Would You Pay to Go to Church?

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Sunday morning rolls around. You hop out of the family station wagon. And you get in there.

So you got your duds on, you got the children in tow, maybe you drop the children off it. at their their class And you walk up. And The guy at the door says 20 bucks, please, to get into church. They're charging you admission for church. Here's my question.

Would you pay? to go to church. That is the question of the day. I've been out all day talking to people. Truth on the streets is real, it's live, it's back.

We're asking that question. We're mixing it up. We're challenging people. This show, Truth Talk Live, I'm Stu Epperson. The original Truth Talk Live host, although the other hosts who sit in this chair are far more gifted, talented, and smart, smarter than me.

We love them all, and we love you for joining us every day on this program, our wonderful affiliates too. The question is: churches charge. What if your church charged? Would you go to another church? Would you find a cheaper route?

Would you say this ain't right? What if they charge maybe a little bit more for Christmas? Maybe just a tiny bit more for. Four. Easter, I mean, the production level is a lot higher, right?

You got a lot going on.

So I want to hear from you, 86634 Truth, 8663487884. I've asked some people out there. I've trolled around some candid comments. I got some stuff thrown right back at me. I'm not chan I'm not gonna chan I'm not the goal of the show isn't to ch Challenge How you navigate paying or not paying, or create a whole new system.

The goal of the show is to challenge your thinking. to comfort the afflicted. And to afflict the comfortable, which is one of our key agenda points here. Every day we open the mic on Truth Talk Live. 866-348-7884.

We've got some folks that are already calling in. The question today is, would you pay? To go to church if church has charged you.

Now, one of the big reasons that a church might consider charging is because very few people actually tithe. Very few people give to the church. The numbers, if you go to barna.org, it's heartbreaking. I've heard as low as less than 10 percent of church members give 10 percent. And you're sitting there thinking, well, we're arguing about the tithe.

I mean, it's not really.

Well, you're supposed to give more than the tithe.

Well, you're supposed to give a. You know, there's a Thanksgiving offering, right? And there's a harvest offering, and then there's an above and beyond offering, and there's all these other offerings. I agree that a tithe is maybe not necessarily the biblical. Standard, but at least it's the bare minimum.

At least we could give that much. And a lot of folks that argue about the tithe or giving net or gross ain't giving a lick.

So why not charge them? Just eliminate it. Hey, what if there were no sermons on giving at your church because everyone paid 25 bucks to get in every Sunday morning? 86634-TRUTH 866-34-87884. Should have pastor.

I want to hear from some pastors out there. What would happen if you paid, if you charged? And would you pay? Would it be a non-starter from you? Or for you now, I got a lot of things in here, and I and this will this.

We're covering, stay with us the whole hour. I'm going to close this thing, we're going to put a nice biblical bow. At the end of this discussion. Yeah. But we're gonna get into maybe probe deeper into why people do or why they don't give, even more sadly.

And then we're also gonna talk about why do I go to church? Is there a value there? That would would cause incursion. A transaction of some sort to charge. You charge for Christian concerts.

You charge to go to hear Christian events, Christian speakers. They pack out the Metro Dome to go hear about the love languages.

Someone's got to pay. For the materials, for the box lunch, for all that. Why wouldn't a church charge Sunday morning? I mean, there's childcare, there's an amazing sermon, it's eternal life for Pete's sake. Doesn't it count for something?

866-34 Truth. We're jumping to Mike. Our first caller, right out of the gate, Mike, jump in. Would you pay? If you walked up and they said, hey, pull in your wallet.

No, we're not passing the plate.

Well, we're still going to pass the plate, probably. We're asking you to pay up to get in. What would you do? I would absolutely pay, yes. And and uh and the reason I would pay is this is because a lot of people go to church and don't give anything.

Yeah. Now, there is and by the way, this is Michael's Wick, so I think you know but uh oh one of the see what the the host the the the other host on our on our show love this program so much even they take time to call in. They do. And when you asked me this morning, Stu, I've been thinking about it. And so this is what some people may say.

Well, there are some people who make a lot less than other people.

So you could maybe say, do it according to your income or something like that. But I think that's exactly what the tithe is, is it not? Yeah, well I mean, you could look at it that way, you know, because half the people I surveyed today said basically, I already pay because I tithe. I want to support my church. I don't see it as a have to.

Or a got to, I see it as a get to. And that's kind of the heart we want to get to today. Because you think about all the missionaries that are begging for funds, that are hurting, that are dying, that are having to come home. On furlough, instead of spending time at the beach, instead of spending time at a nice lake house, recuperating from being in prison, from being. Working 90 hours a week, being the only Christian on the island, and planting churches and all that, instead of recuperating, they're having to roll around all these churches to raise money.

Because we're just by and large We're not as As generous, maybe as we should be.

So, I think, Michael, you've made a great point. Let's see what some other folks think. I appreciate your call, man. Thank you, sir. God bless you.

I'd like to hear him do a show on this. He'd get it going. 866-34-Truth. Would you pay? To go to church.

Now, on the other side, What about Stu, this is like blasphemous. I mean, this is. The gospel's free. Jesus died and he paid for our sins. Why would anyone ever charge?

