“If Christians are giving tithes, offerings and donations based upon the scriptural belief that God will bless them for doing this, then why would they stop donating?”
I admire your faith in peoples’ fundamental goodness and ability to see beyond their own self-interest, but I think it’s a bit too optimistic.
“Christians who expect to get paid for teaching Sunday School and so on will have to put God before Mammon.”
It won’t matter whether they expect it or not. If you are a business, you have to pay your employees, and if people are doing work for you, they are your employees whether you call them that or not. That’s the law.
Well, remember what made the churches in the early New Testament days?
They saw acts of God all over the place, that is what.
If the church is only a place you go to WISH you could meet God, then sure it is going to be fragile.
It has nothing to do with my supposed goodness and so on.
People either believe what the Bible says about God blessing those who give or they don’t. If they gave expecting a tax deduction, then they didn’t believe that God’s promised blessing was enough.
You don’t have to pay volunteers, btw.