So, if you believe like I do that tithing is not a new testament principle and that to impose compulsory tithing is sinful… How do you go about getting your church to address this issue? Do you say to your pastor, “pastor I think we are changing the Gospel and we need to stop?” Do you buy him a book about it or what? Will he just write your opinion off? After all he is the professional Christian. Tell me what you think?
Sob stories and arm-twisting
What kind of pressure does the church put on you to give? Should there be any pressure? I normally avoid paraphrases but in this case I thought it was almost humorous the words Eugene Peterson chose.
2 Corinthians 9:6 The Message
"I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm- twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving."
Seems like our churches have become more and more like the gentile courts, where Jesus needed to knock over tables. What do you think?
2 Corinthians 9:6 The Message
"I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm- twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving."
Seems like our churches have become more and more like the gentile courts, where Jesus needed to knock over tables. What do you think?
Give to the local church first?
We recommend that you give to your local church first, then give to ______.
I hear this all of the time, I got to wondering where this idea came from. Is there a Bible story that teaches this or did someone come up with it and it sounded so "right" that we just grabbed ahold of it? I ran a Google search (I know, I know) to see if anybody else had written anything on this topic and it did not seem there was much out there. One article I did find lays out some very interesting arguments about this very topic. I loved this statement Robin A. Brace makes at the end:
I hear this all of the time, I got to wondering where this idea came from. Is there a Bible story that teaches this or did someone come up with it and it sounded so "right" that we just grabbed ahold of it? I ran a Google search (I know, I know) to see if anybody else had written anything on this topic and it did not seem there was much out there. One article I did find lays out some very interesting arguments about this very topic. I loved this statement Robin A. Brace makes at the end:
"Ministers should not continue to behave as though we were still in the middle of 19th century denominationalism which insisted on loyalty to the local church alone, rather, pastors should warmly encourage their members to be very aware of world-wide issues facing Christians and the Christian Gospel and should rejoice when their people feel impelled by conscience to support more global Christian endeavors"What do you think?
What are we missing out on?
A friend of mine made a post on a social networking site as a response to my opinion that compulsory tithing and the Brian Kluth books were bad for the church. I copied her post and pasted it into a Word document in order to write an intelligent reply (I like to do this so I can use the spell check etc.) By the time I went back to post my response she had deleted the post (out of fear). I have made minor edits to protect her identity. Her post said:
I cried when I read this. This woman's family is clearly in financial distress and the one thing that should be her comfort, her joy, her place of fellowship and peace, her church only makes her feel worse.
What are we missing out on? It occurred to me that in the first century church, someone else in the church would have sold a field or done something to give her and her family so that none of them were wanting. Instead we have a building that cost millions of dollars. Seems to me like we are doing church instead of being church.
My family has gone through a bankruptcy, following a month of NICU when my youngest child was born the bills had mounted beyond what we could ever replay. Our church knew about our distress but nobody offered any help. Would this have happened to us if our church was a first century church?
"The discouraging thing is giving us a book to motivate us to tithe is going a little far and to get the it preached at us each week is very up setting. I don't like it at all either. I realize that it would be great is everyone gives as we should. I give when I can but right now it is a widows pence compared to what it was when we both where working and earning so much more. We try to help in other ways when we fall short. But to be reminded that we are not fallowing through as much as they want and get told each week is hard to swallow please keep reminding us that we aren't working, or making as much, don't have insurance , and barley enough to put food on the table, have to ask for family to help and then want to make us feel bad for not giving a larger amount of the little we have. It is enough to make you not want to go to the church we love so much."
I cried when I read this. This woman's family is clearly in financial distress and the one thing that should be her comfort, her joy, her place of fellowship and peace, her church only makes her feel worse.
What are we missing out on? It occurred to me that in the first century church, someone else in the church would have sold a field or done something to give her and her family so that none of them were wanting. Instead we have a building that cost millions of dollars. Seems to me like we are doing church instead of being church.
My family has gone through a bankruptcy, following a month of NICU when my youngest child was born the bills had mounted beyond what we could ever replay. Our church knew about our distress but nobody offered any help. Would this have happened to us if our church was a first century church?
