There's lots of singing and shouting in churches worldwide about how Christ's people are a holy nation and a royal priesthood. But when offering time rolls around, the so-called laity are taxed like serfs who owe tribute to earthly lords in the pulpit!

I was surfing the Net to find out if there was any info posted on a Full Gospel church I used to visit with other young people back in the early 70's. At the time I first heard this message preached I had just recently received my Baptism with the Holy Spirit. To my utter amazement I remember hearing this sermon and who preached it. I was about 20 when this message was shared by one of the elder ministers at one of the first Full Gospel conventions I ever attended.

I'll quote only that small section of the Internet story which is pertinent to this article. The author relates a vision someone is said to have had of a rich businessman who died and went to appear before his Judge. When I heard it as a baby Christian, it filled me with dread and great relief that it wasn't me standing before God in that man's shoes. But now that I'm much older and better acquainted with the Word of God, I realize that not everything in the vision passes muster with correctly applied Scripture. I still have a godly fear toward Almighty God, but I no longer allow myself to be imtimidated by doctrines proven by Scripture to be false traditions of men. It is very, very important not to be overpowered by "deeper" revelations, even if they are preached by a popular teacher who usually gets it right. Beware of being taken captive by religious sentiments springing from bad manmade traditions. We must be persuaded ONLY by the Word of God as it was originally taught to the church by the early apostles. The following segment contains words I heard preached from a pulpit about 35 years ago:

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Some months back the Lord gave the writer a vivid vision of a former, Waco, Texas, wealthy business man who had died.
He had been a nominal Christian for forty years. He stood trembling before the Judge and His Judgment Seat to have his life work judged for eternal rewards. The Lord asked, "What did you bring me out of your long Christian life in Waco, Texas?" The man stood paralyzed with shame, for he could think of nothing acceptable to God as a present. Then pointing to nine large objects the voice said: "Those are the things you stole from God during your Christian life." The first object with his name on it was all the Lord~{!/~}s money in tithes and offerings he has used for himself.
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Pretty heavy stuff, isn't it? And because the writer quoted a vision allegedly given by the LORD, that alone would seem to lend the story all the credibility it needs. When I was young I would be overcome with awe whenever I heard about somebody having a vision. But experience has taught me to keep a clear head, even as I remain open to the Holy Spirit's workings. Only the Word of God, correctly translated, properly interpreted IN CONTEXT, and correctly applied as believers living under GRACE (we're not under Mosaic Law, INCLUDING THE TITHE LAW) must be the final authority for our faith and practice, not somebody's spurious vision.

NOT ONE scripture teaches or even supports monetary tithing, either in the Old or the New Testament. NOT ONCE does the apostle Paul ever teach or enforce monetary tithing. Biblical Christians are exhorted strongly to be cheerful givers, but NOT ONCE is anybody ever named and shamed by any New Testament apostle for failure to tithe. Yet I have read examples of preachers resorting to threats to get tithe money! If so-and-so doesn't start tithing by next week, his or her name will be read from the pulpit as a non-tither, and they will be held up to public disgrace! Talk about blackmail! The New Testament doesn't ever command tithing on money, and neither does the Old Testament. But the Bible does have plenty to say about slander. Standing behind a pulpit gives no one the right to crucify a blood-washed believer for breaking some religious law INVENTED BY MEN to make clergymen richer!

Poverty-stricken Paul could have lived like Bill Gates if he'd taken even five per cent of his flock's salaries and wages. Jesus Himself did not support his own ministry through tithes, only freewill offerings. If Jesus ever once told Simon Peter to take an ice cream bucket and collect the "tithes" off of the poor peasants who attended His speaking engagements, SHOW ME THE SCRIPTURE! You'll read plenty about Jesus healing people for free, or feeding the crowds their dinner after His message, but nothing about "taking up the offering", much less taking up anybody's tithe. It's a safe bet Jesus never resorted to razzle-dazzle religious rhetoric to empty people's pockets!

