Tithing in Laguna Beach

As poor as my family may have been while growing up, my parents always faithfully provided to the church. Not a Sunday went by when each child didn't enter the church door without a filled offering envelope. On special occasions, uhmmah saw to it that separate cash "thanks offerings" accompanied the weekly offering envelopes. Tithe was always placed first.

I'm unsure of the historical context of tithing, but I imagine it originally supported priests' official responsibilities. It makes complete sense - a church cannot function on its own and must rely on its congregation for financial support. What gets sticky is when the church's leaders mismanage the money. This is perhaps one of my larger hold-ups with the larger Korean-American Christian community. In my personal experience, money supporting the mission of a church has only interfered, confused, and in many cases, permanently damaged a church community. Churches have become a business enterprise and to say the least, I'm not ok with that.

Remember when "Laguna Beach" first aired on MTV? One of its cast members was the daughter of famous televangelist Robert Schuller. He took over this year for his father as the head pastor of Crystal Cathedral Ministries. It wasn't that Christina was friends with the spoiled overprivileged rich brats of the O.C. that bothered me: it was that Christina's grandfather's enterprise landed her in a neighborhood populated by members of the highest socioeconomic stratum of America. They're in the business of ministering the gospel! Why do the minister and his family live in affluent Orange County? (I suppose Christians everywhere, even those in Orange County, need a church and pastor.)

While I am familiar with the Scripture calling for beautiful houses of God, aka churches, look at Schuller's impressive sanctuary (see photo on right from website link above). For a modern church, isn't it a little bit excessive? The annual budget allocated for maintaining that sanctuary - how many mouths could that feed? Something about gaudy material comfort and wealth just don't fit my idea of a humble servant of God. I have a wildly difficult time reconciling this reality with my notion of doing God's work. While servants of the ministry certainly have the right to reap the benefits of their devoted service to the church, must it be so gaudily done when there's so much more to be done for the less fortunate?

I find myself wondering how young adults today handle the obligation of tithing. How much does one give for tithe? Moreover, how do they know that the funds will be used effectively to support the larger good of the community?