I do believing in giving tithe, but as a strong Trump supporter I will cut Cruz a break. We don’t list what we give to our church on taxes. Maybe he does not either. We just give without expectation of benefit. We do list donations to other charities.
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My previous church (which brought in Robert Morris to lecture us on tithing) would have called you a poor stewart.
By not claiming the tax deduction, you are giving money to the government. Money that could have have been used in God’s service: helping the poor, spreading the gospel, supporting your local church, etc...
It’s not a plus for Cruz to imply he is a poor stewart of the blessings God had given him. You are not helping Cruz by suggesting this; if anything, you are harming his reputation.
Well poor Stewart or not we usually give a lot without reporting. God knows what we do and that is sufficient. But I will ponder the thought.
I don’t know who Robert Morris is, but I’m sure he’s a good man seeing that he has a heart to teach stewardship.
This is what I go by in my giving:
“when you give, don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing ... so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
I’m not trying to tell anyone else how to interpret that, but as for me, I’m not sure how I would go about following that scriptural advice if my pastor and the church’s accountant know what my giving is.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t tell anyone to ignore Mr. Morris’ stewardship advice if they believe they’d be in disobedience to G_d, as that’s the main thing. If you believe you should get your deduction and distribute it to the charities you mentioned, you should do so.
But others may hold to different scriptures on giving. It’s between them (possibly their spouse) and G_d.