Why would a church charge to go there?

Well, I mean, what about that side? And does this, in fact, cross a line by even. Suggesting this or talking about it, but that's what we do. We're discussing this on this show today to get people thinking and also to get you to weigh in. And maybe you have had a good experience or a bad experience with something like this.

86634 truth.

Now, some churches are already charging. For their Big bang up Christmas programs and Easter programs. That's already happening. Churches are charging for their Valentine's banquets because there's food involved. They serve a nice meal, they bring in a nice Christian comedian or a nice couple to talk about relationships.

There are kids' events that there's cover fees for. You send the kids off to the theme park to Six Flags. Mom and Dad got us throw ten bucks in the lunch pail for them to go off with a youth group.

So there are Transactional issues and events like that that are already in the hopper, but what about just Sunday morning? What if there was a charge? Should pastors charge for people to come to church? It's the church's charge. 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884.

Let's go to B. We got him on in Dayton, Ohio. 106.5 FM. Would you pay, sir, to go to church? What say you?

I love This topic Stu Epperson. It's amazing how serendipitous your topic is today, brother. to what's been going on in my life here in Dayton, Ohio.

So I want to open with that. Yeah. I want to open with that, Stu. Thank you so much. This is what I love about Truth Talk Live, sir.

You touch the parts that get unspoken and undealt with. In modern Christianity in America today. Thank you, dear friend. For unveiling this and bringing it out into the open where we can discuss this, as the Bible says, come and reason together. Does it not say that?

Yeah, yes, sir. Yeah. And so I want to thank you for this topic. And I hope your phone calls, I hope St. Nick gets flooded with people all around even the Internet, it could be globally.

Uh, Stu, to answer this, all right. Can't wait to answer your question. We want to hear, we want to hear your answer. We want to hear what in that what stirs you in that. I got some truth on the streets.

I'm going to play some of these will knock your socks off and get you really thinking. The toll-free number is 866-34TRUTH, 866-348-7884. Front center, question of the day: Would you pay? To go to church, or how would that change your view of church? Is it a one way for churches to extract a little offering, a little help, a little support, a little giving?

More coming up. You're listening to The Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Bye. Sir, would you pay? I mean, it's eternal life, it's forgiveness of sins, it's all these good things.

It's a great message, great music. Would you pay to go to church? I tithe. I give him a tithe, talent, and tithes. You do that way.

What about you? Oh, he's running away from the microphone. That guy doesn't want to answer, does he?

So you don't think churches churches should charge a cover fee? Absolutely not. Finally.

Okay, and I've had people say, I'll go start my own church if you do that. Wait till you hear some of these other ones. I mean, I went all over and I asked a lot of folks, and some folks had some strong feelings. A simple question today: I'm Stu Everson. This is Truth Talk Live: Would you pay?

To go to church.

I mean, churches, look, these pastors, they're studying hard to put together amazing sermons. There's childcare in many places, in most instances, offered. There are some tremendously gifted Sunday school teachers and breakouts and discipleship classes. And then you have the facility. I mean, you think that facility just showed up there?

You think that someone snapped their finger and a genie in the bottle said, oh, whoop, there's the seats. There's the nice. Cushy chairs, there's the nice AC when it's 90 degrees in the summer, and there's the nice heat when it's 20 degrees in the winter. You think all that just showed up? No, someone had to pay for that, and let me tell you who paid for it: gracious, generous givers.

But Not everyone gives. For some reason, there's a block. There's something blocking. Many believers from giving even 10%. It's like the numbers, like less than 10% of Christians give 10% to the church when you go look at all the Barnum numbers.

And if someone wants to correct me on those numbers, I would love to be corrected. I would love nothing more than to admit I am wrong. I am a goose egg wrong on that. St. Nick, our producer, I mean, please call.

If you want to correct me on that, those statistics will put you over ahead of all these callers that are calling in. But we'd love to hear from you. Just what, how does that hit you? What's your raw reaction to the thought of paying? Would you pay?

To go to church.

If they said we're going to have to, things are tough, we're going to have to charge you. to come in today. Would you pay? 866-34TRUTH. We'd love to hear from you.

Nope, we're not shaming anyone. No question necessarily is a wrong question. We're just talking about it, getting to biblical truth, where we talk about on this show pop culture, current events and theology. And this is an important area of the value of church. How much do we value?

Do we value it enough that we would pay? If if called upon To attend. What in the world? I want to tell you how this conversation came up too. There's a humor story behind all this that I'd love to share with you and get your feedback on.

866-348-248-3. 7884 is our toll-free number nationwide. To join the conversation here on Truth Talk Live. We got Big B.

Now, he's going to tell us how did this subject hit your heart, sir? What is your... What's your kind of gut reaction to this, sir? This is amazing, Stu.

So I was in conversation with this brother of ours. on this very topic topic. He's like, Bussman, what do we do about money? when it comes to sharing the gospel.

Now, I'm going to go ahead and give a shout out to this man. Stu. He is a bright young man. Beautiful wife, lovely little daughter. And he is an evangelist.

