Is God only worthy of a tithe of our income?
David
says: “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and
all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1). How then can we insist only a tithe
of our income belongs to God? God does not only own ten percent of our
possessions, he owns everything we have. As a matter of fact, we belong
to the Lord, even as he also belongs to us.
Thus, Jeremiah declares: “The LORD is (our) portion.” (Lamentation 3:24). Jesus says: “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33). Therefore, a “tither” cannot be a disciple of Christ. I used to pay tithes. But when I finally grasped the full import of Jesus’ message, I concluded that giving only a tithe of my income for kingdom purposes is grossly inadequate.
Some of us should give nothing less than eighty percent because we are very rich. God can even require that we give our entire monthly salary on occasion; after all he owns all we have. But giving to God should not be confused with giving to a church. Precious God What is God worth to us? Is he only worthy of a tithe of our income? Every Christian should be allowed to determine this for himself. Institutionalised tithing limits the generosity of a believer. Once we give ten percent, we believe we have fulfilled all righteousness.
But this limitation is short-sighted. Jesus says: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38). Therefore, don’t use the measure of a delimited tithe. The truth is that pastors have little faith in Christians. We are convinced they would never give out of their own volition. So we lay down the Law of Moses and threaten those who disobey with the disdain of heaven.
Thereby, we nullify the faith of our parishioners by making them give out of compulsion. But our God is a God of free will. That was the error of Moses. He was convinced the Israelites were a wicked people. So he thought it would be unwise to tell them God is against divorce because they would still not be able to obey. Moses decided the best he could do was to limit the propensity to divorce by regulating it and by laying down certain procedures that must be followed before a man could divorce his wife.
In the process, he ended up by legitimising divorce and, thereby, misrepresenting God. Jesus was quick to correct this error. He says to the Jews: “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:8-9).
Therefore, don’t accept the indictment of money-grubbing pastors that you won’t give unless cajoled, and then would only give a tithe. Self-serving theology Bolaji Ogundimu was distraught. She asked her good friend for financial assistance and she refused even though she had the money. She told Bolaji the money with her was earmarked for her tithe. God forbid her tithe should be used to help someone in need. According to the brainwashing she had received, her tithe must only be handed over to her pastor; otherwise it would be nullified.
Little did she know that her pastor, in his greed for her money, had made her into a bad Samaritan. Pastors who insist you must bring your tithe to their churches are only interested in your money. Never believe any man who preaches anything beneficial to him directly or indirectly. If he preaches the righteousness of giving, listen to him only up to that point where he tells you to bring the money to him or to his church.
If he is really interested in teaching the way of righteousness, he should encourage you to give the money to other institutions apart from the one he is involved in. Let him tell you to give the money to the orphanage, and his message is thereby purified. But once he passes the basket round after such a message, his motives immediately become suspect. Don’t fall for the trick where a special guest to your church is the one encouraging you to give to your church. It is also conventional for him to say it is necessary for you to “bless” your pastor.
This is a game of deception played by pastors. I ask people to give to you when I come to your church, and you tell people to give to me when you come to mine. Looking unto Jesus Jesus must, in all cases, be our example. When he preached the gospel to the chief young ruler, he said to him: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor.” (Matthew 19:21). He did not tell him to bring the money to him or to his church. Why must the money only be brought to the pastor or to his church? The righteousness is not tied to the church but to the giver. The righteousness is not sown in the church but in the believer’s heart.
There is no spiritual benefit in receiving money. But there is great benefit in giving to others. Irrespective of the amount, the money we give can never make a real difference in the true lives of the recipients. However, when we give, it makes a difference in our lives. Giving may not change the receiver, but it often changes the giver because it works on our heart. The foundation of giving is love, compassion, mercy and faith. Therefore, giving produces in us the fruit of righteousness which is pleasant to God. Don’t believe the lie of pastors that by giving to your church you are giving to God.
The kingdom of God has nothing to do with pastors or with local churches. Jesus told the Samaritan woman: “Believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” (John 4:21). The hour has already come. God is not worshipped in local churches. He is worshipped in our heart-of-hearts. The true church of Christ is not a building but a people. Cathedral Builders Tithes are often used to build the kingdoms of pastors as opposed to the kingdom of God.
They are used to finance the pastor’s sometimes lavish lifestyle; to build huge mausoleums to the pastor’s glory; to buy airplanes which most church-members cannot fly in; establish schools and universities which poor church-members cannot afford; or establish banks which only benefit the rich. But the kingdom of God is about giving to the poor, the widows, the orphans and the stranger.
These are the true representatives of God. Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40). In the churches, pastors are not the least but the greatest.
Femi Aribisala
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayThus, Jeremiah declares: “The LORD is (our) portion.” (Lamentation 3:24). Jesus says: “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33). Therefore, a “tither” cannot be a disciple of Christ. I used to pay tithes. But when I finally grasped the full import of Jesus’ message, I concluded that giving only a tithe of my income for kingdom purposes is grossly inadequate.