It's just as non-kosher to pay monetary tithes to 21st-century Gentile preachers as it is for an orthodox Jew to eat a pork barbeque sandwich! Before His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus lived under the Mosaic Covenant of Law (Gal.4:4). Jesus Himself did not qualify to pay tithes to the priests because He did not farm the land or raise livestock. Jesus was a Carpenter (Mark 6:3). And it would have been against Jewish Law for Jesus to collect tithes to finance His own ministry! Aside from the fact Moses never commanded money tithes, Jesus hailed from the Tribe of Judah, which had never been authorized by Moses to officiate in the Levitical Priesthood (Heb.7:14). Only members of the priestly Tribe of Levi qualifed to take tithes (Numbers 18:21-24). Tithes were paid only on the produce of the Land of Israel and they were paid by landowners who made their living from agriculture, not by wage earners (see Deut.14:22-29). If you were a hired hand working for the landowner you didn't tithe on your daily wage. If you were a sandalmaker or a fisherman in ancient Israel you didn't owe any tithes on the fruits of your labor! Sandals, pots, pans, fish, gold, silver and money were never subject to the Mosaic tithing tax!

In the above vision, the guy who welshed on paying monetary tithes is castigated by "the Lord" for failure to pay tithes on money. Our God does not contradict Himself! He does not change the rules at the end of the game. If God expected New Testament saints to pay monetary tithes, or any other kind, surely He would have made that clear from the very outset of the Church Age! Having a selfish heart and closing your eyes to the need of poorer people around you is a sin, but show me the Scripture which commands anybody, rich or poor, to pay tithes on their pay checks! The businessman was found guilty of wasting "tithe money" on himself. But read through Deuteronomy 14: 22-29 to find out what the tithe consisted of and who was to benefit from it.

Verses 24-26 covers the case of a tithe-payer who lives too far away from the place of worship to haul his farm or ranch produce there. Only in that particular context is money ever mentioned in conjunction with tithing! In that case the tithe payer is permitted to sell the tithed produce of his dirt farm or his tithed farm animals, then take the money and use it to purchase FOR HIS OWN CONSUMPTION any food or drink his soul (not the preacher's) desires, even wine or strong drink. The purpose of the tithe was to feed hungry widows, aliens and orphans. It was a vital part of God's social welfare program for vulnerable poor people who possessed no inheritance of Land in Israel. Another purpose of the tithe was to gather foods to eat with other Israelites at a feast of thanksgiving before the Lord. It was a joyous time of celebration in which ALL were to share, not just the religious elite!

If you're going to transfer an Old Testament Law to this New Covenant of Grace, at least show more fidelity to Scripture. Let the poor help you eat the tithe, although it would still be hard to do that with today's tithe. It isn't easy to choke down a twenty-dollar bill! The tithe was FOOD, plain and simple. The true Biblical tithe was NEVER used to build fancy buildings or finance a life of luxury for pulpit pilots. It shocked the daylights out of me when I read Deuteronomy 14:26 and discovered that if I'd lived back in Old Testament times I could have spent money from the sale of tithed goods on a six-pack of Bacardi Breezer wine coolers. In that verse the tither is encouraged to buy wine or strong drink with the money! NOT ONCE have I ever heard any minister preach on Deuteronomy 14:26. I wonder why? It wouldn't look very spiritual to chug down beer at a religious function, so it's best to just pretend that verse isn't even in the Bible! Imposing Moses' tithing law on today's church opens a big can of theological worms. You cannot transfer a law without also transferring all the terms and conditions of that law. If you want the Mosaic Tithing Law, you must take ALL of it upon yourself. Deuteronomy 14:26 is part of the Tithing Law. So break out the Bud!

The charitable intent of Mosaic tithing was not resurrected along with the IDEA of imposing a ten per cent religious tax on worshippers. The purpose and precepts of the true Biblical Tithing Law fly in the face of the heavy yoke laid upon Christians today. Those who break the genetically modified, adulterated laws which preachers have concocted FOR THEIR OWN SELFISH CARNAL GAIN are threatened with public humiliation or divine judgment, just like the self-righteous Pharisees of Jesus' day would throw people out of the synagogue for listening to Jesus preach God's real Word instead of submitting to their man-made legalism. Any Biblical law that's been tampered with and given a face lift by men doesn't carry much weight with God. He hates religious confusion, for He is a God of perfect holiness and order.

Every seventh year there would be no tithe paid in Israel at all because the land was to lie fallow and no harvest could be collected from it (Lev.25:4). This was to be instead a sabbath of rest for the land. How many Christians are granted a sabbath rest every seven years from being commanded BY MEN to tithe on their overstretched paychecks? If clergymen must transfer their favorite Old Testament ceremonial ordinance into our dispensation of Grace, they should also transfer all the statutes which make up that Law, even those which are don't cater to their greed! God doesn't like it when preachers go around singing that we've been set free from the Law, then turn around and put their favorite Mosaic ordinance back on us, modernized into a moneymaker. Some ministers caution against eating the tithe, but that's exactly what God said it was for in the first place. God doesn't take kindly to pulpit bullies adding make-believe scriptures to His Word to blackmail Christ's blood-washed saints with (Rev. 22:18).