Fool. I mean, he evangelizes like nobody's business, Stu. And he's got the receipts. He knows the scriptures. He's got awesome ways to start conversations with.

Know Jesus' people and getting them talking about and even loving Jesus by the time he gets done conversations with these folks. He does it at Walmart. He does it at the mall.

So, how does he handle the money? How does he handle the money elephant in the room? That's what I want to know. Here's where it comes into play. Austin charges no one for bringing the information to the man or the woman at Walmart.

Oh, wow. We do not then set out a hat, Stu, and say, thank you for listening. Here's our hat, like I'm a buster, like busters do. I played your music. I played the music, you danced.

feel free to drop drop a couple bucks in my in my tip jar. We do not do this as an evangelist. And when the people call us back, Stu, we give our personal numbers. Stu, and our personal emails, you know, sir, sir, ma'am, please. And they call us back, Stu.

Hmm. They call us back. Do they ever get charged for that by Austin and myself? Absolutely not. This is why.

People in your town, there in the Carolinas, will not come to church. When I talk to Americans, Stu. And say, hey, why don't you come to church? Because they're all hypocrites, is number one, that always comes through their mouth. Number two.

They want money. They want my money. Yeah. So, brother, if you put out a sign that says $20 entry fee. You're going to repel even more.

Well, here's what, but here's what let me push back on you just a little bit. Can I? Yes, sir. Go ahead, sir. If statistically, so few Christians, I'm not talking about the non-Christians that are already skeptical.

If statistically so few Christians are giving, okay? A and B The church is struggling and having to do all these sermons on giving all the time, okay? And C. There's a practical way, hey, we can actually get a little, we can little, we can recover a little bit and actually pay our, you know, pay the toll that it costs to be. on in this building To pay for our HVAC, to pay for the parking, to pay for the gas, the oil, to pay for the energy, to pay for the water.

I mean, it's you know, you gotta run these facilities. Oftentimes, they're connected with Christian schools that cost a lot of money. My point is. And here's the other point. Not only is it.

The pressure, the financial pressure under churches. But the second thing in the argument in favor of them It's simply this, okay? You gotta have skin in the game. I'm paying to If the movie theater called and said, Hey, come to the movie, it's free. I'm thinking that's a that's a worthless movie.

It's free. No one's gonna show up. I have heard statistics. From Christian events, Christian banquets, with speakers, everything. That when they charge for tables, when they charge for tickets, they're nearly sold out.

But When they don't charge, they say, Hey, come on in. We're going to feed you for free, give you an amazing night, an amazing speaker. you know, and so on and so forth. Because there's no skin in the game. Oftentimes that event isn't near as successful.

as when people, I mean, I just finished I just finished, we just supported an FCA golf event. Do you think they charged? Dog on straight, they did. And guess what? Because we supported it and because we wrote a check to donate to FCA, guess what I did?

I was on the phone all hours trying to find a forsom. Because I'm not letting that go to waste because I got skin in the game, right? As opposed to them just saying, hey, bring a few golfers, show up if you can, no worries, right? And then so they got the sure donation because there are people that will take that free ride and never support it, B? And maybe and so I'm kind of trying to figure out how we Rally them in, and I really appreciate your comment because I'm with you a thousand percent in your evangelist friend.

On the goal is enough generous people support. that there's no need to charge anything. But what if they're not stepping up? But what if, what if, hey, what if we charged unbelievers? Hey, you're going to come in here and hear about eternal life.

You need to pay up, buddy. What? Because we're begging them to come already and they don't want to come. We're already begging him. What if we said, hey, it's 20 bucks?

They're all of a sudden they're like, oh gosh, hey, maybe there's something there. It's worth paying for to hear about this, this message. I mean, it is eternal life, forgiveness of sins. I become a trillionaire in Christ. You know what I'm saying?

So, I mean, I don't know. Maybe it's time we rethought a few things, even some of these holy grails. But I appreciate your call. Quick on that. Yes, sir.

Quick. Stupid. They don't see eternal life, sir. Only the Christians see your turtle off. That's right.

That's right. They will not pay for something that they do not.

Well, why don't you pay their way to come? Why don't you say, hey, I'm paying your $20 for you to come to this service?

Now you're cooking. But I'm still not thrusting that as my premise that churches should pay. I'm simply asking the question. Should they pay? And how does that sit in your craw to hear that thought, to hear that idea?

86634 Truth. Jamal's on. We got another line filling up too here. God bless you, B. Keep spreading the word, man.

God bless you. Tell everyone about 106.5 FM all across Toledo and Greenville and Dayton and Lebanon up there and in Indiana. We got some great listeners up toward Fort Wayne. Jamal, you're on Truth Talk Live with Stu. Thanks for taking my call.

Good subject as usual. I'm going to give you the politician's answer. All right. I'm going to say. Uh, you're both right on both topics.

Okay, yes, they should pay, and no, they should not. And I'm saying that depending on what kind of church you're talking about.

Now if you're talking about your brick and mortar I agree with you 1000%. You got to pay for lights, heat, parking and all that. And you got to pay for the maintenance of the building, taxes and all that. Um so yes, you gotta pay for that.