Some of us should give nothing less than eighty percent because we are very rich. God can even require that we give our entire monthly salary on occasion; after all he owns all we have. But giving to God should not be confused with giving to a church. Precious God What is God worth to us? Is he only worthy of a tithe of our income? Every Christian should be allowed to determine this for himself. Institutionalised tithing limits the generosity of a believer. Once we give ten percent, we believe we have fulfilled all righteousness.
But this limitation is short-sighted. Jesus says: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38). Therefore, don’t use the measure of a delimited tithe. The truth is that pastors have little faith in Christians. We are convinced they would never give out of their own volition. So we lay down the Law of Moses and threaten those who disobey with the disdain of heaven.
Thereby, we nullify the faith of our parishioners by making them give out of compulsion. But our God is a God of free will. That was the error of Moses. He was convinced the Israelites were a wicked people. So he thought it would be unwise to tell them God is against divorce because they would still not be able to obey. Moses decided the best he could do was to limit the propensity to divorce by regulating it and by laying down certain procedures that must be followed before a man could divorce his wife.
In the process, he ended up by legitimising divorce and, thereby, misrepresenting God. Jesus was quick to correct this error. He says to the Jews: “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:8-9).
Therefore, don’t accept the indictment of money-grubbing pastors that you won’t give unless cajoled, and then would only give a tithe. Self-serving theology Bolaji Ogundimu was distraught. She asked her good friend for financial assistance and she refused even though she had the money. She told Bolaji the money with her was earmarked for her tithe. God forbid her tithe should be used to help someone in need. According to the brainwashing she had received, her tithe must only be handed over to her pastor; otherwise it would be nullified.
Little did she know that her pastor, in his greed for her money, had made her into a bad Samaritan. Pastors who insist you must bring your tithe to their churches are only interested in your money. Never believe any man who preaches anything beneficial to him directly or indirectly. If he preaches the righteousness of giving, listen to him only up to that point where he tells you to bring the money to him or to his church.
If he is really interested in teaching the way of righteousness, he should encourage you to give the money to other institutions apart from the one he is involved in. Let him tell you to give the money to the orphanage, and his message is thereby purified. But once he passes the basket round after such a message, his motives immediately become suspect. Don’t fall for the trick where a special guest to your church is the one encouraging you to give to your church. It is also conventional for him to say it is necessary for you to “bless” your pastor.
This is a game of deception played by pastors. I ask people to give to you when I come to your church, and you tell people to give to me when you come to mine. Looking unto Jesus Jesus must, in all cases, be our example. When he preached the gospel to the chief young ruler, he said to him: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor.” (Matthew 19:21). He did not tell him to bring the money to him or to his church. Why must the money only be brought to the pastor or to his church? The righteousness is not tied to the church but to the giver. The righteousness is not sown in the church but in the believer’s heart.
There is no spiritual benefit in receiving money. But there is great benefit in giving to others. Irrespective of the amount, the money we give can never make a real difference in the true lives of the recipients. However, when we give, it makes a difference in our lives. Giving may not change the receiver, but it often changes the giver because it works on our heart. The foundation of giving is love, compassion, mercy and faith. Therefore, giving produces in us the fruit of righteousness which is pleasant to God. Don’t believe the lie of pastors that by giving to your church you are giving to God.
The kingdom of God has nothing to do with pastors or with local churches. Jesus told the Samaritan woman: “Believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” (John 4:21). The hour has already come. God is not worshipped in local churches. He is worshipped in our heart-of-hearts. The true church of Christ is not a building but a people. Cathedral Builders Tithes are often used to build the kingdoms of pastors as opposed to the kingdom of God.
They are used to finance the pastor’s sometimes lavish lifestyle; to build huge mausoleums to the pastor’s glory; to buy airplanes which most church-members cannot fly in; establish schools and universities which poor church-members cannot afford; or establish banks which only benefit the rich. But the kingdom of God is about giving to the poor, the widows, the orphans and the stranger.
These are the true representatives of God. Jesus says: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40). In the churches, pastors are not the least but the greatest.
Femi Aribisala
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Oga Femi, we have heard you, We will not give any of our money to our pastors or our church, consequently, our pastor should die of hunger, he should not be able to power the church building or maintain it, eventually, we will have to move out to an open field where we will listen to the word of God. Halleluyah.
ReplyDeleteAlso, our pastor should go and find a full time job, lest they chase his children home from school. This may sometimes mean he wont be able to preach on sundays because he will have to do official errands on sundays.
Amen
Did you read the same thing that I did on what femi said? I worry for you.
