Peter and John of Finance by H. W. COTTRELL

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 20, 1914

Peter and John of Finance

By H. W. COTTRELL

H. W. COTTRELL

The twin brothers—Peter and John—fell heir to a cash inheritance of twelve thousand dollars each, concerning which we record the following conversation:—

Peter: John, what disposition did you make of your $12,000 inheritance?

John: I first tithed unto the Lord his own, and then lent the remaining $10,800 at six per cent per annum. And now, if I may inquire, how are you handling yours?

Peter: I at once turned over to the Lord his share, of course; for I desire to pay a just tithe: then I invested the remaining $10,800 in city property, consisting of a lot and a beautiful house for my family and myself to occupy. I think we deserve such a property, and we desire to live alone; so you see we shall have no income on our investment. Pardon me, brother John, but what is the amount of your weekly wage, and do you tithe it?

John: My weekly salary is $20, and I tithe it as soon as I draw my wages; for not to do so would be to borrow the tithe: and the Lord says in his Word that “if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof;” and you know that is equivalent to paying twenty per cent interest. I do not care to learn the amount of your weekly salary, but will inquire if you share your weekly earnings with the Lord as a partner in business, as we both did with our inheritance?

Peter: O, yes! of course I tithe it to the treasury of the Lord’s cause; for I try to carefully tithe my entire income. Now inasmuch as this study of the tithing system is educational, I will venture to propound another query: Do you tithe your annual interest as income from the loan of your $10,800?

John: Yes.

Peter: I am just now becoming technically inquisitive, so will inquire if you own any real estate?

John: No, I do not.

Peter: Do you pay rent for your dwelling house?

John: Yes.

Peter: Do you pay your rent with money that has been tithed?

John: Most certainly. You see, Peter, you and I tithed alike our inherited money and our weekly earnings, and I go one step farther and tithe the annual interest on my remaining $10,800; so of course I have no money with which to pay house rent, except money that has been tithed. Do you think I should tithe the annual interest on my $10,800?

Peter: O, yes! that is clear enough to any one that you should do that.

John: Do you continue partnership with the Lord, in a business way, with your $10,800, or have you dissolved your former relation?

Peter: I have continued the partnership relation.

John: Well, now, do you pay tithe on a sum of money equal to the annual interest on $10,800, the amount of your city property investment?

Peter: No, I have not done so.

John: Wherein, then, do you turn over to the tithe treasury the Lord’s share for the annual use of your $10,800 investment, in harmony with your decision that I should tithe the annual income from my $10,800?

Peter: (No reply.)

John: Brother Peter, is not your house rent an annual income to you and your family?

Peter: (Silent.)

John: Should you not tithe the equivalent of your house rent as surely as I should tithe the money with which I pay my house rent?

Peter: I think I should, John.

John: It is said, “The tithe is required of the minister.”

Peter: I concede that point.

John: “If all would pay a faithful tithe, and devote to the Lord the first fruits of their mercies, there would be a full supply of funds for his work. But the law of God is not respected or obeyed, and this has brought a pressure of want.”

Peter: The way is made plain. I will, the Lord helping me, return to the Lord a just and faithful tithe, and pay up back tithe on the income of my $10,800 investment in my dwelling house property.

John: Yes, I am sure that equity demands that after you have paid the tax and the insurance on your $10,800 property, you should tithe the interest on your monetary investment, less this expense; or fix a fair valuation for annual rent for such property, and share that with the Lord. Would not such a course be fair, just, and equitable?

Peter: It would be. And I wonder

why I have been so blinded on this feature all these years. I will certainly return to the Lord his own with usury. Surely the Lord had a perfect right to give to man what he chose to give, also to refrain from giving to man the amount he willed to retain for his own work on earth.

John: Please view the same truth from another angle: “The light which the Lord has given me on this subject, is that the means in the treasury for the support of the ministers in the different fields is not to be used for any other purpose. If an honest tithe were paid, and the money coming into the treasury were carefully guarded, the ministers would receive a just wage.”

Peter: There must be a vast amount of money due the treasury.

John: Yes, Peter, one would naturally so conclude while viewing facts.

Portland, Oregon.