Distractions from the Gospel :: The Idolatry of the Tithe
December 12th, 2006 by Carl Thomas.I am not sure I have ever successfully blogged a series nor am I sure that enough people read my blog to warrant a series since most visitors come, look, and leave. Nevertheless, this has been something that I have given great thought to over the last couple months and since I am almost the only person who reads this blog, it might as well have writings that I enjoy reading! I plan to touch a plethera of third rails but since I do not rely on donations to keep this blog active I can do that.
Note: I am not Adrain Warnock. The majority of my postings are stream of thought type. I am not putting forth a systematic theology though I think I am right on these issues. Chew the meat, spit out the bones.
So I will post a series on modern distractions from the Gospel. These are the little foxes that eat at the vine. They seem well and good but neuter Christians from our mission.
I went to a meeting for an internationally known minister. It was held in an arena and it was all I thought it would be. The worship was incredible and the miracles were real. I had never seen that many people crying out for the real presence of God in one place before and it was awesome. Unfortunately, I had another first in that meeting.When the time for the “offering” came I got my first real offering shakedown. The man doing the
There is someone over on the right. And you say, “I only have enough for my mortgage.” God is telling you that if you give what you have, I will bless you. And someone over on the left is thinking that they only have $1,000 to your name. If you give like the widow . . .
I was really aghast. I thought that this only happened in church parodies. I had no idea that people would put up with this. When the usher handed an envelope to me I kindly refused. I did not want my money mingled with any of this.
I am a little older now. I have seen more of modern Christianity since that day and unfortunately this is not as uncommon as I thought.
For in the ensuing years I have seen a theology that puts men in control of God. No longer is He the author but we are. He is not the potter, we are. For, no matter God’s will, if we do not tithe then God is unable to bless our finances this new theology teaches. Likewise, if we sprinkle the offering plate with our magical fairy dust tithe check, all our wishes will come true regardless of God’s plan. Whether it be in ignorance or deceitful gain does not matter. This is false teaching.
But more than the sin of the minister who manipulates the congregant to give, is the sin of the congregant who allows their faith to shift from Jehovah Jireh, the God who Provides, to their own ability to tithe. It now seems that whatever we need is accessible in the offering plate. Whether it be greater finances or a mate, all that is needed is to be faithful in giving money to the church and God will do it.
Is there any more clear definition of an idol?
This is how the before mentioned preacher was not hissed off the stage. The idol of the tithe sanctifies greed. The idol of the tithe tells us that we never have to go without and never have to trust God. The idol of the tithe tells us that it is in our own power have our desires fulfilled.
Right now my wife and I are crying out to God that He bring a buyer for our house. It is all that is standing in the way of our going into full time ministry. A well meaning relative told us about some people that they knew who buried statues of Saint somebody in the yard and then the house sold within a week. One person was Jewish, another was an atheist and it worked. I told my relative that I would rather never sell my house then gain by the power of witchcraft. God is my supplier and in Him alone will I trust. How different is the popular tithing message these days? Is it much different than appeasing saints?
For the record I tithe. My wife and I always have. As far as I can predict, we always will. Why? God told us to. That ended the conversation for us. But we don’t do it to leverage favor with God.
The point of tithing is to be a blessing, not to get a blessing. This is the Gospel.
I wonder how much more the finances of the church would increase if we would simply put our trust in Him? Surely the giving would not be as predictable, but it would be cleaner and more toward His purposes.
Galatians 6:7-8 ListenDo not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
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You preach it! Money is an idol to many, and people are unwilling to trust God to provide. Ministers are setting a bad example. Shame on them!
Excellent, concise, and Biblical. Keep it coming!
hey i read your blog (via rss) ………
so to prove it i just dropped by and left this nice comment. bless you carl
Fantastic. How we subtly twist things. Keep the series going.
A little testimony regarding moving house and God’s provision.
As you know, Sue and I moved from England to Scotland some years ago under the unction of Holy Spirit. We expected to have jobs lined up and our house sold, but none of that happened. We couldn’t find jobs and our house wouldn’t sell. After months and months of disappointment we sat down one Sunday afternoon and told God that we would move come what may, that we’d find whatever work we could, hang our careers, and trust him for a roof over our heads. I handed in my notice at my employer on Monday morning. On Monday afternoon I got a call from a Scottish company that I’d written to 6 months previously, offering me an interview!
We moved a month later, living in the spare room of some friends in Scotland, all of our stuff in storage and our house in England empty and still not selling. This continued for months. When Sue became pregnant we moved out of our friends house into a rented house, still paying a mortgage on our house in England which still hadn’t sold. We had to drive to England once a month to stay in the house for one night so as to keep the insurance valid. Our finances didn’t look rosy at all.
