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Turning down a tithe
Robert Powell hit the jackpot, winning $6 million in the Florida Lottery. He took roughly 10 percent of his windfall and put it in the collection plate, but his church, First Baptist Orange Park, and its pastor, David Tarkington, politely said no thanks.
Another pastor in Orange Park, Fla., Lorenzo Hall of the El-Beth-El Divine Holiness Church, told firstcoastnews.com, “I’m against the lottery, but if one of my members won the lottery, I wish and I hope he would give 10% to the church, we could do a lot of things with that money.”
According to firstcoastnews.com, Tarkington would not elaborate why he and his church refused Powell’s tithe.
Should a church accept a share of lottery winnings from one of its members? Or would that signal that the church endorses a form of gambling?
back to top80 Comments to “Turning down a tithe”
Well then, Robert Powell needs to leave First Baptist Orange Park and join
El-Beth-El Divine Holiness Church where he can use the gifts God has given him. Anyone can see that.
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Well, I think chiropractic is witchcraft, but I wouldn’t recommend the church refuse a chiropractor’s tithe.
File this under Nose, Cutting Off; Face, Spiting.
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The reason is simple. They let fear, pride and ego get in their way and these things caused them to to fail at making the correct choice as they always do.
I would suggest the members of this church to go to another one. They are being led by a pastor who is prone to failure for all the wrong reasons. Those who like failure and the misery it brings can stay of course.
God helps those that help themselves.
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The pastor stood up for his convictions. Good for him. If he’d taught against gambling, then accepted the portion of the winnings, he’d be rightly accused of being a hypocrite.
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The church has problems, perhaps they can’t see it –
I don’t gamble, I hate Las Vegas – however buying a few tickets (which I don’t do anymore) for the lottery and then winning is hardly a sin in my mind at this moment.
The guy must have really loved that church, and wanted to share what he had as he gave to the LORD – his heart was in the right place – I feel sorry for him -
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First off, preaching against gambling is a fool’s errand; there just isn’t a Biblical text condemning gambling per se.
Second, why would a church refuse a donation of filthy luchre? As long as it comes without strings, it’s just money. There are plenty of dishonorable ways to make money, many of which may generate tithes which any church would gladly accept. Churches are full of trial lawyers, writers, chiropractors, insurance salesmen, cosmetic dentists, and professional athletes, some of whom tithe without hindrance.
Pastor Tarkington is acting childishly and teaching his congregation to be childish.
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I do not know his heart, neither do I know theirs. It is possible there were strings attached some way that we, the judge and jury, know nothing about.
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See John Piper’s brief, excellent rationale for a position similar to the one Rev. Tarkington took at
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2003/1223_Dont_Play_the_Lottery_for_Me/
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Playing the lottery is grossly unwise, but
IT IS NOT SIN
It is a foolish and wasteful form of recreation, but there is still no specific thou shalt not prohibition against it.
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God helps those that help themselves.
Must have missed that in the Bible as I was reading through…
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“Tarkington would not elaborate why he and his church refused Powell’s tithe.”
Tarkington had a perfect opportunity to be light, salt, a witness against those who do wrong, and one who stands up for his convictions. He failed on all accounts. Now he just looks like he’s being petty.
Why wouldn’t he elaborate? Isn’t that what Christians are supposed to do? Have an answer? Give a reason?
Instead, he would not elaborate. How foolish.
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“Well, I think chiropractic is witchcraft, but I wouldn’t recommend the church refuse a chiropractor’s tithe.”
LOL!
Well that’s the first time I’ve disagreed with you on the medical front. Thanks for making it a funny one. I think you’re wrong on more levels than one. First it’s not at all like witchcraft, and secondly chiropractic adjustments have been beneficial to many. I will agree that the theory of chiropractic is kinda “out there” though.
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Don’t churches have raffles, bingo nights and Las Vegas nights?
Is a church going to turn down the Sunday collection from someone they know is a criminal?
Frankly I don’t think it is the pastor’s right to turn down money that will go to needy people.
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Paul warns against the love of money. It’s one thing to enjoy work and obtain money as a result. It’s another thing entirely to love money for it’s own sake. It would be difficult to not love money for it’s own sake when regularly participating in the lottery.
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I am no fan of gambling, but that is because it is an addiction of a family member. I don’t believe it is a sin, but there are better ways to spend one’s money and time. And unchecked, it can lead one into sin; I’ve seen it firsthand.
