by Eric Blair |
| To give willingly or guiltily |
As soon as many people hear the word “tithe” they begin to feel some guilt as they remember that they have not paid their tithes for a very long time but in the bible, Christians were told to give cheerfully rather than guiltily, so do you give according to your heart or you give because of the guilt as the preacher condemns those who are yet to pay their tithes?
Before we go in depth, we are going to encourage those who give cheerful to continue giving as God loves a cheerful giver but a guilt-feeling giver? ….. Now, we do not believe tithes are compulsory the way it is taught in churches today, as many of the old practices in the bible changed after the birth of Jesus Christ and we will discuss the issue of tithes based on the bible and things happening around us today.
Before we move on, let’s refresh our memory on what tithes were used for in the Old Testament - Of course, God does not need your money, your car, you food, or any other earthly things. However people were required to pay tithes to support the Levites who worked in the house of God day and night, and based on the nature of their task, they were unable to work outside the temple as all of their time was devoted to God.
“Robbing God” in the book of Malachi was not referring to refusing to give God your money but rather failing to take care of the Levite priests who abandoned their work in the house of God because they had to provide their basic needs themselves. Tithes were mainly paid in food items and these were stored in the temple of Jerusalem. All of these changed with the New Testament and now, true Christians are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Churches today use the book of Malachi 3:8 to make Christians guilty by making them believe that they are robbing God if they do not pay their tithes and offerings however in 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul instructed the church teaching that each man should in fact, give cheerfully for God loves a cheerful giver.
Furthermore Paul instructed the church that giving should not be under compulsion or reluctantly but rather based on what is decided in the heart. Churches today also spread the message that if you do not give to God, you should not expect blessings from God referring to Malachi 3:10, and because of this, many Christians give today because they are expecting blessings in return from God. Such motive for giving qualifies as acting on self-interest and is basically giving because of blessings rather than giving for the love of God. This is putting God to the test because of his promise of blessings however we are warned to not test God by Jesus in Matthew 4:7.
Before we move on, let’s refresh our memory on what tithes were used for in the Old Testament - Of course, God does not need your money, your car, you food, or any other earthly things. However people were required to pay tithes to support the Levites who worked in the house of God day and night, and based on the nature of their task, they were unable to work outside the temple as all of their time was devoted to God.
“Robbing God” in the book of Malachi was not referring to refusing to give God your money but rather failing to take care of the Levite priests who abandoned their work in the house of God because they had to provide their basic needs themselves. Tithes were mainly paid in food items and these were stored in the temple of Jerusalem. All of these changed with the New Testament and now, true Christians are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Churches today use the book of Malachi 3:8 to make Christians guilty by making them believe that they are robbing God if they do not pay their tithes and offerings however in 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul instructed the church teaching that each man should in fact, give cheerfully for God loves a cheerful giver.
Furthermore Paul instructed the church that giving should not be under compulsion or reluctantly but rather based on what is decided in the heart. Churches today also spread the message that if you do not give to God, you should not expect blessings from God referring to Malachi 3:10, and because of this, many Christians give today because they are expecting blessings in return from God. Such motive for giving qualifies as acting on self-interest and is basically giving because of blessings rather than giving for the love of God. This is putting God to the test because of his promise of blessings however we are warned to not test God by Jesus in Matthew 4:7.
Today, many people don’t believe in giving to the poor however, they give a lot to the church for buildings, supporting the preachers, and many more which is all good however, Jesus, knowing the teachings in Malachi 3:10 that instructed the people to bring their tithes into the storehouses, still instructed the rich man in Matthew 19:21 to sell all his belongings and give to the poor and according to the book of John 1:14, Jesus Christ is the word of God in the flesh. So this begs the question, how is it that many churches do not engage in helping the poor today with the offerings of the people? Is it that they don’t get enough?
Apparently the early churches had a better understanding of giving and sharing, and in Acts 4:32-37, they were able to completely eliminate poverty in the church because they shared everything and as we see here “For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4:32-37).
Based on the verse, we can see that the church shared everything and helped each other in Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-37 to the extent that they were able to eliminate poverty. Now, many churches care more about expanding their reach and ignore those who are needy in the church and as they expand, the numbers of needy people also increases. Offerings and tithes in the church are important as they support the development of the church and help eliminate poverty in the church - this should be the aim of Christians and preachers included, rather than aiming to get rich off offerings and tithes.
Back then the churches basically did the job of the government today by aiding in reducing poverty as they providing basic needs to the members of the church using the tithes and offerings of the well to do members but today, the churches don’t do much to help and when it’s time to collect tithes and offerings, they would make you feel guilty for not giving however they also fail to do their task of helping the needy members. Today, you don’t hear many preachers instructing their members to come together to help the poor with their offerings and the reason for that is simple. Please check my article on the issue of churches especially in Nigeria who have other aims apart from building the Christian faith. Please share your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below. Cheers.
For further reading check out “Exposing the Tithe Lie by Jack Helser”
More: Companies with the worst customer service
More: Watered-down Feminism
Apparently the early churches had a better understanding of giving and sharing, and in Acts 4:32-37, they were able to completely eliminate poverty in the church because they shared everything and as we see here “For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4:32-37).
Based on the verse, we can see that the church shared everything and helped each other in Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-37 to the extent that they were able to eliminate poverty. Now, many churches care more about expanding their reach and ignore those who are needy in the church and as they expand, the numbers of needy people also increases. Offerings and tithes in the church are important as they support the development of the church and help eliminate poverty in the church - this should be the aim of Christians and preachers included, rather than aiming to get rich off offerings and tithes.
Back then the churches basically did the job of the government today by aiding in reducing poverty as they providing basic needs to the members of the church using the tithes and offerings of the well to do members but today, the churches don’t do much to help and when it’s time to collect tithes and offerings, they would make you feel guilty for not giving however they also fail to do their task of helping the needy members. Today, you don’t hear many preachers instructing their members to come together to help the poor with their offerings and the reason for that is simple. Please check my article on the issue of churches especially in Nigeria who have other aims apart from building the Christian faith. Please share your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below. Cheers.
For further reading check out “Exposing the Tithe Lie by Jack Helser”
More: Companies with the worst customer service
More: Watered-down Feminism