In Acts Chapter 15 there was a dispute about whether Gentile converts were obligated to keep the Law of Moses or any part of it. In verses 28-29 only four (4) restrictions are placed on the liberty of Gentile followers. They were to refrain from:
1. meats offered to idols
2. the consumption of blood
3. eating strangled animals
4. committing fornication.

Where does the Tithing Law appear on that long list of commands? Nowhere! If ever there was an opportunity for the early apostles to impose monetary tithing on unpaid slaves and salaried workers, that would have been the best time to do it, don't you think?

I cut my spiritual eye teeth on the teachings of the church where I first heard about the vision of the dead businessman. We sang joyfully about being set free from the Law of sin and death, and we really believed it too. We were allowed to put that belief into practice~{!-~}up to a point. One of my favorite choruses was Galatians 5:1: Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The ordinances of the Old Covenant have been nailed to the Cross of Christ (Col.2:14). Christ is the END OF THE LAW for righteousness to every one that believeth (Rom.10:4). Whoever puts himself back under the Law of Moses or any part of it has fallen from grace (Gal.5:4). Preachers profess to love liberty and grace. So long as these New Testament blessings don't dry up the cash flow , that is. Preachers claim that Christ has fulfilled the Law, but He didn't quite finish the job and we have to fulfill just a little bit of it too. They testify that Christ paid our debt in full~{!-~}except for the ongoing TITHE DEBT which will be perpetually payable to the lords of the institutional church until they are raptured up to their second helping of paradise.

Preachers refuse to forgive imaginary debts allegedly owed to them by the serfs out in the pews, yet Paul says in Romans 13:8: Owe no man any thing but to love one another. Preachers sing: "He was nailed to the Cross for me", and they preach that God raised Christ from the dead. But it is up to them to personally resurrect lucrative Mosaic ceremonial ordinances which Christ took to the Cross with Him. All the rest of those abolished laws can stay on that cross for all they care, because there's no profit to be gained by enforcing them.

If preachers discovered a way to get rich off of circumcision, those geniuses in the pulpit would be crafty enough to yank a few scriptures out of context to prove this law is still binding upon all believers today, including the poor widow with a quarter left in her purse. And if she cited 101 reasons why she couldn't conform to this law she would be told, "if you really loved Jesus you'd just shut up and submit." That's how desperate preachers are to get easy money, enough to pull a few crazy rabbits out of their hats. But for now, those spiritual butchers are content to give your paycheck the chop!

Physical circumcision was a pledge before God to keep the whole Law of Moses. In Paul's day a controversy raged as to whether Gentile converts to Christ were obligated to undergo circumcision. The issue of tithing is to our generation what the circumcision question was to the early church. But now, as then, Christian liberty and our position in Christ are at stake, not just whether certain religious practices are part of the New Covenant. Paul was often attacked by aggressive legalists who opposed his Gospel of Grace. Paul says of them in Galatians 5:12: I would they were even cut off which trouble you. Some Greek scholars believe that what Paul is really saying is that if those troublesome legalists insist on circumcision, why don't they make a complete job of it and completely mutilate themselves?

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are the first five books of the Bible, given to Moses by God. They comprise the Jewish Torah. These books contain sound principles on how to love God and your neighbor. You can learn much by reading the biographies of the men and women of faith contained in these books, and the Christian can profit spiritually by reading them. But they also contain the entire scroll of the Law given by Moses to the children of Israel. The Jews were obliged to keep 613 ceremonial ordinances which governed their daily lives. In Leviticus 27: 30-33 we read what constituted the true Biblical tithe: the seed of the land, the fruit of the tree, herds and flocks. Nowhere does it mention the fruit of the Federal Mint! And the biggest eye-opener of all is verse 34, the very end of the book of Leviticus: These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL in Mount Sinai. So we see that the Tithing Law is the very last law covered by the law book of Leviticus. Notice, God did not give these ceremonial laws to the Apache Indians or the Eskimos to keep. Which reminds me of how some hold that keeping the Sabbath is binding on believers today, just like tithing. But the same principle applies. Transfer a law, and you must transfer all the statutes which comprise that law. One rule for keeping the Sabbath was you were forbidden to kindle a fire in your home on that day (Ex.35:3). Wouldn't some poor Eskimo in Nome, Alaska freeze to death if he kept that law during a blizzard? And if he were under that Law and broke it by building a fire, he could be stoned to death! In Numbers 15:32-36 a man gathers sticks on the Sabbath Day to build a fire with and that's the last household chore he ever performs on earth! When you put somebody under the Law, you also put them under the penalty for breaking it.