As with anything else, like the use of alcohol, building a campfire, when kept in its proper perspective, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Moderation and control is the key.
While it is not a compulsion for me, I would not do it beacuse of the possibility of causing my family member to stumble.
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Oh – and I would accept the tithe.
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“Frankly I don’t think it is the pastor’s right to turn down money that will go to needy people.”
Maybe the elders were planning on building a natatorium with the money.
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Years ago a pastor of mine told a story — I don’t remember where it came from or if it was true or not — in which a pastor was warned that he should not accept some money.
“Pastor, you can’t take that, it’s tainted money”.
“Well, give it to me and I’ll untaint it!”
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WIGLAF 11,
It is possible, I don’t know, the pastor was not interested in discussing a fellow believer’s issues with the world. Sounds biblical to me.
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When a couple we knew won the CT lottery, they split the winnings with the church and from that lump sum the congregation built a new sanctuary debt-free.
Over 2000 verses in the Bible talk about money. While the act of gambling may not be a sin in itself, the attitude which drives a person to gamble frequently is.
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Related note: Should a church accept money known to be immoral (prostitution) or illegal (drug money)? I’m convinced that gambling indeed is wrong–though I won’t go so far as to call it a sin for someone who is not similarly convicted. (I do think that anyone who participates should research the matter and not simply assume it’s not a sin, however–and I think many will be convicted that hoping to get rich not by working, but by taking money that others have lost, is at best an iffy way to make money.)
But if it’s OK to refuse money that is clearly “ill-gotten gain” (as from prostitution), then the pastor was on firm ground on this one.
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Why are we understanding that the turning down of the money was to do with gambling? Was it written in the story and I missed it?
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Perhaps the pastor refused the tithe because of a personal temptation to misuse it.
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Mumsee,
Are you saying the lottery isn’t gambling, or did you miss that the whole story is about lottery winnings?
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I don’t think it’s the church’s job to investigate where tithes and offerings come from.
If a church preaches against drinking, should they refuse any money from a bartender?
I don’t think gambling is a sin, but for the sake of an argument let’s assume it is: Is that still the church’s business? Most of us have at some point “earned” or received money in a sinful manner or with a sinful heart. Maybe by doing less than out best on a job and getting a full paycheck. Should the church refuse money earned in such a manner?
Cheryl D mentions drug money. Well if a church finds out that one of their members is profiting from illegal drugs, they should call the cops who will in turn confiscate the money.
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Sidenote: I would LOVE to win the lottery, and I’ll admit to buying a ticket on two occasions. I’ve thought about what I would do with the money and how much I’d keep. Hopefully my church would accept money in that situation, because I would be counting on them to help put the bulk of it to best use.
Can you imagine what good you could do with $100 million??? For starters, you can spend a lot of it on ministering to the poor who bought the tickets in the first place.
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Good points, Graceland. This pastor made a bunch of something about a bunch of nothing. It’s his church’s loss, and I hope this man finds a wonderful new church.
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13-
“money that would go to needy people”
needy people who need a church building, a church staff of professionsals to admintister once a week religion, who are we kidding when we assume that money goes to needy people?
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REG (#28),
Pessimistic are we?
For starters, I think it’s crazy for anyone to hand over 10%+ of their income without knowing where that money is going.
I could give you a spreadsheet detailing exactly where my tithes go, because as a member I voted to approve our budget and expenditures. And yes, a lot of it goes to needy people.
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REG – 28
I know where the money goes in my church. If you don’t know where yours goes, that’s negligence on your part, however don’t throw everyone who gives tithes into some sort of ‘dumb bell’ basket -
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Cameron, #10, that was my first reaction. But it occurred to me that Llama isn’t quoting scripture.
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Chas,
Lama wasn’t quoting Scripture, but many think it’s in the Bible –
Benjamin Franklin wrote this, it was in Poor Richard’s Almanac 1757 –
“God helps those who help themselves”
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#8: Interesting Piper link. He’s missing the “meat sacrificed to idols” angle, though. Or better yet, the “plundering the Egyptians” angle.
The State intends the Lottery for evil. What a great, Christ-like thing it would be to use it for good. If ALL of our righteous acts are “filthy rags,” redeemed by Christ, I don’t have any problem seeing Him redeem lottery winnings.
