mollie12: 1 Corinthians 9:14 - "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel".

Even though several 'men of God' have abused the ministry of money collections and exploited it for their selfish purpose, we would be operating in almost the same level of error to label every pastor that collect tithes a thief.

Pastors request for money collections to support the aspects of ministry (church maintenance, outreach projects, etc) and to also support themselves. Yep, you heard that right. THE OFFERINGS ARE TO SPENT BY THE PASTORS. That is what operated in the Levitical era. The grey area - which is where, I believe, ethics and morality should come into play - is HOW MUCH money should they spend on themselves. If the church gives an offering of $1 million, does that mean they should splurge on a Ferrari or some other luxury piece of property? That is the real issue we should be dealing with as a church, not whether we should make money offerings or not. Most of the time, people singing this "don't pay tithes" thing are not really seeking the mind of God but just want to pursue their own selfish agenda, and keep all their money to themselves.
Notice I'm doing my best to steer clear of the 'tithe' label. That's because the tithing requirement of the law, as far as I've been able to read in the Bible, was fulfilled in Christ. But money collections for servants in the Lord's vineyard was never removed and will always continue till the end of time.

Goshen360: When a topic such as this, tithe & tithing becomes as very controversial as it is, it's a pointing signal that Christian people need to pay good attention and not just take what is said from the pulpit but STUDY what the truth of the matter is. But unfortunately, Christian people will not study on the subject matter. It doesn't take up to one week to study this subject. Go and sit yourself down and know the truth, so shall the truth set you free.

mollie12:

Right.

But the speed with which everyone is jumping on the bandwagon is a bit disturbing. And considering that this is coming from Mr Femi Aribisala, whose 'Faith and religion' weekly articles in the now defunct 234NEXT newspapers were extremely controversial and indicative of one who doesn't adhere to the mainstream Christian faith. Already I've noticed 2 TOPICS in the Nairaland religious section based on this discourse of his. We need to be careful of who we are endorsing, and with what ideology we are aligning ourselves. And I still insist that his claim is too sweeping. It is NOT every pastor that allows a tithe collection in his church that has a selfish agenda or can be referred to as a thief.

Segeggs: christ never preached tithing as a christian doctrine.

coogar:

you are a very intelligent man, sir!

Richy.:
In this world you will always have a choice. to pay your tithes or not to pay. to go to church or not to go. everyone came to this world as an individual. on the judgment day, we will stand and answer as individual. so if you do not want to pay, do not make others buy your opinion because you and only you are entitled to it.

FYI tithe is not a Nigerian message alone, It is said all over the world. what you should have said is that the pastors in Nigeria are not using the money to help community and humanity. they are using it to enrich themselves. I worship at Hillsong church in Australia. the Tithe they collect every Sunday is used for development in some countries like South Africa, India etc.where disabled secondary school that has a hostel facility is in place free. when you see the clip of the video how happy those abandon kids where,who have no hope and future but where suddenly given a life, you will have no excuse but to give because you have seen what your generosity is doing to the live of other people.

But if you are so angry about the pastors,you can read EZEKIEL 34:1-16 where God pronounced judgement on them. That can help you sleep at night.

Atigba: I will start paying tithes...when i see a pastor that can explain to me why jesus christ did nt pay tithes and his apostles non even teaches the early church to tithe and they did nt pay tithes as well..so i believe under the new convenant tithing is unscriptural.i use to say this to my friends in school way back,they will call me devil for nt paying tithes but today...i can remember a pastor told me on campus then that i would get a job that am doomed..for nt paying tithe...but today all my friends re still jobless they re all asking me for help.i dont have to follow a doctrine to get something from God. My earthly dad before he died he wrote a wil stating that so so property in so so location belongs to me ..i did nt do anything to merit the property the reason he gave it to me is because i was born in okoro family. so also when u re born again u dont need to do anything to merit God blessing. infact the reason why God blessing belongs to you is nt because you re paying tithes of going to church every day..he has already done evrything on the cross..is like saying the price he paid is worthless ...Own no man nothing accept to love for who ever that loves has fulfilled the law.I ONLY LOVE THAT IS THE ONLY COMMANDMENT JESUS LEFT ....OTHERS HAS BECAME ABSOLATE THE VERY MOMENT HE DIED.