DeleteSola,dat is not what femi means read ur bible very well u will understand wat femi is saying,many of us thinks more about our pastor 4getting d real essence of a Christian which is christ like,if ur pastor is a true man of God not until u pay ur tithe b4 ur pastor will feed or pay school fees or build d church already God has mapped out a way for all his own so do think 4 God.more over if all ur tithe goes to ur pastor wat will u give d poor,helpless its hard to kw everything about God just pray 4 wisdom n answers if come.
ReplyDeleteMr femi u have well spoken,nigerians are about the most religious people on planet earth yet our country is in shambles,our pastors and politicians are the same,I was talking to a female colleague of mine the other day whose sister was sent away from school due to non payment of school fees but to my surprise she prefer to give tithe to her pastor than to pay her sisters' school fee.what a brainwashed sister.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments...at some point, Mr femi sounds off tune/out of tune/...and at others, he appears like a pastor...
ReplyDeleteI however agree with some of his points but not all...
As for ♍ƺ, i must pay my tithe whether i like it or not, however, it doesn't mean the tithe must be to my pastor only....the orphanage, a distressed(financially distressed) person(s)....
Really, its as the spirit of GOD leads...
Well said, I read u loud and clear Mr Femi. Quite unfortunate, my people perish because they lack knowledge "Hosea 4:6". Most Nigerians are just in mental slavery 'Christians and Muslims' alike held in captivity by their clerics. They seems to go to church all week, read the bible all day but don't see the truth. I can remember coming across a verse in the new testament not too sure if its in 'Phillipians' where saint paul says he's charging the church leaders not to be of any burden to its members but that they should work to earn their own living. So whatever money brought to the church should be strictly for the gospel propagation.
ReplyDeleteLet's read our bible with understanding and be true to God. The writer has good points to ponder on. Wisdom is the principal thing as the bible said; Get Wisdom!
ReplyDeleteIt is good to pay as divinely instructed(Malachi 3 v 10)we are not paying to pastors but to God Almighty whether in the churches(Storehouses-so that there will be meat in His House-for pastors n missionaries that are fulltime)/orphanages(that bears His Holy name and establish His Divine purpose-to feed n clothes the poor n needy).We are the living churches not the physical churches(built with millions)God the Father wants to fellowship with us through God the Son(Jesus Christ)via God the Holy Spirit.It is the Holy Spirit of the Living God that bears witness with our human spirit that we are the children of the living God-JEHOVAH.In this dark age(perilous)He want to fellowship with us(speak to us,counsel for divine direction n co)and convict us when we erred.Please always leave the pastors and ministers(whether rigteous or unrighteous)It is God Almighty who is the only true Judge over all He created in Heaven and on Earth that will Judge His own men and women ministers.continue to pray for them so that they do not fail God Almighty because na dem satan dey fight(attack)most because of their calling/Grace-they are God Almighty instrucments to stand in gap for us all.thanks.L.A.O
ReplyDeleteFemi, Don't mind shallow minded and brain washed people following their pastors sheepishly. One day,they will realise their folly. Remember the song by Jamaican Max Romea: Stealing,Stealing Stealing.. Stealing in the name of the lord.. My Fathers place of worship has become the den of sin..Stealing in the name of the lord...yet the pastor drive fancy cars and enjoy evrything that is good..The people live in poverty and yet give him charity... lets cast out this armour of ignorance and set my people free...stealing...
ReplyDeleteFemi Dear, well done! It is said that a dog destined to die will not recognise the whistling of his owner.
I lost faith in the preaching of "Paying Tithes" in year 1999 when I was attending Foursquare Gospel Church. I asked my pastor after a bible study session on tithing a question and the answer I got shocked me to say the least. My question was "If I have packaged my tithe and on my way to church, then I saw somebody who is in dire need for whatever reason. If I use my tithe to meet the need of this person, have I not paid my tithe?"
ReplyDeleteMy pastor told me that day that I have not paid my tithe because tithes are meant to be paid to church where you fellowship. In my opinion, that's a BIG, FAT LIE!
WHAT IS THE CRUZ ABOUT. THOSE OF US WHO BELIEVE IN TITHING, LET US BE. THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T, PLS DON'T PAY. ITS NOT BY FORCE. THE MAN WHO STOPPED PAYING, HAS THAT CHANGE GOD OR HINDER THE GROWTH OF FOURSQUARE CHURCH AT ALL.?. THE TRUTH IS THAT WE ALL PAY TITHES. YOU EITHER PAY TO GOD OR TO THE DEVIL., SHEKENA. ITS ONLY THE CHURCH WE CAN ATTACK. WHY NOT TELL GOVT NOT TO COLLECT TAX, HOTELS, ETC NOT TO COLLECT VAT ETC. I HAVE SEEN MORE PEOPLE PROSPERED CUZ THEY ARE TITHER THAN NON TITHER. YOUR TITHE OR NO TITHE DOES NOT ENRICH OR IMPOVERISH GOD. I AM A GLAD, HAPPY, COMMITTED AND PROUD TITHER.
ReplyDelete