Several years ago, one of my colleagues with whom I was sharing an after-work meal, asked me if I tithe my salary. To tithe is to give ten percent (10%) of your gross salary to the church. It is an Old Testament practice that is still followed by most modern-day Abrahamic faiths. It is different from the offering and is on a voluntary basis. She was quite taken aback by my view that the tithe was not mine but God's. The job itself was a gift from Him and such a small portion of my salary given to His church was not an unreasonable demand. My tithe is an act of love and appreciation. Only the cleanest or newest money was used for the tithe. They were folded neatly and placed in envelopes provided by the church. Freewill offerings were handled in similar fashion. Moses said In Leviticus 27:30 (KJV):
"30And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord."
Tithes and freewill offerings to the church are supposed to be given with the mindset of any charitable donation. We don't expect anything in return. We don't feed or clothe the homeless expecting them to clean our yards or wash our cars. It's our duty as Believers to help the unfortunate, as commanded by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He spoke prophetically in Matthew Chapter 25:31 to 46, of the coming time when all nations shall be gathered to Him and sorted into two groups. Those considered to be goats, did not live charitably and will be sent to "eternal punishment" in the "the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". Of those that He called sheep, who will inherit the kingdom prepared "from the foundation of the world", He said in verses 35 to 40 (KJV):
Currently there is a prevalent teaching among evangelists about sowing seeds. Believers are to give a certain amount of money to the churh and in a fixed period of time, God will return their sown sum with a specific increase. For example, sowing a seed of $500 will lead to a harvest of $5,000 and so on. Even a scripture verse will be used to support the scheme, even if it has no bearing whatsoever on the subject matter. Psychological manipulation can pervert any text and convince the ignorant of anything. This is the source of much ridicule that Believers face today from non-Believers.
There is no Reward Table in the Kingdom of God. We cannot quantify God's all-encompassing blessing into dollars and cents. It is not our place to expect a monetary blessing from our Creator simply because a self-proclaimed man or woman of God has said so. Especially, when a monetary blessing is not part of God's plan for us at this time. God's Will may be that we have good health for our entire family. A loved one may overcome their battle with an addiction. A long-time single person may meet their life partner. A natural disaster may not destroy our home or an accident may not cause severe injury. How narrow-minded it is, to convince Believers that God's blessing will only come in the form of money.
It is just as bad to convince Believers that a monetary seed can guarantee a non-monetary blessing. As aforementioned, it is by God's Will and not our own. There is an old saying among Believers that 'God does not give us what we want but what we need, whether we like it or not.' We may want a particular job but He knows what is best for us, and we need to stay working where we are because of a coming promotion; or a job opportunity at a place we didn't consider within our reach. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in our hearts and warns us against teachings that are contrary to God's own Word. If the still, small voice tells you that the preacher is preaching bunk then he or she probably is. It is such a shame that with so many lost and hurting people, evangelists don't choose to speak of God's love, healing, forgiveness and compassion. That message was good enough for Jesus Christ's ministry here on earth. Isn't it good enough for us now?
Tithes and freewill offerings to the church are supposed to be given with the mindset of any charitable donation. We don't expect anything in return. We don't feed or clothe the homeless expecting them to clean our yards or wash our cars. It's our duty as Believers to help the unfortunate, as commanded by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He spoke prophetically in Matthew Chapter 25:31 to 46, of the coming time when all nations shall be gathered to Him and sorted into two groups. Those considered to be goats, did not live charitably and will be sent to "eternal punishment" in the "the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". Of those that He called sheep, who will inherit the kingdom prepared "from the foundation of the world", He said in verses 35 to 40 (KJV):
"35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Currently there is a prevalent teaching among evangelists about sowing seeds. Believers are to give a certain amount of money to the churh and in a fixed period of time, God will return their sown sum with a specific increase. For example, sowing a seed of $500 will lead to a harvest of $5,000 and so on. Even a scripture verse will be used to support the scheme, even if it has no bearing whatsoever on the subject matter. Psychological manipulation can pervert any text and convince the ignorant of anything. This is the source of much ridicule that Believers face today from non-Believers.
There is no Reward Table in the Kingdom of God. We cannot quantify God's all-encompassing blessing into dollars and cents. It is not our place to expect a monetary blessing from our Creator simply because a self-proclaimed man or woman of God has said so. Especially, when a monetary blessing is not part of God's plan for us at this time. God's Will may be that we have good health for our entire family. A loved one may overcome their battle with an addiction. A long-time single person may meet their life partner. A natural disaster may not destroy our home or an accident may not cause severe injury. How narrow-minded it is, to convince Believers that God's blessing will only come in the form of money.
It is just as bad to convince Believers that a monetary seed can guarantee a non-monetary blessing. As aforementioned, it is by God's Will and not our own. There is an old saying among Believers that 'God does not give us what we want but what we need, whether we like it or not.' We may want a particular job but He knows what is best for us, and we need to stay working where we are because of a coming promotion; or a job opportunity at a place we didn't consider within our reach. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in our hearts and warns us against teachings that are contrary to God's own Word. If the still, small voice tells you that the preacher is preaching bunk then he or she probably is. It is such a shame that with so many lost and hurting people, evangelists don't choose to speak of God's love, healing, forgiveness and compassion. That message was good enough for Jesus Christ's ministry here on earth. Isn't it good enough for us now?
I got a link to this blog via the Nerdfighters Ning. Just thought I'd drop in and say 'hi!'
ReplyDeleteThis post regards a topic near and dear to my heart, which is God's blessing. I get the sense (from your previous post, "F is for Fornication") that we have differing opinions regarding God's plan for the world and for us personally, and what that means in a day-to-day context, but I think you hit the nail right on the head with this one.
We should not tithe, or pray, or participate in the Christian community solely to flood our karmaic account with 'good points.' There should be nothing in us that presumes that blessings are coming, or thinks that we can 'trigger' them somehow by doing the right thing.
Like everything about the Christian life, tithing is not something you do to precipitate a reward, or to avoid punishment. It should be something you do for it's own sake.
Hi Josh,
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking out the blog and I'm glad that it touched you. It would have been fine if you completely disagreed with me. Speaking of which, I'd like to know your views that are different from what was expressed in "F is for Fornication". The purpose of this blog is to expose the thoughts in our heads. So feel free to expose yours via the email address in the header. Thanks and God bless!