Is your bank statement an accurate measurement of where your heart is?
I do not disagree that giving is good. I don't disagree that where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
The idea of any church that claims to be "Christian" making a statement that 10% or any amount for that matter is the right amount or the base amount is wrong. It adds to the gospel, it is the same argument that Peter and Paul had over adding the Jewish law to the life of grace. Peter compelled Titus to be circumcised if you recall. Peter ate like a Jew only when he was around Jews. Paul rebuked him to his face. He made the argument public.
While I agree that sure a bank statement might be a reflection of where someone's heart is I believe that if you have to look at your bank statement to see if you are right with God you are probably not right with God.
Seems that the concept of a tithe is a convenient way for the rich to feel ok with keeping the 90% that amounts to more than they ever needed.
The idea of any church that claims to be "Christian" making a statement that 10% or any amount for that matter is the right amount or the base amount is wrong. It adds to the gospel, it is the same argument that Peter and Paul had over adding the Jewish law to the life of grace. Peter compelled Titus to be circumcised if you recall. Peter ate like a Jew only when he was around Jews. Paul rebuked him to his face. He made the argument public.
While I agree that sure a bank statement might be a reflection of where someone's heart is I believe that if you have to look at your bank statement to see if you are right with God you are probably not right with God.
Seems that the concept of a tithe is a convenient way for the rich to feel ok with keeping the 90% that amounts to more than they ever needed.
A blog dedicated to the theology of tithing?
Yes, a blog dedicated to the theology of tithing. The reason this topic has garnered this level of attention from me is that I believe this has the potential to do damage to the church. If Christians believe that they are still bound by the law they are missing the point of Christ fulfilling the law.
I do not dispute the fact that the Old Testament has many many examples of the tithe. I also am not saying that the Old Testament has nothing to say to the believer. What I am saying is that it is wrong for a church to pick and choose which parts of the law to make compulsory for believers. When you think of "the law" do you think of the ten commandments or do you think of the 613 commandments (Mitzvot) contained in the Old Testament?
I am also not arguing against giving. I am arguing for the right kind of giving. Notice my description of the tithing doctrine as "compulsory?" This is intentional. In II Corinthians Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. He tells us we should not give under compulsion. What does compulsory mean? Compulsory means required or mandatory. Another form of the word is used in the passage of the NASB translation is compulsion, this has a bent towards meaning coercion.
So with all respect to the pastors out there who have accepted the doctrine of the compulsory tithe simply because it seems to make sense... Are you even open to the remote idea that perhaps this doctrine is heresy when you sit it next to the scriptures? It is possible that you have been teaching a false doctrine? Is it possible that your teaching has done damage to the lives and souls of others? To be a fair, it is probably I who am more accurately termed a heretic, so much of the church has accepted this false doctrine and my being one of the dissenters, makes me the heretic. Martin Luther was a heretic.
I do not dispute the fact that the Old Testament has many many examples of the tithe. I also am not saying that the Old Testament has nothing to say to the believer. What I am saying is that it is wrong for a church to pick and choose which parts of the law to make compulsory for believers. When you think of "the law" do you think of the ten commandments or do you think of the 613 commandments (Mitzvot) contained in the Old Testament?
I am also not arguing against giving. I am arguing for the right kind of giving. Notice my description of the tithing doctrine as "compulsory?" This is intentional. In II Corinthians Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. He tells us we should not give under compulsion. What does compulsory mean? Compulsory means required or mandatory. Another form of the word is used in the passage of the NASB translation is compulsion, this has a bent towards meaning coercion.
So with all respect to the pastors out there who have accepted the doctrine of the compulsory tithe simply because it seems to make sense... Are you even open to the remote idea that perhaps this doctrine is heresy when you sit it next to the scriptures? It is possible that you have been teaching a false doctrine? Is it possible that your teaching has done damage to the lives and souls of others? To be a fair, it is probably I who am more accurately termed a heretic, so much of the church has accepted this false doctrine and my being one of the dissenters, makes me the heretic. Martin Luther was a heretic.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)