitude of when in doubt, it’s better to give.
—Dave