Godside:

Am confident dt u r lyin, pls kip it 2ursf. Show us whr pple use moni 2pay tithes , u cn ask ur pastor 2show n wil b surprise he wil jst b lukin. The use of moni exist in those days n dey neva use moni. Tithes is nt meant 4d christian pls stop lyin . "Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made." (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

cmega123: I have read what is written here but we need to
understand that the devil also tried to deceive the
Son of God with scriptures!! So the logos killeth,
Rhema is what we need in this dispensation of the
Holy Spirit... The ''Covenant'' not agreement of
tithing came in Gen. 28:22 where Israel said "and
this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's
house, and of all that you give me I will give you a
tenth" this is why God was not happy with the
house of Israel in Mal. 3:6,Tithing is not a law but a
Covenant jst the way God had a covenant of
blessing with Abraham. So does the covenant there
say crops? Or "all you give me" Is it not God that
gives us the power to produce all we have today
Deut. 8:18. The bible is very current and up to
date, we must not out date it because we now use
money...or would we say because Jesus did not use
a car then we won't?? Ask GOD about tithing and
you would hear from Him. Jesus did not condemn
tithing in anywhere in Scripture and because the
law has been abolished does not mean we continue
to sin or the covenant of blessings is
abandoned...we tithe now out of Love in obedience
to GOD not as an act of the law. we are all
offsprings of Abraham by the blood of Jesus, so he
cannot say the scripture only talks to Jews or
Israelites....The House of Israel is an example of
what GOD is doing with the body of Christ
today..the bible is not just a bundle of stories, it is a
deep message for the world today...seek GOD and
be careful who you listen to.

Segeggs: China, japan, korea, india and a large amount of asians dont pay tithe cos they dont even believe in our God, yet they are blessed even far better than we religious nations cos that electronic gadget you are using to type your pro-tithe comment was made there.

As a tither, do you think your money is the reason why God is blessing you? Or dont you know that he allows rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous?

Pro-tithers, pls GOOGLE for "the tithe is illegal" by gary amirault. Read and realise the grave error you've been involved in.

Thank you.

tomaagy: Its your life!!! Just beware how ur utterances or so called sudden revolution imparts on the life of people who cant decide for themselves!

The koko is this if you cant part with 10% of wat you have freely! You are a greedy person which is not christianly!

I am not a frequent tither though i wish i could be, and neither do i pay my tithes in a single church!

Sometimes ive used my tithe to purchase needs for the church! Understanding matters.... but please watever ur personal convictions regarding tithe dont make a law out of it..

if u search the bible enough u will see any scripture to back even committing murder! its free will

Goshen360: @ m.k.o2005

You think Christ was talking to His Disciples\Apostles and\or the Church\Christians in that context? Then try that scripture, Matthew 23:23 in this format and see how it reads

New International Version (©2011)
"Woe to you, Disciples\Apostles of Christ and the Church\Christians, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

How does that read to you? You need to leave that context to those Christ was saying woe to and not extend it to Christians and\or the Apostles. You're going beyond what is written! 1 Corinthians 4:6

m.k.o2005:

Christ was not talking to Christians in Mathew 23:23 BUT to those who are supposed to be Christains but are not becos they aren't doing what is expected of them. If Tithing was bad or an error even to the the Pharisees,scribes and all the teachers back then,Chrsit would have siad: Do not tithe you... or You think tithing is good abi ? or may who told you that tithing is important you ..... But He went on to condemn them were they fall short i.e in the area of justice,love,mercy and faith and also encouraged them to tithe on by saying 'YES YOU SHOULD TITHE'
Goshen,you may not be an advocate of tithing but i tell us that Christ can say woe to Christians who failed to do the right thing !Christ was not happy that those(Pharisees,scribes and other teachers)who should know better but failed to and only thinking that becos they tithe then they are saints. HE called them Hypocrites for tithing which must be seen by all but Justice,mercy and faith in God which were 'more' weightier are been relegated !
God help us

Goshen360:

Okay, who are those to receive tithe or tithing today?

m.k.o2005:

The question you should ask first should be why should i even tithe ?
God help us