Direct Deposit Tithing

So I was reading through a ministry magazine a couple of weeks ago and I read an article that I circled and then later photocopied because I knew I would want to post about it on here. It was an article about a church that offered an unique tithing option... Each week, the church would automatically withdraw your tithe from your bank account. You would figure in advance how much tithe you would want to give that year, and the church would split that figure up into 52 weeks and take that exact amount from your checking account each week.

For church members, it means no more worries about forgetting your check or cash each week before you leave for church or stressing about sending your tithe check in while you are out of town. For the church, it means a more consistent income year round as there are usually ‘dead’ times, financially... like the summer when people are busy with vacations and outdoor activities... or the winter, when harsh weather can occasionally force people to stay in on Sunday morning.

Maybe I’m in the minority. Maybe I’m just picking on a really small issue here. But it just seems to me that a tithe that is automatically withdrawn would be much less sacred and would make giving a little too easy. I’m not saying that tithing should be hard… but I do think tithing should be done with reflection, gratefulness, and surrender. In my mind, the offering time in a worship service is an amazing chance to reflect upon all that God has blessed us with, to thank him for those blessings, and finally, to acknowledge that those blessings belong to Him and that we are willing to surrender all those things back to Him.

If we were to have our tithe automatically withdrawn, the church would no doubt get our money just the same. The church would use our money for ministries just the same. But I wonder if our attitude towards giving would change a little? Writing a check or putting money in the offering plate every single week is a tangible action that is hard to ignore. Seeing four payments made to the church on our bank statement once a month… well, I’m not sure how much of an impact that will make on us.

I remember a meeting that I had with a tax professional during my first or second year in Kalamazoo. He suggested that it would save Melissa and I a ton of money in end of the year taxes if I would work out a simple deal with my church that would look like this: Once the church decided how much they would pay me for the upcoming year, I would then arrange for them to cut that back by 10% and count it as my tithe for the coming year. That way, my total package would appear to be less than it really was.

Melissa and I never seriously considered this method for various reasons. First and foremost, however, was that we wanted that weekly reminder that anything we have been blessed with has come from God and continues to belong to God. We wanted to write that check and put it in the plate each week to remind ourselves of Who we belong to… and to signify that we have chosen to surrender all of who we are and all of what we have to Him...

It just seems like we would miss all that if our tithe was automatically withdrawn each week...

What do you think?
Are there any more benefits of Direct Deposit Tithing that I’m not thinking of?
Are there more disadvantages that I didn’t mention?
Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages?
If your church started doing this, would it make you happy or concern you?