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Post by Nikkol on Aug 29, 2005 13:10:22 GMT -5
To tithe or not to tithe: That is the question that has come across many pulpits and message boards across the world..... I'll start with the "most quoted scripture" and we can start going through and picking out others as well.
Side Note: I do believe in paying tithes and offerings.[/i]
I may be giving different perspectives of both sides but wanted to make it known that I do believe that we should tithe.
Mal 3:8- 12
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
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Post by lanl ns on Aug 29, 2005 13:20:52 GMT -5
I believe that we should tithe................
What I disagree with is the guilt that ministers associate with tithes. Or the teaching that the only way one can receive a blessing is through tithes.
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Post by Nikkol on Aug 29, 2005 14:00:32 GMT -5
I believe that we should tithe................ What I disagree with is the guilt that ministers associate with tithes. Or the teaching that the only way one can receive a blessing is through tithes. However, if God is requiring for His people to tithe, and we don't tithe, that would be disobedience, which is sin. So shouldn't there be some type of sadness/hurt because of one's disobedience. Keeping that in mind, if one links blessings with obedience, wouldn't tithing just be one of many ways that we are blessed? |
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Post by ybrown on Aug 29, 2005 14:05:28 GMT -5
Actions can be negated by motives. Motives of the heart are more important than actions.
That’s why many Christians paid their tithes, and yet haven't seen the financial blessings and returns that God promises in Mark 10:29-30 and Luke 6:38, come to pass. There’s more to giving than just the action - the motive is very important.
Probably the most dominant motive for us giving is that of debt or obligation, which also used to be my own motivation. Preachers love to use Malachi 3:8-10 to tell us that they’re robbing God if we don't tithe, and that God will curse us for not tithing. Sure, that motivates people to give, but for the wrong reason, and makes our giving profit us nothing.
In the New Testament, Paul made it very clear that every person was to give "as he purposeth in his heart...not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). Giving because it's a debt, or we'll be cursed if we don't give, is just not consistent with the motivation Paul gave in 2 Corinthians 9:7. There’s a big difference between New Testament giving, and giving under the law, and that difference is the motive - what's in the heart while giving.
We know that tithing was in effect before the law of Moses (Gen. 14:20), so we also know that tithing is a biblical principle that still applies to us New Testament believers who are not under the law.
But the curse placed on those who do not tithe was a part of the Old Testament law and it doesn't apply to us today. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" (Gal. 3:13).
If we cling to the curse of Malachi 3:9, then that means we have to make sure we heed to verse 8 more carefully. It says we have not only robbed God in tithes, but also in offerings. Some people have estimated that all the tithes and offerings given out in the Old Testament amounted to as much as 33%.
So, to honestly use these scriptures in Malachi to motivate people to give, the preacher has to preach that any gift below 33% causes the curse to come upon them. I haven’t heard of a preacher preaching 33% and yet that's what Malachi 3:8-10 is saying.
Giving, including tithing, should first and foremost be an act of worship and thanksgiving, an acknowledgement that it is God who is the source of everything we have, and it is He who gives us the power to get wealth. Giving then becomes an act of faith, not a reaction based on fear.
I don’t think I’m cursed if I don't tithe. I’d be stupid, but not cursed. We worship a God who honors faith, so it would be ridiculous of me to not give when I can actually increase by giving as it says in Proverbs. 3:9-10 and 11:24-25. Giving is a smart and faith-based thing to do, but if we don't tithe and give, God still loves us stupid. I may not have a crop to harvest if I eat (or spend) all my seed, but God will still love me.
When we give based on the New Testament attitude to giving, it becomes an acceptable offering to the Lord, and releases all the blessings that God has promised in His Word upon the cheerful giver scripture in 2 Cor. 9:7-11. But those who give with the wrong motive will not be profited anything.
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Post by krazeeboi on Aug 29, 2005 14:13:06 GMT -5
Here's a question.
Before the Law, folks tithed voluntarily (Abraham and Jacob, specifically). So how is it that now, in the new covenant, we make tithing mandatory?
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Post by And Such Were Some Of You on Aug 29, 2005 14:15:36 GMT -5
rut roh! krazee is on the scene!
this is going to be good. Keita, wherey'at?
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Post by lanl on Aug 29, 2005 14:27:41 GMT -5
Here's a question. Before the Law, folks tithed voluntarily (Abraham and Jacob, specifically). So how is it that now, in the new covenant, we make tithing mandatory?  ;D ;D
giving you a big ^5 |
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Post by Beck on Aug 29, 2005 14:28:53 GMT -5
Here's a question. Before the Law, folks tithed voluntarily (Abraham and Jacob, specifically). So how is it that now, in the new covenant, we make tithing mandatory? I would think because it became apart of the Law. |
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Post by ybrown on Aug 29, 2005 15:05:36 GMT -5
Tithing isn't mandatory. Preachers in need of cash only make it so and pull out Malachi when the reserves are low.
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Post by Beck on Aug 29, 2005 15:10:01 GMT -5
Tithing isn't mandatory. Preachers in need of cash only make it so and pull out Malachi when the reserves are low. lol ;D question...what about if a member goes to one congregation, but tithes to several assemblies. Is there a scripture that says this is wrong? |
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Post by And Such Were Some Of You on Aug 29, 2005 15:13:39 GMT -5
Tithing isn't mandatory. Preachers in need of cash only make it so and pull out Malachi when the reserves are low. lol ;D question...what about if a member goes to one congregation, but tithes to several assemblies. Is there a scripture that says this is wrong? ohhh u 'bout to get it (singing the way children do) |
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Post by ybrown on Aug 29, 2005 16:44:08 GMT -5
Tithing isn't mandatory. Preachers in need of cash only make it so and pull out Malachi when the reserves are low. lol ;D question...what about if a member goes to one congregation, but tithes to several assemblies. Is there a scripture that says this is wrong? No, follow the Holy Spirit - He'll tell you where to give. I'm led to give where I'm fed, and not when someone other than the HS tells me to do so. If you ever have a doubt about tithing, read Galatians 3:10, which says that Christians who insist on keeping the Law of Moses (including Malachi) or part of it are under a curse. Gal 3:10: 10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." So pastors and churches that advocate tithing as compulsory are putting a curse on their congregations! 'Giving' is a New Testament 'Church' Principle as opposed to tithing by Law (by compulsion). In Matt 22:21 Jesus did clearly command that we have to give "to God what is God's." |
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Post by hezsweetiknow on Aug 29, 2005 18:16:55 GMT -5
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Post by ybrown on Aug 29, 2005 19:21:10 GMT -5
Thank you hezsweetiknow. That was a blessing. |
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Post by keita on Aug 30, 2005 1:01:26 GMT -5
rut roh! krazee is on the scene! this is going to be good. Keita, wherey'at? LOL!!! Watching and praying, sis, watching and praying! (Even though my well-worn soapbox is ALWAYS at the ready on this subject and I don't feel no ways tired!) And plus, ybrown is holding it down... I believe that SO much of the present day teaching on, of, and about "tithing" is not only unashamedly greedy, it also often represents a completely hypocritical misuse of Scripture, and has resulted in some serious deception, flagrant abuse and rampant bondage of God's people. (I will not rant...I will not rant...I will not rant...ahhhhh!)  Okay, here's the "K.I.S.S." version of what I have come to believe and to teach: Tithing is good... Giving is better... Freely giving is best. Jesus paid it ALL. |
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;D ;D 