Now, if you're talking about the The non-brick and mortar church, where it's just two or more are gathered, like we did today within the word. Then I say, no, you should not have to pay because you're just having fellowship.

So I would say yes to both.

Okay. There's a politician in every crowd. I think we found ours here with that. Great answer. Yeah, you're going to hear some of these truths on the streets, Jamal, and I'll tell you.

Honestly. This whole thing came about. I got to tell you the genesis of this. I don't know if you saw on social media, Easter Sunday. I bumped into my buddy Herb in the lobby.

And I actually did a video that kind of went viral. And I said, I was about to go into the service. It was packed. There's all these people you never see that are just there. And I'm glad they're there.

Hallelujah. And I said, Herb, I said, look. I said, I don't have my money with me. I don't have my bill fold with me. I left it in the car.

I said, how much is it to get in? Can I just borrow a couple of bucks? And he looked at me, and the whole little crowd gathering looked at me, you know, because I kind of get a little loud, and they're like. A couple bucks, it's free. Just go in.

I said, hold on a second. Eternal life. The resurrected Lord? The fact that, you know, grace, forgiveness, and the amazing music that's going on in there, it can't be free. Are you kidding me?

Anyway. A good laugh came out of that. But a question for the show today: we got more callers calling in. Jamal, thank you for your call. 866-34-TRUTH.

Would you pay? To go to church, hey, maybe pay a little extra for Easter, Sunday, or Christmas. 866-34 TRUTH. More coming up right here. Don't touch that dial on Truth Talk Live.

Mm. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Hey. and there's a charge to get in. Would you pay and how do you feel about that?

Absolutely, I'd pay. I wouldn't think twice. My church is my family, you know. I technically do pay to go to church now because I believe the Lord calls us to give faithfully and provide for.

So, tithes to the church, so technically there should be a pew there with my family's name on it. What about you, fella? Why are you shaking your head? I wasn't shaking my head. I agree with everything Nicholas said.

Well, I do have another comment, actually. I guess I would double down and say it shouldn't be limited to 20. It shouldn't be a specific amount request. It's just say, you know, do what you can. But the Lord calls us to give generously, so each and every Sunday should be a reminder.

And So So you go double, so you go double down, double down, yeah. And you go double at Christmas and Easter. Without a doubt. More parking, more production. What about finish that up?

I'm going down on that too, and going back and say, The Word of God should be free to all to hear. But at the same time, there had to be a cost. I'd want to be willing and able to pay for anyone to come in. I love it.

So you pay it forward at church. Yeah. Just like you do at Chick-fil-A. I'm paying for the guy behind me. Just don't be done to order a giant platter.

And you caught me off guard. And that's why I think I froze up because that's where I was trying to get my mind to what Nicholas just said. It's like. Anybody should be able to come, and it's the word of God is not exclusive, you know. That's where I think there's a issue in some ways where you know you don't want to make it to where you have to pay it again 'cause then it is just a production just like anything else.

Okay, that's truth on the streets. I got some more of these too. I got a bunch of them. I got some good ones. I tell you, and I thank you for people for letting me put them on the spot.

I'm asking the question all hour long: would you pay? To go to church.

Now, can you pay for your salvation? Absolutely not. Of course not. Can you earn? Eternal life.

No way, Jose. But The question is Should church be free? Because the church has got to raise the money. The church has got to fund. The church is trying to send out missionaries.

They're struggling. There's more missionaries. Coming wanting support from churches than churches can't support. I mean, I talked to the bishop, I said, why don't you go over there and get some money from them? They're loaded.

They're big old. We've already tried. They're backed up. They're five families down. They don't have room for us.

Imagine If everyone gave 10% in that church, do you realize there wouldn't be all these sermons on giving? They would may not be passing the plate all the time. And they probably wouldn't have all this desperate need for missionaries to get support. And we'd be a lot farther down the road in fulfilling the Great Commission.

Now I'm getting my phones going crazy. I put a survey up, by the way, on Instagram. I haven't even touched Facebook yet, but on Stu Graham, of all of you who follow me there, just Stu Epperson on Instagram, I put a survey up. A simple question: Would you pay to go to church? Yes or no?

Another sub-question to that is. Would you pay ahead?

Now we got a one of my old coaches is weighing in. He says Give as the word says to give. And he quotes up, you know, 9-7 of 2 Corinthians: God loves a cheerful giver. Luke 6:38, Proverbs 11:20. I'm going to gang on to this.

Thank you, coach. You're loading me up. I'm going to have to share all these with you as we go along.

Some great scriptures on giving, which is the idea. The idea is generosity, okay? Whether it's in the form of a cover charge, we charge for Christian concerts, don't we? What about Winter Jam, the big concert they do where they charge everyone five bucks and you just kind of first come, first serve? But they charge something.

Well, you got skin in the game. But you also know where your money's going. You know where it's going because you're not giving. To some artist or some mic boom, you're giving to the Lord, depending on what's in your heart, right? And so, unlike Ananias and Sapphire, remember, they might have given a big, nice chunk of change of that land, but they withheld some.