God expected the children of Israel to be most meticulous in following instructions for observing the Mosaic ordinances. If God asked a Jew to sacrifice a bullock He wouldn't have settled for Porky Pig. I think it's really tragic that certain Gentile theologians have modernized one of Moses' laws and changed the requirements of keeping that law for their own personal gain. Now we have duke's mixture Gentiles substituting for Jews from the Tribe of Levi. Preachers leech off poor minimum wage earners who wouldn't have had to tithe in ancient Israel. They hit them up for money which should be spent to buy decent school clothes for little Johnny. Then they collect an unscriptural tithe which is inedible by any stretch of the imagination (unless a nanny goat could digest the greenery in the collection plate)!

Preachers warn that God will sick the boogerman on poor Christians if they eat their tithe instead of putting it in the offering, though the Scriptural tithe was gathered for the express purpose of feeding the poor in the first place! And even though Israel got a rest every seven years from tithing, preachers never miss a single year milking the cash cows out in the pews. And worst of all, preachers give God the credit for the amalgamated mess they've made of an ancient law yanked out of context, twisted and colored to conform to modern culture, and then imposed on people Christ has redeemed from the Old Law. Then to avoid having to take responsibility for the chaos their lies cause God's people, they pass the buck on to God! They dump the responsibility on God to repay the money they've extorted with threats and lies, and then sanitize the situation with flowery platitudes promising God's blessing. So Who gets the blame when tithers fall into even deeper poverty than ever before? Tithers are told God will surely reward their obedience~{!-~}but who were they obedient to in the first place?

God blesses a cheerful giver, but why wouldn't He give a hundred-fold back to a poor tither who does his best to keep a modernized version of a law given only to Israel? Because God is under no obligation whatsoever to reward the observance of a man-made heresy, even if it is kept in ignorance. Which brings this question to mind: Why have I never once heard a sermon preached on Proverbs 22:16? He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want (extreme poverty). Any preacher who drives a brand new Lexus and wears a $2000 suit has no business dunning a poor chicken plucker for ten per cent of her wages!

Moses set an example of meekness and godliness for all generations, but Jesus is our Shepherd and lord, not Moses. Our covenant springs from Mount Calvary, not Mount Sinai. Most of Christ's church consists of Gentiles like myself, not physical Israelites. Jewish rabbis don't impose tithing on their own congregations anymore. There are no Levitical priests in office who qualify to take up tithes, and the Temple in Jerusalem has not yet been rebuilt. But those minor points don't discourage the religious revenue agents of Christendom. They conveniently forget that whenever Jesus did urge people to give alms (never tithes), the money was specifically used for the poor, not the rich (Matt.19:21; Luke 18:22). In those verses Christ is speaking to the Rich Young Ruler, asking him to sell all that he has and give to the poor. Jesus didn't tell the Rich Young Ruler to go and take up a collection from poor beggars so he could finance a fancy palace for the ruler of the synagogue!

Many try to defend tithing by appealing to the poor widow and the two mites she deposited in the Temple treasury. But if you'll read the story objectively, you'll find that NOWHERE does Christ command the poor widow to give her bread money to the Temple, He merely states that she did this. This incident is recorded in Mark 12:41-44. But it happens immediately after Jesus finishes telling his disciples what He thinks of greedy religious hypocrites. In verses 38-40 Jesus says: And Jesus said unto them of his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the market places, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: WHICH DEVOUR WIDOWS' HOUSES, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. Christ says the same thing in Matthew 23:14, where He is in the middle of giving the scribes and Pharisees the worst verbal whipping they've ever had: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Far from condemning poor parents for providing for their families before they give to the institutional church, Jesus pronounces dread judgment on those who covet the finances of poor widows. The widow might have given her last two mites out of love, but she was under no legal obligation to sacrifice all her living to the Temple. God would far rather have mercy than sacrifice (Hosea 6:6). In Matthew 12:7 Jesus repeats this truth to defend disciples who break the Sabbath Law of rest so they can pluck ears of grain and eat. Most ministers of Christendom would rather defend their favorite legalisms than show mercy.