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MOMOF5,
Lotteries are not gambling. They are self imposed taxes on people who believe that they do not pay enough taxes. These taxes support, teachers, students, the sick, elderly, the insane, police, fire departments and drug abusers.
Without lotteries and the generosity of people who feel they do not pay enough tax to the state and feel these things are necessary even though the state won’t pay for them, none of these things could exist.
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#10 Cameron,
I never said it was to be found in the bible. Not all great wisdom is found in the bible. Just ask any lefty or atheist. But, I bet someone told you this quite old and wise saying long before you read it here.
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#18 KevinB
LOLOLOLOL
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#23 OTeen,
I thought the same thing. The only reason I could think of for the pastor to turn the money down was becausue he was afraid he might be tempted to do something wrong and sinful with it.
But, in that case, he should have quit as pastor instead.
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Judas had a hard time with the woman who poured nard on Jesus’ feet. He told Jesus that the money could have been used for the poor. I know that has nothing to do with gambling earnings, per se, but I just thought it was interesting that good old Iscariot’s utilitarian argument is springing up in this discussion.
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I have often said that one of the reasons I do not gamble much or buy many lottery tickets is because I gamble every day with nearly all of my money all the time.
When you invest in a business, or buy a stock or bond, you are taking a chance and playing the odds of making more money than you put into the business or investment and are gambling that you can win. I even do way worse things by leveraging my money by borrowing more from someone else to bet on my business.
God forbid that I borrow money to buy my house, hoping that my bet on it will appreciate and I will win financially as a result.
Sometimes I trade my labor to make money so I can bet it on some scheme to make more money than I put in.
I even try to give 10% of my gambling winnings to the church and synogogue every yea.
I must be a horrible sinner of the worst sort and wonder if this will keep me from entering heaven? No wonder some guys give up everything and go live as hermits in caves on remote mountaintops or become Monks. I don’t think I could do that -)
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Llama: Lotteries don’t really lower anyone’s taxes. Everyone has to pay a lot more for all the corruption that comes with it. A lot of money does change hands, but anything the state gets is eaten up. It will also be nothing when the state has to support all the elderly gamblers after they have gone through their nest eggs.
My preference would be not to have gambling. It will, however, be hard to put that toothpast back in the bible. I don’t believe all gambling is always a sin, either, but I do know several people who cannot control it.
I did hear a Youth for Christ minister say in a sermon that one of the local gambling establishments wanted to donate some money and the group refused it. I immediately thought about when the Israelites plundered the Egyptians. I can understand that the group does not want young people to gamble. I also agree that God can give them all the money they need, so they do not have to take this money. I am unsure if there were strings attached.
It seems legalistic to turn the money away. If a prostitute wanted to give, should her money be turned away? If the church is not supporting prostitution and speaks against it, I don’t see what difference it makes. Jesus let a prostitute poor very expensive oil on his feet and he was misunderstood for it. He knew her heart and he also knew the hearts of those who accused her of waste.
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What about the weaker brother argument? If my church accepts lottery winnings, isn’t my church tacitly accepting gambling is okay? And if my church preaches to me about “the love of money being the root of all evil,” and yet accepts winnings from people who gamble, isn’t there some hypocrisy at work here?
My Lutheran Church allows us to drink alcohol–we’re Lutherans and we like sensual pleasures–but we can’t have alcohol on the church property except for the communion wine. It’s because of the weaker brother argument, coupled with the fact we host a very large contingent of Alcoholics Annonymous.
Based on my experience as a Navy Relief budget counselor, I don’t think gambling is as benign as the gaming industry wants you to think it is.
God looks at the attitude of the heart, yes, but he expects us to watch out for the weaker brethren as well.
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Ki
Prostitution, adultery and fornication are SIN. Buying a lottery ticket isn’t.
The woman who poured expensive perfume on the head and feet of Jesus was not a prostitute,
that is untrue.
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I have been the poor and the money went elsehwere
If I was offered lottery money as a single mom with four kids and no job, I would, guess what? TAKE the money!!
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Maybe the pastor had spiritually discerned that accepting the gift would bring an idol into the midst of the congregation. Knowing how church members argue amongst themselves (just read these posts) on how to spend money, maybe he was hoping he could avoid the curse if he refused the gift.
There’s nothing wrong with a good thing, unless that good thing becomes more important than our relationship with God Himself. As Augustine would say “our loves are not rightly ordered”.