And the Holy Spirit didn't take that lightly. Acts chapter 5, they were knocked down dead.

So God is very serious about giving. You read Malachi, you know, would you rob from God?

So I want to get to go to the back of the phone lines, ask you the question: would you give, would you pay? To go to church.

If there's a charge, 50 bucks, 20 bucks, 5 bucks, you get to church. They say, hey, we're going to have to charge you. We're having a little lean time right now, just $5, $10. Uh maybe whatever you can afford. Would you still go to that church?

Or would that turn you off? Maybe you are an unbeliever you're visiting. You're like, oh, no, to our earlier caller's point.

Now, Jamal wanted us to clarify that he says, yes, you should pay toward brick and mortar stuff, but not necessarily for the fellowship things and whatnot in those different classes, which is plausible. And we're glad that he clarified that. But what say you? 866-34-Truth, 866-348-2648. 7884.

Would you pay? If they charged you to go to church. And what would be your biggest challenge with that? You think it's a bad idea, a good idea? I want to hear from you on Truth Talk Live.

I'm Stu Everson. Sean, you are in the hot seat. Thanks for calling in. Absolutely, Stu. I would pay and pay and pay.

And you know why? Because the good news is free, Jesus paid it all. And he gives us this opportunity to enter into a relationship with him absolutely freely of charge. He's paid the whole bill. But I get the privilege of financing and paying my share towards hearing God's word every week.

So, if you charge me to get into church, I would love to hear that preacher deliver the truth and the principles and the transformational works and words that help bring life to our family, to me. And I think it's not a bad idea, except for here's the fact. The cults seem to master this. They want your tax returns and they force you to send in your 10%. And God says, Why don't you just go ahead and do that out of a love for me, out of a cheerful heart for me?

Give me what you want to give me. And I think that that's the way that we who tithe. Get to joyfully give back for the great news. Wow.

Okay, now let me just clarify this up, Sean. I just want to clarify because you just said a lot better.

Now you're like, I'm feeling the energy. I'm actually, you're firing me up. And again, I'm not saying, now don't go quote me and don't go call our affiliates and say, take this guy, this nut off the air, because I'm not saying I'm not purporting or advancing this notion that churches should charge, okay, for admission. I'm just asking the question: how would you handle it if they did? And should they?

You know, I'm not saying they should, but you're saying if you wield up, Sean. You wield up, there you are. You pile out all the little Sean's and your wife, Mrs. Sean, and the children, grandkids. You pile out of the station wagon.

You're all, you know, you're all dolled up in your Sunday best. You walk in. You're saying if at the door they said, hey, listen, uh it's 15 bucks a head to get in. For Sunday service.

Now that includes all the music. That includes the opportunity to give above and beyond because we will pass the plate. That includes the sermon, the invitation, everything all covered and all bound up, and includes childcare.

Okay. Would you You're saying you would pull out your bill fold and you would cover, and maybe the kids are half off, you know, or kids eat free, you know?

Okay. Well, you would pay. You're saying you would pay. You're saying you would come up with the money. Hey, Stewie, if I go to see my doctor, what happens?

The first thing I have to do is put a hundred dollar bill down.

Now, that's whether or not I'm going to. Yeah, that's and that's getting out easy. That's getting out. Hey, that's getting out easy the way modern healthcare is, right? You you betcha.

Okay, interesting. It's a good idea to give freely. And if you can't give, I mean, obviously, look, our pastor spends all week. Preparing for that message, that life-giving, life-enriching message. Why wouldn't I want to slap some greenbacks down and say, you know what?

I can't wait to hear it all.

Okay. Wow.

Okay. This is folks. This is dangerous. He's taking it a lot farther than this host ever intended it for go. Let's hear what some other folks think.

Sean, thank you for your call, man. God bless you. Bye for now. But you know what? That guy, that guy, listen to that guy.

Listen to this when we make it a podcast. He loves the church. He's excited to go. You know, there's this kind of gotta go to church. And then there's this get to go to church.

Which one are you? Are you excited? Are you hungry when you miss church? Because you missed the great message and all that. And you miss being with God's people.

And it's not just some posing hour. It's not just some. External Pharisaical exercise? I mean, is this something that's in your heart? And when you start talking about money, everyone says money exposes the heart, right?

We say that, don't we? We say, Yeah, how you handle money? You look at a guy's checkbook, you can tell his heart.

Well, this is this is putting it on front and center. This is pay up or shut up. Supposing your preacher says, hey, You got to fork over some money you're getting in here this week. Would you turn around and go find another church? It's terrible to think this way, it's counterintuitive.

But it's asking us a deeper question, what's the value of church? 866-34 TRUTH. I want to hear from you. 866-348-7884-1242. Would you pay?

To go to church? Is it an awful idea? Or do you agree with Sean? He's like. He's like first in line.

Let me pay. I'll pay over. I'll pay for the family behind me. I'll pay for half the parking lot to get in. That guy, like, if they charged, I would want to go in at the same time with him and say, Hey, listen, I left my money.

I checked my car. You might, oh, yeah, man, this is awesome. You're gonna, you're gonna love this preacher. You're gonna, you know, you would just fork it right over 866. Three, four, eight, seven, eight.