Then the house sold, just a couple of months before Sue was due to give birth. But we had to accept an offer significantly below the mortgage value and so we found ourselves facing several thousand pounds worth of debt. But we were glad to sell the house. Conversely, in Scotland, houses were selling for far more than the mortgage value so it seemed impossible to buy another house. We were out of the housing market and back into rental, with a large debt in the bank. This wasn’t what we’d envisaged would happen by obeying God!
A few months later, the Inland Revenue wrote to us to tell us that there’d been a mistake in the tax calculation in our mortgage and we’d been over-paying while we’d been in England. The cheque covered half of our debt. Furthermore, that Christmas, my new employer paid everybody a handsome bonus and that covered the rest of our debt. We were now debt free!
But still unable to buy a house in Scotland. We just didn’t have the cash to make an offer above the mortgage value. The market went into boom and it looked like we would get permanently priced out. Houses were selling in a matter of days for silly money. But then we spotted a house that hadn’t sold. It was a four bed detached bungalow with plenty of space and a large garden (Sue loves gardening). We looked into it and found it hadn’t sold for two reasons. First, it was in an area that most people looking for this kind of property wouldn’t entertain. The surveyor told us it would make a very poor investment for this reason. But we were excited by the location - in and among lots of people who weren’t middle-class suburbanites. Second, it was empty, which always makes a property look less attractive.
We felt it was “right”, more than right in fact, we felt that God had reserved it just for us and for His glory! We put an offer in only to find that someone else was interested too and hence it was going to be sold under sealed bid. Our hearts dropped. We looked at our pitiful bank account and we prayed about what to offer. I had a figure in mind, but Sue really felt the Spirit tell her to offer 500 pounds more than that, which was a weird figure! We put in our weird figure bid with bated breath. We got it! The solicitor told us we only got it by a very narrow margin - we figured a 500 pound margin!
God is so good. Nothing worked out as we expected. Nothing continues to work out quite as we expect. My work is not what I expected it to be. We have no savings. I have no pension. But we have God! What more could one want? We’re learning that as we seek first the Kingdom, that He provides our every need. We thank Him regularly for the house and we use it for hospitality whenever we can. We keep a bedroom spare so that we can provide a bed to anyone in need at short notice.
I don’t know what the logistics of your answer will be … but trust Him, step out of the boat, and feel the water beneath your feet. He’s brought you this far. He won’t forget the details.
Kingdom currency
Kingdom currency is simple and can be summed up in one word: giving. Jesus accumulated nothing on this earth. He gave it all away. Even his physical life.
I’ve encountered so many testimonies…
Keep preaching it brother!
I was told over twenty years ago I would never be anything in ministry because I didn’t know how to take an offering. My heart broke as I listen to someone who was, at that time, a mentor to me.
You and I will probably never stand in the same “caliber” as the minister you mentioned…but if we are able to stand in the presence of God on the Judgement Day, it will be worth it! Even if we don’t know how to take and offering!
@ David - Welcome home brother!
My wife and I were talking about this when I heard your comment come through.
Question A -Of the following five doctrines, which single one is the most important to be preached and re-preached?
1 Salvation
2 Baptism in the Holy Ghost
3 Forgiveness
4 The return of Jesus
5 The tithe
Question B - Which one is the most likely to be taught? Why?
Question A (in my opinion) #1
Question B of course #5 is going to be taught all the time because most American preachers have sold out to the mortage lender, or mister money bags and want to get in his pocket….(forgive me for being sarcastic) we have lost one of the great gifts the early church had: trusting God for everything!
i don’t believe in tithing. To correct those assuming my character already, i still give above 10%. i don’t think it is a mandate. Many times i hear, God never changes so we should still tithe. but they never continue the other commands that the tithe covenant had with it. The next generation is rising up and neglecting giving altogether, because this generation does not have the answers they need to support tithing. There will be problems if we don’t correct this, and show them the better promises and blessings of new testament giving.
Well I had a recent chat with an atheist who asked a very awkward question. Why do churches insist on the Old Testament of principle of tithing, and not on the Acts Church principle of giving away EVERYTHING to meet needs?
I realise that the members of the early church were not REQUIRED to give away EVERYTHING, e.g. selling their homes and possessions - each gave according to their own conscience. But my atheist friend has a very good point that the heart of the church should be giving way beyond any quantitative law or principle.
This is very challenging to those of us who have been taught to believe in the tithe.
you need to read the book beyond tithes and offerings by the Webbs. you will be freed totally.
ever heard of The Rejoicing of Herman Smith? the first revival novel ever written? it’s a blast…of the Holy Ghost.
Never heard of it. I will look it up.