Let's face it...God really doesn't need our literal money to make it in the world of humans. Ministers and Churches need our money, but God actually does just fine without it. Ministers need to be paid and churches need to be maintained, enlarged, adorned and air conditioned, but God simply does not personally need our money. He already "owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine," so He's all set. Let's notice the ofte quoted, Old Testament fundraiser. In Malachi 3 we are often told and encouraged to believe that.... 7 "Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts." Never mind that this setting is during a time of Temple serving, animal killing, priest maintaining Hebrew history. Strange how the WAY the Deity tells the people to return to Him for their disobedience is to give Him 10% or more depending on what one does with the tithe for the widow and the festivals (kind of a Hebrew Xmas Club fund), He then PROMISES that this is such a deal. You give me your money and I will pour out even more blessings to you than you can possibly imagine. The problem is, this is not in practical fact the case, nor is it my real experience in having sincerely taught this verse as a reason why Christians should still practice Old Covenant Tithing. I certainly have never experienced a blessing that I simply did not have the room to contain. Oh I know, "you have air, water and a place to live don't you?" Come on, you know what I mean. The implication is that if you give, you will get back more than you can imagine. Apologists have labeled this return on your investment in religion, the priesthood, ministry and Church as everything from "you're kids are healthy aren't they?", to being a part of the great true and only wise Church. I have buried many children of good and sincere faithful tithe payers. It's a convoluted justification that ministers go through to skirt the issues of what we still "have to" do as Christians vs. what is now all "done away with." Simply put, anything that is icky like animal sacrifices, or inconvenient like not mixing your fabrics or letting your farm lie unplanted every seventh year, is not incumbent on the Christian. It is the things that no one wants to do that done away with. But tithing...uh uh...this is eternally a part of God's law and YOU simply MUST give it...IF you are REALLY converted. Churches have split wide open over whether one MUST tithe or merely give "as one is able, good measure and pressed down," as we read in the New Testament. This harmful and non tithe encouraging admonition to give as one is able, and not strictly tithe, is often countered with what Jesus is said to have said in the Gospels when controversey broke out over how the Pharisees tithed. They were accused of being picky and tithing of every little thing, like, mint, anise and cummin, whatever that means, but leaving the more important things undone like love and such. Well I am sure if you met a real Pharisee, and not the boogeyman Pharisees of the Gospels, you'd like them, but that's another story. It's funny how that either Jesus is said to have said after this, or someone at least thought it would be good to insert it in Jesus mouth..."these things ought you to have done...i.e. loved, but of course, not leave the other undone...Tithing. So here we see that we are to tithe or not tithe and give as best we can, depending. It's kinda like Jesus saying that "a man should leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife," but then Paul comes along and says, "I would that every man was like me, but if you marry, you have not sinned." Hmmm, so who do we believe. I bet Paul was not all that good looking so chalked up his lack of a partner to his righteous celibacy and not his general lack of appeal. At any rate, in some circles, "God loves a cheerful giver," or "God really loves, as does the local Church, a really cheerful tither." When pressed about whether a Christian simply MUST give tithes and nothing less, the minister often comes up with ideas like, "well, we are actually to keep not just the letter of the law (a strict 10%), but we are to keept the SPIRIT of the law, which of course is 10%+. This is what my former affiliation did when it said that one did not have to tithe, saw the income tank and then had to come up with a New Covenant, spirit of the law command. It didn't work. The Church crashed due to reckless theology and a complete lack of understanding of human nature. This would be proof positive that the Christian really understood the spirit of the law, which of course the Hebrews had no clue about and their books were only meant to be later hijacked by the Christian Church, reinterpreted and used to justify really crazy stuff in the name of Jesus, and the Corporation Sole. If it is one thing that fundamentalist and Evangelical Christians understand, it is that the Hebrews did not understand their own history or scriptures and needed the Christians to come along and tell them what it all really meant. The Church has gone through some great gyrations to do so and much