Oh, it may prove profitable in the short term for preachers to lay their favorite law back on the people of God, but it leads to spiritual disaster. As many as are under the works of the Law are under a curse (Gal.3:10). The man in the vision was cited as an example to strike fear into the hearts of God's people to get them to tithe on money, even if it meant they or their children had to do without. Service rendered out of fear of punishment speaks of Mount Sinai, with its terrible lightning storms that made Moses exceedingly fear and quake (Heb.12:18-21).

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things which are written in the book of the Law to do them.

Verse 11: But that no man is justified by the Law in the sight of God it is evident: for the just shall live by faith.

Whatsoever is not of faith is of sin (including service to God which springs not from faith but from faulty teaching) (Rom.14:23). Such SERVICE TO MEN who appoint themselves as God's special IRS agents will not be motivated by love and will be grudging, just like slaves under the whip would resent their cruel overseers. God hates guilt-based giving. He loves a cheerful giver (II Cor.9:7). If you aren't glad to give it, God doesn't want it!

Verse 12: And the Law is not of faith: but the man that doeth them shall live in them.

The Law of God is a package deal, not a restaurant menu you can pick and choose from. If you covenant with God to live under just one tiny part of the Old Law, you must live under it ALL! That includes circumcision for men, periodic pigeon offerings for women, giving up ham and shrimp, putting tassels on your garments, wearing phylacteries, the whole kit and caboodle. And if you offend in just ONE point of Mosaic Law, you've broken it all and brought yourself under a curse. How can any minister of the Gospel claim to love his brethren and then turn around and lay the Law back on them to keep the money rolling in? That isn't the love of Christ!

Preachers defend the tithing doctrine as pre-dating the Law by citing the one occasion Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedek, king of Salem, in Genesis 14:18-20. Abraham and his men had just fought a battle to rescue Lot and other citizens of Sodom. Those people had been taken captive by the Kings of the Plain. Their town had been ransacked of valuables. Abraham fought Lot's foes and recovered all the goods stolen from Sodom. To show his gratitude to God for the victory, Abraham presented a tenth of the spoils to Melchisedek. Abraham was a generous, unselfish guy. He was a giver and a man of hospitality. But nowhere does Scripture teach that Abraham ever tithes again or tithes on any of his personal possessions. In order to enforce Abraham's tithing example on the Body of Christ, you'd have to do just like he did. Go fight some desperados who have looted your neighbor's house. Once you've beaten the stuffing out of those guys, take back the goods and donate ten percent of the recovered CD's, jewelry, cash, and electronic toys to the Salvation Army. That's about as close as you could come to following Abraham's tithing example, because Melchisedek probably wouldn't come down from heaven to collect that stuff anyway.

Actually Jesus Himself is our great High Priest after the order of Melchisedek (Heb.7:21). We are one body in Christ Jesus and we are made one Spirit with Him through faith (I Cor.6:17). Does one member of your physical body use threats of divine judgment to extort taxes from another member of your body? Ridiculous!

Tithing under the New Covenant is a grave dispensational error. Tithing on money is totally alien to Scripture. Even before his pay day comes, a believer is pressured with guilt tactics to fork over his tithe to the man in the pulpit. Many families have found tithing a financial burden and a strain on their marriage and home life. People are under tremendous pressure to make ends meet today. It can be the straw that broke the camel's back. It can create the need for working an extra job. That helps perpetuate a vicious circle of increased need for child care, extra work expenses, etc. Many poor people have either quit church or won't start going because of financial intimidation from men of the cloth. From starting out 2000 years ago as a loving, closeknit family of faith brimming over with the pure love of Jesus, today's institutional church is fast degenerating into a money-making club run by a poodle-permed fear-monger who charges dues.

Some preachers insinuate that we give to the Lord ONLY when we give to some professional minister or to faraway missions, and supporting our own family doesn't count as giving to the Lord. But Jesus thinks otherwise. Let the children FIRST be filled (Mark 7:28). Not just barely fed and clothed in cheap rags, but with their own needs totally satisfied. In Mark 7:9-13 Jesus castigates some self-righteous Pharisees for teaching their disciples to consecrate to religious purposes money which should have gone to support aged parents. Instead of keeping the commandment "Honor your father and your mother", those blind leaders of the blind made void the Word of God through their own vain traditions. I read that in traditional Judaism, no poor man was obligated to give alms out of that which he needed to sustain his own life. Let the children first be fed!