884 asking the question of the day: Would you pay? If your church charged you. To attend. Would you? Pony up.

Would you pay? And put money in. The plate, yes or no? 866-348-7884. I want to play a quick truth on the streets.

We got some other folks trying to call in. We dropped a couple calls there, but we're going to get you back. But let me see if I can play this one. Let's see. Here's one we got earlier.

Let's see. Truth on the streets. Supposing they announced that your church is going to start charging. Because so few people actually give. Would you pay to go to church?

Yes. You would? How come? Because Every man drawing breath needs to be a part of the body of Christ. We need to be a part of that group of people praying for each other, supporting each other, encouraging each other.

So you would pay to go. What about this fellow here? Yeah, I would. And, you know, I think it's actually not a bad idea because the Bible talks about giving a percentage of your income. And so, now, if they're going to charge somebody who doesn't have any money, literally is broke.

If they're going to charge them the same price as somebody who has a million dollars, I have a problem with that. But I would say it would be according to your income. I wouldn't have a problem with that at all. Would you pay a thousand bucks to go on Easter? I would.

A few thousand? I gotta run. Yeah, you it's all about the money, money, money. But it does get interesting when you start when you start putting the money factor in. But it also, you kind of, you know, money shows kind of sometimes what's in the heart.

And the question is, do I own the money or does it own me? And when it gets down to church, it really gets interesting. We're going to win up on a break, but let's go to Robin real quick. Another Ohio caller, 106.5 FM in Greenville, Ohio. Robin, you're on Truth Talk Live.

Welcome. Hello there, brother. How are you doing this fine? Thank you for calling. What about you?

How does this hit you? What do you think about this topic? And would you pay if they charged you to go to church?

Okay, I just want to say this. My father is a pastor retired. I've been a chaplain, I say all this very humbly. Um would I pay to go to church? No, because I feel like if I have to pay, first off, I want to say this.

Let me start with the word of God. The word of God says that God loves a cheerful giver. I like that. I do not believe in for 40 years, I believed in a 10% tithe.

Now, just don't hang up on me. Just stay with me. I'm not going to hang up on you, but I'm going to carry you through this other break because I'm really glad you're bringing this up because there's a system which, if you charge, you're kind of compelling. And you may be robbing that little cheerful. I like that.

Hold on. I'm going to let you finish on the 10%. Robin, stay on the line. We've got other callers in. Alex, Gene, and Bill, you all hold on.

We're going to come back on Truth Talk Live. Would you pay if they charged you to get into church this Sunday? More coming up at 866-34 TRUTH. Hang on. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.

Hey, if church is so good and you love going, here's my question. Would you pay? to go to church if they were charging you at the gate would you pay Why? But because it is something that is fueling my soul. And it's worth being paid for.

What about you, sir? Would you pay to go to church? No, I had to start my own church, but I wouldn't have to, so nobody would have to pay. All right. Would you pay to go to your church?

I haven't seen a church in this town that I was paying to go to. Whoa! Ouch! If your church charged you to get in to service on Sunday. What'd you pay?

I would still go. But I would have to have a coverage thinner. I mean, you're opening yourself up to all kinds of things in this deal. You wouldn't believe it. I'm not playing all the clips I got today on Truth on the Streets.

I've been working on this angle and been thinking about this. It's been convicting to me thinking about even my own stewardship. How generous a giver am I? Am I giving from the heart? I'm Stu Everson.

This is Truth Talk Live. We comfort the afflicted. We afflict the comfort. We ask the tough questions. And one of those questions is: how important is church to you?

Is it so important that you would pay if they charged you? What if a church said, look, no one's giving? We're tired of beating this giving drum every week, and so few folks are tithing and giving what they should be giving before the Lord. And maybe they're not mature in that area. Maybe they're struggling, or maybe they're just, we know that we know these folks are doing well out there.

They're buying the lattes and they're paying for youth sports like crazy and et cetera, et cetera, but they're not putting money to help us advance this ministry. And it's only, you know, some churches, maybe it's like the 80-20 rule, you know, 20% are given to 80% of the needs. You know, and there's some Barner research that says, you know, as little as 10% of church members are giving 10% to the church.

So, could this be a way of correcting it? You know, almost like the, I hate to use this illustration, but the lottery. You know who buys lottery tickets? The poorest people in the culture. The people that don't pay taxes.

So the government.

Someone down the line said, Hey, we're going to tax the poor. It's also called a predatory tax. I'm against it, by the way. I've been on this show. Inflamed against the lottery, against the education, a lot of these things, because it doesn't really help education, and it's gambling.

But what do they do? They stick it to the poor guy. You know, Daddy Bear leaves the home, the housing, the government housing, and instead of going and buying. Instead of going and buying bread and milk for his family in desperate need, what does he do? He sees the big billboard that happens to be bought by the big lottery commission.

In the worst neighborhood in the in the in the in the on the on the south side of Chicago, he sees the billboard that says this is your ticket to two billion dollars in a trip to Hawaii. And he goes into the convenience store instead of buying bread and food, he buys lottery tickets. But the government gets money out of them that way.