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As a Pastor of a church for the past 17 years, I can say that without a doubt I would accept the tithe. The tithe is between the individual and God. Nobody else should be judging someone else’s tithe. There are people out there that have jobs that I don’t care for either. For example, shall I turn my back on someone’s tithe because he works in a brewery, which I oppose? Again, that is between the individual and God alone.
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From Larry Burkett’s Using Your Money Wisely: Guidelines from Scripture p 44:
“Gambling in the strictest sense, is as much a sin as having a false weight in your bag. To entice someone to gain money at the certain lost of another violates virtually every principle taught by Christ. It breeds and promotes selfishness, greed and coventousness.
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” (Phil 3:18-19)
A sin, according to God’s word, means missing the mark. Regardless of how socially acceptable the practice of gambling has become, it is still preying upon the weaknesses of others. It does not help to expand the gospel and, therefore, is a sin to a follower of Jesus Christ.
“So that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, beaing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:10)
To preempt the question about this conclusion’s being a legalism rather than a principle, you need only do a survey of Paul’s letters. We are first told, as believers, to live by a standard higher than the world’s (Romans 12:2). Also, we are told to do nothing that would give cause for offense or that might discredit our ministry (2 Cor 6:3). Even if a Christian believes that he is free to gamble, the truth is it will cause others to stumble. We are clearly directed in 1 Cor 8:13 to avoid anything that would cause a weaker brother to stumble.”
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Gambling and lotteries seem to me to be a form of trusting the world to provide me with money that I have not earned. Are we not to be paid fairly for our labor? I’d feel a little like I’m trusting less in God and more in man. Plus, many state lotteries are tinged with corruption and financial misuse; I’d rather not be a willing party to that.
*Disclaimer: I received a full tuition/books scholarship from the state of Georgia’s lottery program before I ever thought about things like this.
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# 35: Llama, my objection (and I believe this would be true of Cameron, Chas, et al) is that it would much closer to the truth to say “God helps those who cannot possibly help themselves” (Ephesians 2, for instance).
Perhaps someone might say, though, that “God helps those who help themselves to the money generated through a state-run gambling enterprise built upon the backs of the very ones who cannot afford to play in the first place with proceeds going to education to appease the consciences of those who would otherwise object to gambling.” But I don’t think that’s either true or wise either.
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Interesting discussion.
For whatever reason the pastor refused the money, I think it took a lot of moral courage and integrity. Can we at least applaud him for that, even if we think his decision was unnecessary?
The Bible says that a wise man leaves an inheritance for his children. It doesn’t say that he spends all his excess money on a clever scheme.
The Bible says that a man who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel. Some people can buy lottery tickets and still provide for their families. Others buy lottery tickets with money that should have bought necessities like milk and bread.
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Why does the “weaker brother” argument always go against me? When is it my turn to be the weaker brother?
Sometimes the weaker brother needs to be told “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
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I have a question, though: how did the church/pastor know in the first place that this gentleman was giving a $600,000 tithe? When I was a congregant, I never announced to anyone how much money I was giving to the church. And as a pastor now, I don’t have any idea how much anyone else is giving (I never see or touch the money, just see the treasurer’s report along with the Session each month).
If Mr. Powell announced how much money he was giving in hopes of receiving praise, accolades, etc., then we have another matter that needs consideration (see Matthew 6:1ff).
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TJ – 51
You make an EXCELLENT POINT – No one is to announce to others who gives what, or even that they do give. The gift is between the giver and the LORD.
May dad (a pastor) would never have made such an announcement – We aren’t to tell others how much we give either as you have pointed out.
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Kyle A,
I agree.
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YEA!!! Why should a church prosper from someone else’s loss? I’m so proud of that church right now! Thank heavens they didn’t speak out against the lottery and then take the money! I’ve always been taught that money like that should go to some charitable organization, but never into the church. I’m just having trouble imagining a fellow Baptist admitting he played the lottery.
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TJ, The article seems to say the man told them the church wouldn’t accept his gift. The pastor didn’t want to comment.
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Deb,
Why do you think Baptist’s don’t play the lottery? I’m not a Baptist, but I sure know lots of them.
Some people want to play several dollars a week on the lottery, I don’t, but I did some time ago. It’s not much different than buying tickets to win a prize at many events. Many people do this and think nothing of it.
