Tithing in the church – I

In the bible, tithing, offerings and the temple tax is mentioned. But, the church teaches it today in a way that is non-biblical. The temple tax was what was used to support the temple. It was a set amount, like a shekel per person, about 25 cents each. With several million people giving a shekel, this was adequate.

Today, the tithe is used instead of the temple tax. Originally, only the men came 3 times a year to bring an offering…not the women or children…..especially not single mothers, widows, cripples, sick people, poor people. When tithing was done, only landowners did it, because the tithe came from their harvest of land that was completely paid for. People who did not own property could not do this. They were only servants. When the tithe was brought, as well as offerings, the giver ate the tithe before the Lord, and shared some with the priest. This was a time of fellowship with God, like having an intimate dinner with the Lord. The tithe was not used to support the priest’s salary, or buy him a car, or build him a house. In fact, the priest was not allowed to own any property.

Today, pastors use the tithe to pay themselves, build additions on to the church, and pay administrative costs. The poor usually get nothing, and “eating the tithe” is considered robbing God. The church frowns on the giver keeping some of the tithe for one’s own use, like buying food to eat, because the tithe belongs to God, not the giver, according to the church view.

This is not what scripture says. Scripture says the purpose of the tithe is for the giver to eat it (actually physically benefiting from it), and do so before the Lord, sharing with others who have need. Today, the giver is denied any benefit from the tithe, thus denying him his fellowship dinner with the Lord. Instead, it is removed from him under a message of guilt and obligation, and the pastor and elders pull a salary from his gift. In the bible, the pastors and elders did not get paid. The bible said they all worked for a living, and anyone who did not work, did not eat. No one, especially the leaders, expected others to work while they sat around on their holy behinds, and waited for a free handout. All the believers studied the scriptures, not just the pastors. And all the believers were ministers to others. No one had a paid position. This is an artificial system created by so called leaders who did not want to work for a living.

To make it worse, instead of just demanding tithes from the men who owned property and had a harvest, the church now shamelessly demands tithes out of widows, students, single moms, and sick people on disability. Instead of feeding the poor, the church is taxing the poor. If one is not a tither in the church, then they cannot have membership. If one then is not a member, then they deserve no benefits from the church, especially financial help, which is the main need of the poor. People who are still trying to buy their first property, and are in debt, are required to give, even though this is against scripture. Some ministers actually have the nerve to tell people who do not have any money (the poor), to put large donations on their credit cards, going into debt, and just believe God will bring money to them so they can pay the credit card bill. People are threatened with the curses of God if they do not tithe. In the Bible, God wanted 10% of what the property owner had produced on his land as a profit, not 10% before expenses.

In the church today, members are required to give 10% of their gross, before expenses, not their “profit” after expenses. In the bible days, there were no federal taxes, state taxes, social security deductions, parking fees, gasoline expenses, auto insurance, electricity bills, property taxes, IRS, and babysitting fees. All there was – was the temple tax of one shekel (25 cents). The church has no mercy on people who actually work for a living, and demands 10% of the gross. This is really sick. The average church does not preach the gospel to the unsaved. The average church supports its own “me first ” programs. Church programs may be fine in concept, but the meaning of the offerings and tithes is lost in a new social hall, and a pay raise for the pastor, who will not work for a living as the bible requires. The bible never told any pastor to quit working and hang around full time as a pastor. What do these pastors do all week? Are they reaching the lost as they claim? Answer …no.

The sheep need to get smart. They are ministers too. Pastors are only for the newly saved, because once they are taught, they should be out helping others, bringing new converts into the church. In the bible, the pastors were only for the untaught gentiles. The Jews did not need pastors since they already knew the scriptures. It is a modern day disgrace that pastors have convinced members that they are to stay forever in the church, once they are taught, and just stay to pay tithes to support the pastor’s salary. After 20-30 years, these members should be doing more than sitting there. They should be out preaching the gospel to the unsaved. They do not “need” their pastor anymore because they are not newly saved and in need of teaching.

If the sheep just realized the power they had, they would bust loose from this bondage and turn the world upside down. I hope and pray they get the point soon.

Buy the truth, and sell it not  Prov 23:23.

Do not sell the gospel !!

Click here to read more about the original commandment and practice of tithing.

Click here to read more about the false doctrine of seed time and harvest as money, and NOT the word of God. .