So that's why it's called a poor tax or a predatory tax. It's very unfair. But what if the church said, hey, these folks aren't given anyway, let's charge?

Now, I'm not suggesting that. I'm just asking the question, would you pay? If your church charged you for attendance, now we've got the child of a pastor on the line.

So I'm so glad Robin called in. It's so important that we carried Robin over from the break. Jump in here, tell us. You were going on it. You believe in the 10% tithe.

And I don't want to go too deep on that today. That's not the point of this show. The point of this show is: if someone would give 10%, we might not be in the financial mess we're in, where people are having to beg for money to go reach the world when, in fact, there should be a plenty. There's so much money in the body of Christ, but we tend to be miserly. The people that are blessed the most tend to be, we tend to be parsimonious with God's money.

It's not ours anyway, Robin. But speak your peace on this. Go ahead. Everything I have is given to me by God. Even my children, I am a steward over them.

They're my flesh and blood, and bone of my bone. But they are gods. And I just want to say, I do not necessarily, the reason I brought the 10% private. Is because I am a firm believer that Jehovah Yera, Jehovah Jireh, will provide. I have seen And serves I've been involved in several.

I've been a chaplain myself, and I say all these titles humbly because titles don't glorify God, it glorifies man. I'm going to say that again: titles don't glorify God, it glorifies flesh. Although I do believe that people are worthy of the title.

However, I firmly believe that the ten percent tax has been misconstrued. And it's taken me. I'm 43. It has taken me 40 years to come to the realization that the 10% tithing we have twisted into money.

Now, just give me a minute. In the Old Testament, there was what was called a common pot. And that was for the poor. It was where you brought 10% of your harvest in, all right? What we've done in the New Testament, and I hear people complain about 10%, and again, I don't really believe that.

We've twisted it. That's my humble opinion. And my research, when I look in the New Testament, the book of Acts, they gave everything, okay? They gave 100%. And when Ann and Myas and Safira held back.

They got carried out by their feet. They got killed, yeah. Yeah, you burst them and then her. Even though she seems And Peter says, You have not lied to me, but you have lied to the Holy Ghost.

So we can either look at the Old Testament, which some people say is 10% of money. Here's the truth. I believe that if the church is operating properly, And there I am a free child of God. I'm not worried about 10%.

Okay. I'm a widow. I can talk about the two pennies that got thrown in there. God of blah blah blah. No disrespect to God's word.

That's right. It was all. It's true. You should not have to. I don't, whenever you hear somebody getting up preaching and on this 10% tithe, first off, that's unbiblical.

I want you to show me where it says I have to get it.

Well, here's why I don't like to have debates about the tithe, okay? I don't like to have debates about the tithe because less than 10% are given 10%.

So we're spending all this energy saying, well, this is not what the biblical, well, at least give something, Robin. No one is giving to the church.

Okay? I can make your argument for you. I could finish your point. I agree with you. But people aren't giving.

Should we go back to your point about stewardship, about generosity, about none of it's mine? I think I like that, and I agree with you. But I would love to hear a sermon on 10% because no one even gives that much, sadly.

So Is because we've got false teachings coming through. And if we do not, here's what I've had. When's the last time I heard a sermon on a 10% tithe? I can't name it. I can't even tell you when.

So I don't even, I think that, I think I don't get stuck in that. But I just want to say this, brother. It's I am truly a child of God. I sincerely, I believe God would rather you're gonna be all greggy, and I don't care if it's 2%, that's only two things. Needs it.

God does not need it. He does need it. Yeah, that's a great point. That's such a good point. Hey, we haven't even talked about George Mueller yet.

We haven't even talked about George Mueller, man. He would probably throw up here in this conversation. We got to go to another car. Robin, God bless you. Thanks for sharing that.

Taking us into some deep theology waters. Robin is from Greenville, Ohio, 106.5 FM. Let's go to Spartanburg, the Berg, the home of the beacon, and the new 88.3 FM. Alex, you're in a hot seat. Would you pay?

To go to church.

Okay, um, absolutely not because the question is backwards. Isn't the church and the leaders of the church start supposed to pay with their lives to bring people to Christianity? Oh, wow. The apostles gave their lives and the died For the churches that they built. That was the price.

Yeah. So maybe we're thinking about it completely backwards. Maybe we're backwards on this thinking. Yeah. Okay.

So when the world sees our generosity and kindness, I run charity. I have raised orphans. I currently feed. about twenty orphans in Ukraine. Um, and I've been running charity for 15 years with the money of my business without ever asking the church for any donations.

And, um, but churches should be getting churches should be getting in line to support you, Alex. Churches should be burning your phone off the hook, saying, I want Alex, here, where can we send you the money? Where can we send you the support? Where can we pay this forward?

So, I'm not interested in their money because the way I saw it in my life is that feed an orphan for 10 years. Without talking to him about Christ, and he's going to come to you and he's going to say, Who is your God? I want to know him. You understand? Because the greatness of a man is measured by how many mouths he feeds and not how many words he says.