of it is recorded in the New Testament. One of my personal favorites is Paul taking the story of Abraham, who he needs to make the father of not only the Hebrews but of all Gentiles, so he can hook the gentiles all up to the Hebrew promises and goodies, and turning it on its head. Note Galatians 3:16 "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." What a great line of reasoning. When it says "now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made," it was NOT talking about physical promises to Abraham and his descendents! (It was). Nooooooo, the word "seed" if you note is not plural, (it is, like "sheep"). Paul actually says, "see it doesn't say seeds, which is the plural of seed, soooooooooooooo we know this Old Testament account is actually referring to JESUS, and not the decendants of Abraham's seed! Whoa moma!! It is the same as Jesus saying "feed my sheep" and meaning there was only ONE to feed because He did not say "feed my sheeps." If I reasoned like that in any theology class that was worth anything, I'd flunk! Oh well, this is Paul and he gets to decide just what the Hebrew scripture really means so he can get the Gentiles in as family of Abraham and of course then ask them to send in their ten percent just like the OT guys did, since now you are part of the group that should not leave these things undone. Paul was good as making a scripture mean what it never meant, but that is a general Christian minister skill for far too many today as well. As long as it serves them well, why not...? I mean did not one minister in the past, who was against the old "top knott" hairdo of women say that the Bible says..."top knott come down?" Of course, in context, the verse said, "Let him in the top of the house top, not come down..." Oh well, "Judas went out and hanged himself...go though out and do like wise..." The topic of tithing and giving is a hot one Christian circles especially today where we see the excesses of various denominations and mega-churches. But even the small, no one ever heard of it, churches can abuse the membership with merciless appeals to various scriptures on giving and spiritual financial responsibilites of the Christian. Often based in guilt, shame and the fear not to give as others do, it often hurts sincere people who really believe that if they give, they will get much in return. Reality is that many if not most, give to their harm and the harm of their own personal family needs. On occasion someone might receive an unexpected "blessing" and of course, this is shown as proof that tithing "works." It does work for the minister, the Tele-Evangelist and the building fund elders, but for the giver, it often just leaves them feeling a bit more without and afraid to say anything about it. On occasion in my former affiliation found myself giving members help out of the third tithe widows account to help them buy food because they had given their tithe when they simply could not afford it. Going around in tithing circles if you ask me. Perhaps it would be better to simply say, "I give as I am able, good measure pressed down, if I can, and that's the best I can do. If you don't like it, I suggest, Mr. Theologian, you continue to convince me why "sheep" is singular, an obvious reference to Jesus in the Old Testament, and why it should have said "sheeps", if it only meant the decendents of Abraham!" Any minister that can convince you of the logic of THAT can certainly convince you that you MUST Tithe and prove that God will pour out more than you can contain for your trouble. You might also hear that IF you really are converted, you will give even more in the spirit and intent of the New Testament laws of tithing, which in fact do not exist. So often those that demand the giving are doing just fine and can come up with more than enough ways to spend your money on projects that will require more giving so they can come up with more projects that will require your continual giving, world without end. I was once going to put a sign out in front of my practice that said, "Monday is Clergy Day...ADD Ten Percent." I would have gotten know clergy clients, but I guarantee I would have had horns honking in approval all day long as weary tithers drove past. I am weary in seeing Churches and ministers pull money out of sincere people who in fear of not doing the right thing, or with guilt in not doing it all the time, or shame for not doing as they hear others are doing, and give what they have not got to their harm. Ministers tend to promote the tithers and tolerate the mere givers at times too. In many churches you can be a member, but will never be a "leader" unless you have a provable record of tithing as if your income is anyone's business. No, I say that if you simply have to give, stand your ground and GIVE AS YOU ARE ABLE. That's in the NEW Testament and doesn't accuse you of robbing the Deity if you don't give your strick tithe...at least and more if you are REALLY converted. God doesn't really personally need your money. |
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