Where's My Tithe?

This post is alternately titled "Why doesn't your Church tithe to my Charity?"

I am just making a suggestion to the churches out there.  I find the number of million dollar churches out there kind of annoying.  I am not someone who needs a church.  I don't really understand the necessity to dress up in expensive clothes and go indoors on a Sunday morning.  I don't understand how you can stand inside a multi million dollar building and seriously study Matthew (esp 19:23-24).  I have looked up history of tithing and still don't really get the whole thing.

Tithing seems to be from many of the big religions.  I am sure it makes sense, someone has to pay for the church to look after spiritual well being, while you are dealing with the mundane existence implied by physical well being.  The Church in it's turn, built churches to glorify God, fed and looked after multitudes of homophobic priests and looked after the poor and the 'unfit'.  Now much of that has changed.  OK unfortunately not the middle thing.  I think that churches seem less tolerant of homosexuality these days than ever before and I have no idea what they are all so afraid of.  But that is fodder for another rambling post.

Churches still are built.  They still cost a fortune.  Unfortunately, instead of the beautiful, soaring architecture of the past, these buildings seem to just be designed to be one thing, huge.  Instead of a building that can create awe in an atheist and last for centuries, there are now square ugly buildings with expensive sound systems.  So how am I supposed to find God in there?  How is anyone? 

The churches no longer on any really useful scale, look after the poor and the unfit.  These days we have Centrelink to do that.  We have charities that look after disabled people from all walks of like.  We have Lifeline and Goodwill to help look after the poor.  Some of these originated in churches but none of them now are truly supported by a church. 

So all that money that is being given to the churches, where is that going?  It isn't being used for the reasons that it was needed in ancient and medieval times.  Most of the money is about supporting the church itself to become bigger.  I think that it isn't the churches that need to be bigger but the faith of the people inside the churches, but that is my (not very humble) opinion.  I think that the church needs to start reverting to what it used to do.  I think that it needs to start supporting the charities that post Global Financial Crisis are universally struggling.  These charities are picking up your slack! 

So I have a solution.  The churches start tithing to the charities.  You are more likely to make it to your heaven.  The charities are more likely to survive and to continue their good works.  Everybody wins!