Whenever a New Covenant believer pays tithes to another believer, even a doctor of divinity in a jet-propelled pulpit, he or she denies their own priesthood in Christ Jesus. The whole Body of Christ is called a Kingdom of Priests and a holy nation (I Pet.2:9). Tithes were to be levied only on the produce of the Land of Israel. Tithes were never produced by or paid by the priestly clan of Israel, which descended from Aaron the High Priest. We are in Christ, Who is our own High Priest (II Cor.5:17; Heb.9:11). All our consecrated service on earth is to be performed in Jesus' Name, just as if it were His own hands doing it. Part of that service is freewill offerings to bless the needy as the Lord leads. But whenever some human leader extorts tithes from a Spirit-indwelt believer, they are setting themselves up as being superior to Christ Himself. They dare to seize the highest seat at the table for themselves and demote the Christ in other Christians to a field hand who is told to work hard and keep the tribute rolling in. Old Covenant priests came and went, but Jesus is the ONLY High Priest of the New Covenant! Brother so-and-so with the Rolex watch is NOT qualified to preside as acting High Priest on behalf of Jesus and exact tribute from His people!

What doctrinal chaos is caused by"spiritual Levites" who exalt themselves above the factory workers and burger flippers out in the pews, expecting to receive tribute from them as underlings! But is Christ divided into two classes, the peasants and the aristocracy? Did Christ intend for "spiritual Levites" to be supported by literal tithe money earned by the lower-ranking laity? We are all one in Christ Jesus. God's Word means what it says and says what it means!

Much, much more is involved here than dollars and cents. I am not advocating selfishness, only faithfulness to what the Word really does teach New Testament Christians. Always guard against a stingy attitude and respond to legitimate needs around you as the Lord leads, with freewill offerings. But Gentile clergymen who collect tithes are way out of order. Only members of the Tribe of Levi were ever allowed by God to collect tithes (Numbers 18:21-24). Class division is the automatic result when some Gentile clergyman takes tithes of people out in the pews. They are disregarding God's clear instructions on tithing. They are, saying in effect, "I don't care two cents what God says in His Word. I'll change God's rules to serve my own selfish ends." And by threatening you with the imminent judgment of God for non-tithing, the preacher is denying your own priesthood in Christ and demoting you to being a slave instead of a son. He is saying, in effect: "You are just there to serve us!" What an arrogant attitude to take in light of the fact all true believers, rich and poor alike, are children of the Great King. We are no longer slaves but sons with an eternal inheritance (Gal.4:7). And if we are sons, then why should we let some religious leader bring us under tribute (Matt.17:25-26)?

There's more than one way to get a stubborn donkey to move, preachers have discovered. The stick approach says "Pay up or you'll have to answer to God for it! Pay up or I'll name and shame you from this pulpit next week!" The other approach seems less scary, stringing the donkey along by dangling the carrot in front of his nose. "You can't outgive God!" preachers holler.

They've really got a lot of nerve, don't they? First they take their favorite Old Testament ordinance down from the Cross. Then they magically transform fruit and veggie tithes into crispy lettuce with big numbers on it. Finally, they make God liable to pay back the tithe money they've filched out of fearful, ignorant souls. God does take good care of His people, but contrary to modern Prosperity theology, not every Christian is gonna hit the jackpot in this lifetime. How many millions of poor Christians have gone to their graves wondering why they never did receive the bumper harvest preachers promised them for tithing on money? Religious profiteers who have led God's people back under bondage will have to answer to Him for all the financial hardship and resentment caused by the divisive doctrine of monetary tithing. Maybe God won't be nearly so concerned about the Slurpee some poor Christian bought with untithed pocket change as He will be about all the poor kids who had to do without decent food or new shoes because some slick theologian shamed their parents into emptying their pockets, supposedly for the furtherance of the Gospel!


It's the unquestioning, follow-the-leader believer who pays the piper for ignorance. Whereas Christ's yoke is easy and His burden is light, the yoke of servitude any other master puts on you is grievously heavy.. And being victimized by bad doctrine doesn't guarantee you won't have to answer to God someday for the bad things you yourself have done and failed to repent of. But I tend to suspect that while God may rebuke the little guy in the pews for unrepented-of selfishness, He might deal much more severely with devious manipulators of the Word who twisted scripture for selfish gain and hid under a bushel basket vital truth which would have set the saints free to walk in total liberty.

I'll leave you with this thought: If Christ doesn't command it, man shouldn't demand it!

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