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I’m a pastor who would turn it down. It is an oppressive tax on the poor who disproportionately play (and who cannot afford to squander their income. This is a compelling reason for me to call it sin and evil. Many passages warn against oppressing the poor in very strong terms.
One congregant liked to show me his $20 in weekly losing tickets, while giving 25% of that in offering.
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Jsingletary – 57
YOU WRITE…. “Many passages warn against oppressing the poor in very strong terms.”
I agree with you. However the poor have to take responsibility for the money they have, they can spend it whatever way they wish, that doesn’t mean that WE are oppressing the poor. Many who can barely pay their bills, (if they even do that) buy things they can’t afford – they make choices, that’s not oppressing anyone.
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Victoria: Read Luke: 7:36-50. Especially pay attention to the story given to the Pharisee.
Gambling may indeed be sin. Your definition of sin is too small. I cannot tell you all gambling is sin, but I can tell you it may be. Some things are much more black and white. The reasons some have given here for it being sin are good reasons. If between you and the Lord, you do not consider it sinful, that is fine. I have gambled some and didn’t consider it sinful, but it certainly can be.
Jesus’ teaching in the beatitudes expanded what the Pharisees etc. thought was sin. We better make sure our own idea is not too small.
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Ki
Let us look at this passage of Scripture – Luke 7:36-70
She is named as a sinner, but her sin isn’t mentioned.
Again, the woman’s sin is not mentioned.
Jesus says her sins which are many are forgiven, but Jesus doesn’t say what her many sins are.
This passage of Scripture has come up off and on, but we must remember the type of SINS are never mentioned.
Was this woman in fact a prostitute? – I don’t know, and neither does anyone else. I am always sad when someone calls this woman a prostitute, because they really don’t know.
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I”m sure there is someone in my church who plays the lottery. Out of 1200+ people, it is very likely. However, I can’t imagine anyone admitting to it. Our church posted and handed out signs against the TN Lottery. I”ve been proud of our college students who refused to take the Hope Scholarship that comes from lottery earnings. My kids have been okay w/ scholarships, work study programs and yes, the Pell Grants.
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DEB, Pell grants are a form of forced redistribution of wealth. Lotteries are voluntary taxes. By what possible logic can a student find Pell grants preferable to Hope Scholarships?
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Victoria: Therefore, you cannot say she was not a prostitute. I say your definition of sin falls far short. Is it better if she wasn’t a prostitute?
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Ki,
You can’t define what her sin was because Jesus didn’t say what it was. So there is no “falls far short” to it.
You can’t say either way, that’s the whole POINT. Sin is sin, whether she was the town drunk, beat her kids, slept around, we don’t know, Jesus doesn’t mention her sin/sins. Would you be happier if Jesus had said she was a prostitute? – you see it doesn’t matter, Jesus didn’t list the sins, HE had mercy, HE forgave her of whatever she had done – that’s enough for me – who are we to NEED to KNOW exactly what this woman did? – that’s the question!
Everyone can guess, but would you want someone to do that to you? I don’t believe anyone would like their sins to be listed for everyone to know, or the sinful thoughts we all have. Think about it. God is merciful to us sinners!
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It’s interesting to me that most of the above conversation revolves around the assumption that the pastor turned the money down because he felt that it was gambling money and therefore sinful. No where in Micky’s story or in the orignal post does it say the his pastor refused the tithe because he had a problem with gambling money. (thank you mumsee #22)
That tithe would be triple my church’s entire yearly budget. Yes, we could do good things with it. However, it would most likely cause more problems than good. From people idolizing it, possibly fights over how it should be used, to the potential for the giver to suddenly feel entitled to determine how it was spent.
There are a whole host of things that can cause problems with a windfall gift like this – especially if the gift is exceedingly large in comparison to the normal funds of the church.
Looing at FBC Orange Park’s web site (www.fbc-orangepark.org) although they don’t publish their budget on there, it looks like this size gift would certainly fall in that “windfall” gift category. FBC-OP probably don’t fall into the mega-church class that spends that much on coffee on a Sunday AM
I think it’s great that he wants to tithe – but I think he would be better off finding a worthy charity that can absorb that kind of gift without having as much of an impact on the bottom line.
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Victoria: You write, “The woman who poured expensive perfume on the head and feet of Jesus was not a prostitute, that is untrue.