The problem with the modern-day church is that they run their mouth a lot without paying themselves to the poverty class. to the orphans. They're collecting payments about how many churches are actually running charity. I tell people that if you go to a church that has no charity program to feed the poor, it's a dead church and Christ is not there. Do not attend.

Well, you know, it's been widely said and wisely said that the church should be the charity, that we look to almighty government to take care of the poor when, in fact, it's church-led, Christian-led ministries like yours and like the local rescue mission that is really the solution, especially that bring Christ in because he is the only hope for those that are down and out. And that's not just saying it, like you said, but also, you know, providing those much-needed, whether it's food or medicine.

So thank you for your call, Alex. Appreciate hearing from you.

Okay, all right. Yes, sir. You were going to say one more thing. You were going to. Yeah, yeah, so.

A pastor is someone that feeds the sheep and not someone that talks to the pulpit as much. See, when Jesus Christ preached for three days and three nights, none of the children cried from hunger because he had the power in his word to bring to life and to feed them even physically. Yeah, you know, feeding the 5,000 minutes. Yeah, yeah, when I listen to a preacher preach for twenty minutes, I want to go to a restaurant.

Well, look, you can keep it. Hey, listen, listen, Alex. Keep your radio on 88.3. You're going to hear some of the best pastors. And, you know, because pastors need to be feeding the flock.

Paul said, preach the word.

So the pastor's call is not primarily to feed physical food to people. It's to feed the word of God, which changes the heart. And yes, the church should be charitable. The word of God. The word of God, three people or three individuals are able to speak the word of God: angels, prophets, and God himself in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Okay, well, we can't go down that rabbit hole, but thanks for your call, Alex. But I think let's take what you said about getting the word of God out to people and be sure we be in the hands of the feet of Christ. And thank you for what you're doing with those orphans, man. That's amazing. Let's got to wrap it up, guys.

Some bottom-line truth facts here. The Lord loves a cheerful giver, right out of 2 Corinthians chapter 9. And, you know, going back to what you pay to go to church, the bottom line is Jesus Christ paid for his life. He laid his life down.

So you could go to church.

So freely you have received. And so you should give freely. We should have hearts of generosity. Go to the Lord with this and ask him if you truly value being a part of his fellowship and that scene and how you give generously. Let's be givers, not takers, all for the glory of God.

So my prayer of this show today, a lot of great calls, a lot of great conversations, some folks we disagree with, some folks that wanted to take us down some theological trails that maybe we didn't have time to address, but the most important point is this. If you look at the book of Acts, if you look at the early church, it says they gave freely. They shared. This wasn't communism. No, that's hogwash.

That is unbiblical.

Socialism, communism is based on atheism and it's not what happened in Acts. What this is is sacrificial giving, like Barnabas, who gave, sold a piece of land, gave it all to the church, laid it at the apostles' feet. Unlike Ananias and Sephira, who were not cheerful givers, they were selfish givers. Maybe they gave a lot of money, but not from the right heart.

So the question is: this: a few questions. Am I giving from the heart? Am I a generous, cheerful giver that the Lord loves a cheerful giver? Literally, the Greek word there for cheerful is the same word hilario, which gets our word hilarious. And it goes down to.

Do I love the Lord so much? that I want to support. The local church I'm in. If you are a believer, it's not an option. You are compelled to give primarily the local church.

Why? Because that's where you're feeding, that's where you are benefiting, and your family is benefiting from spiritually. And you're supporting the church, you're supporting the missionaries they send out, you're supporting the facilities and the growth there.

So that's a big part of your attendance is to give to that church. It's a non-starter, it's compelled by scripture, okay? And then secondly, is my heart generous to give Do I see, as one of our callers pointed out, do I see myself not as an owner? I don't own this stuff. I'm a steward.

God has simply given me this family. He's given me time, He's given me talent, He's given me treasure. How am I using all those things to advance His kingdom, to honor Christ, to glorify Him, and to reach this world with the good news of Jesus Christ in the world when they see me? They see someone who's unselfish, who's not grasping things and holding on to tight to things. When money comes up and when money gets pointed out out at me, am I someone who holds on and withholds?

Or am I someone who just opens my hand and gives? As to the Lord. And not an amend. That's the key point. That's the key takeaway.

I hope you'll follow me on Instagram. I'm on there under Stu Epperson. I put that survey of today's show on there and some other important posts. Related to the show, just to encourage you, I do a Bible before bed and a Bible before breakfast every day. And then I'm also on Facebook at stew.epperson.

And then you'll find me on LinkedIn and Twitter and some of these other X, some of these other places, TikTok as well, believe it or not. But I hope you will take the message of generosity. to the world. I love my favorite verse on generosity is chapter 8. Verse 9 of 2 Corinthians, where it says, This is the grace of God.

This is what Grace looks like. Where Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet he became poor, that you. That we might become rich. Being blessed, being rich isn't just material. It is Having Christ in your life, knowing him.

walking with him. And making him known. And then, what comes out of that is a heart that wants to give materially because we are no longer our own, we're bought with a price, and he paid the price.

So we could freely live, we could freely give. God bless you. TruthNetwork.com also for other resources and to download this podcast and share it with all your friends. Thanks for tuning in today.