Tithe: The Christian’s Ball and Chain III

I know tithe is a tuff issue for many.  We all have grown up to believe certain things to be true, and have seen what happens to those that question the status quo.  We have been entrenched into the ideal of this is how God blesses His people, that tithes most and should be given so the church’s and minister’s needs may be met.  I wish it would be just that simple, but let’s be honest here, it does not work. 

  It is like a car engine, there are so many moving parts that make up the whole.  Not just one thing will always stop it from running.  You can keep giving it gas and drive it about never paying attention to the other things that make it work, and one day it stops working.  You can look at the gas gage and say I have not given it enough gas, but the real problem could be you never changed the oil.  This is what tithing is like in today’s churches.  You keep giving into it so to speak filling its gas tank, but not paying attention to the real problems that needs addressing.

  (Mat 23:23 NIV)  "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Before you jump up and say that Jesus was teaching tithing, look at the context of this scripture.

Jesus is addressing the self-righteous legalist of His time.  The tithe that they were doing was strictly according to the law.  Jesus himself was under the law, for the perfect sacrifice was not yet given.

What Jesus was dealing with here is the way these rulers were oppressing others by the heavy ordinances of the law (like tithe today).  Much like those who use tithe to make people give, they neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness.  

Paul himself said in I Cor. 13.3, that even if he gave all that he had, and did not have Godly love it did not matter. 

I have come to understand that God wants us to deal with the whole and not split hairs over just a couple of things.  Good stewardship is what God is looking for (Matt 25.14-30) in all of us.  As in the story in Acts 5, Peter told the Ananias that what he had sold his property for was his do with as he wanted.  There was no demand for tithe in this story, but there was a deeper issue.  In not dealing with the deeper issue a bad choice was made and they paid the price for it. 

Its not if we give or do not give that demands blessings in our life, but how we live each day before the Lord.  If you keep wasting money, no amount of giving is going to fix it.  If you keep getting into debt no amount of giving is going to fix it.  You have to understand that God has empowered you to live a godly life and to make good choices so you may be blessed.  If you are not being blessed it is time to go to the Father and find out why.  Don’t ask someone else, they will only be able to give you an opinion based on what they see (read Job).  If you go to most preachers they may ask if you have been tithing, but God sees the deeper issues.

Now if you really want to get God’s attention start giving to the poor.  I feel every church should be a store house for the poor.  If you want to know what kind of churches are good ones to give to, look at how they first take care of their own and then the poor around them.  I could spend weeks on this subject alone.  There are so many scriptures about how we should deal with the poor and take care of them.  I feel today’s churches as a whole has failed in this area.  We should be leading the way, instead we are letting governments and others lead in this area.

(Prov 19:17 NIV)  He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

  (James 1:27 NIV)  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

(James 2:16 NIV)  If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

(Mat 19:21 NIV)  Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

(1 Tim 6:17-18 NIV)  Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. {18} Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

God wants us to be generous with what we have.  As a New Testament believer I have come to understand that all I have and all that I am belong to the Lord, so giving is just a part of my life.  It is when I need to depend on another to tell me what and how to give; I enter bondage and allow them to be my task master. 

Paul dealt with this issue, in the giving of the people of Corinth.  They must have made a pledge to give to the needs of the poor in Jerusalem and not kept up with the pledge.  Paul was careful not to put a burden on them, but encouraged them in their giving.  He used the example of Macedonia, (Rom. 15.26) in how generous they gave, but was careful to let them know it was out of a willing heart with liberty.  Notice Paul is not using any persuading words, making promises of returns, using a law of tithe or any such thing.  According to what you decide to give that is what you give.  God loves a cheerful, free flowing giver.      

(2 Cor 8:1-3 NKJV)  Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: {2} that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. {3} For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing,

 (2 Cor 9:5 NIV)  So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. (2 Cor 9:7 NIV)  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

If I could speak plainly here, I feel that there would be a great number of people that would be better off, finding someone in need in their own neighborhood and giving to them from their heart, than giving a tithe to their churches.  I know I said it and I am sticking to it.  God will be more pleased with ones care for the poor than a person who feels obligated to give their tithe to their church.  

When we put men in charge we get only what a man can produce, but when God is in charge we get what God produces through obedient, willing servants of the Lord. 

In First Samuel chapter eight, you find God’s people wanted to have a king like everyone else.  In verses eleven through seventeen Samuel warns the people what it would be like to put a man in charge of their lives.  More or less we see this even to this day when we put our trust in men.  When we expect men even if they are godly to tell us what we need to do we are subjecting our lives to them.  If they tell us we have to tithe then we tithe, or it could be something else.  What I am saying is the church system has developed in such a way that it needs our money to survive.  It just might be more honest if some churches just had a membership fee based on what it took to operate, than demand tithing based on blessing and cursing.

I am not saying throw the church out, but let’s try to do it God’s way.  Does your church provide for its own in time of need, does it take care of the poor, widow, and fatherless?  What percentage of the ministries income goes for salaries, buildings, and functions?  Not one of the previous mentioned is bad in themselves, but are they out of balance.  Why is the tithe is so heavily preached or why is there such a push for money?   What is being promised for your giving, and are they over spiritualizing it.  Is their teaching on giving for the sole purpose to get you to give?  Is there balance with giving teaching and stewardship?  Does your church teach you to save, budget, get out of debt; all of these are scriptural as well.

I guess what I want to point out is in Paul’s teaching in II Cor. 8, that if all believers would understand God has blessed us so we may be a blessing to others.  We would not need to spend so much time in our services taking offerings.  Preachers might not feel the need to persuade you to give.  If the church would get the money issue in order large evangelical ministries would not be pulling for your money.  The poor would be taken care of and in times of trouble members would have no need to fear, for the brethren would be there to help.  The church is out of order in maters of money and the tithe is the ball and chain that keeps us off balance.

Let me end this week with a story I read a couple of years ago in Ministry Today.  A pastor of a mega church in California through an experience came to the realization he had become unattainable to his own members.  He was out of touch with the members of his own church.  He had developed a lifestyle far above the average member of His own church.  The church budget was heavy with staff salaries and building needs.  He realized a large portion of his staff were professionals in ministry straight out of college.  Some of his staff never held a real job or understood what the average member went through in day to day life.  

This pastor mad drastic sweeping changes.  The church stopped its plans to build another large facility.  He laid most of the staff off, and he himself went part time.  He sold His large home and moved into a smaller one and even moved another family in with him that had lost their home.  The church sold their facility that they owned and rented one for just Sunday worship.  Moved the members to the mind set of giving to the poor.  In a short time this church was filling Simi trucks with goods for the poor and missions every Sunday.  The money saved in budget changes became millions for the poor and the mission field. Yes He did loss some members, but to this pastor the church is moving in the right direction and they are doing better than ever in may ways.

Now I am not saying everyone should do this, but it should be food for thought.  I have said enough today, I only hope you can glean some good out of what I shared.  Next week I will take a break from this topic and share the Good News Message.