You are the one that has to prove she was not a prostitute. She may not be, but you cannot say one way or the other. It has commonly been accepted that she was, since she had a “reputation”. It doesn’t matter to me one way or another.
BTW: I still think your definition of sin is too small. I say that from reading too many of your posts. It has nothing to do with whether or not this woman was a prostitute.
I’m off to bed. Good night.
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The church turned down half a million dollars in order to follow what they believe to be right. Despise that if you dare.
I marvel at such integrity and applaud their faith in a God who overturns money tables in the temple, honors the widow’s mite, owns the sheep on a thousand hills. and doesn’t need anyone’s crummy coin.
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Ki,
YOU WRITE:…. “You are the one that has to prove she was not a prostitute. She may not be, but you cannot say one way or the other. It has commonly been accepted that she was, since she had a “reputation”.”
If the Bible doesn’t say the woman who poured perfume on Jesus was a prostitute then it is YOU who must find the Scripture to prove she was. WHERE IS THE SCRIPTURE KI, point out the words which define this woman as a prostitute.
“Commonly been accepted that she was,: isn’t proof, what that is, is nothing more than TRADITION which the Roman Catholic Church is famous for. Commonly accepted traditions or beliefs, that can’t be backed up with Scripture aren’t accurate. That’s one of the problems within the church today, people hear what’s ‘traditional’ but they don’t look it up to check the accuracy of what’s been taught.
A “reputation” ? – that could mean anything, a bad reputation isn’t just sexual, it has a list.
Ki, this woman could have been:
A gossip – ruining reputations of those she disliked, making rubble of their lives.
Lying about everyone she lived near, causing great pain.
Swearing and using foul language.
Sexual sin.
Beating her children.
Divorcing and marrying whenever she liked.
Hateful and unkind to everyone who knew her.
A lesbian.
A drunkard.
Ki, the list is endless. Whatever the traditional reason for this woman’s sins, the main point, the reason for her coming to give her gift to Christ, weeping and bringing perfume was, she knew who HE was. He forgave this woman, that’s HIS gift to her, a sinner Saved by GRACE. HIS GRACE is sufficient for all who come to HIM and she came and wept at his feet.
What was her sin? I don’t know, and neither do you!
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Ki,
Certainly you nor anyone else would want to pin the name of a sin on anyone without knowing for a FACT that is their sin. I can’t believe you would honestly want to do that.
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Pell Grants are government investments in the future. I can only speak for my daughter, but I know within 10 years, she will have paid in taxes an amount equal or over what she received in Pell Grants. That makes sense to me. On the other hand, taking money from desperate poor people to send my kids to college doesn’t. I’m still livid about the fact that Goodwill sells lottery tickets!!
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Right, Victoria; and those are usually the sins that women are commonly known and judged for, esp. by the Pharisees. You see it so often in the four gospels.
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I have never heard of Goodwill selling lottery tickets. I don’t believe they do where I live. I will have to check. That is very sad.
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A got a bunch of 7 dollar dresses at our neighborhood G-will. That place rocks if you can find good stuff.
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We complained to Goodwill and were told they were meeting the needs of their customers. I challenged them on the use of the word needs and the manager laughed and commented that if they didn’t sell the tickets, her customers would simply buy them elsewhere.
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We never give to the Good Will, when we give things away it is to the Salvation Army, for very good reasons.
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Is there a First Church of Money Laundering?
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# 76: Send me your money, RN, and I’ll let you know…
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I think taht why the pastor didn’t accept the money is between him and God. Same as the man who wanted to tithe it. Maybe the pastor is convicted of gambling and the winner wasn’t. Paul says that if one thinks something is sin than don’t do it. but that doesn’t mean that no one else should either
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Tinkerbell, you have a point. I do believe the gift should not have been made public, accepted or declined -
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I’m glad the pastor refused it. It would be one thing for the man to repent of his wayward use of money, and as a sin offering give the whole amount to church or charity. But to give a tithe to the church is almost tantamount to asking the church to endorse the other 90% as a legitimate gain.
And this is just the tip of an iceberg. There are many situations where organizations/corporations have tried to “buy out” churches or ministers through donations. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But it always leaves a bad taste, especially the moment the scenario becomes public.
1 Thess. 5:22: “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” If accepting a gift means you will look, to many people, like you are endorsing the corrupt practice (gambling) that produced it, that is certainly an appearance of evil to abstain from.
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