Is God only worthy of a tithe
of our income?
David says: “The earth is the
LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in
it.” (Psalm 24:1). How then
can we insist only a tithe of
our income belongs to God?
God does not only own ten
percent of our possessions,
he owns everything we
have. As a matter of fact, we
belong to the Lord, even as
he also belongs to us. Thus,
Jeremiah declares: “The LORD
is (our)
portion.” (Lamentation 3:24).
Jesus says: “Any of you who
does not give up everything
he has cannot be my
disciple.” (Luke 14:33).
Therefore, a “tither” cannot
be a disciple of Christ. I used
to pay tithes. But when I
finally grasped the full import
of Jesus’ message, I
concluded that giving only a
tithe of my income for
kingdom purposes is grossly
inadequate. Some of us
should give nothing less than
eighty percent because we
are very rich. God can even
require that we give our
entire monthly salary on
occasion; after all he owns all
we have. But giving to God
should not be confused with
giving to a church.
Precious God
What is God worth to us? Is
he only worthy of a tithe of
our income? Every Christian
should be allowed to
determine this for himself.
Institutionalised tithing limits
the generosity of a believer.
Once we give ten percent,
we believe we have fulfilled
all righteousness. But this
limitation is short-sighted.
Jesus says: “Give, and it will
be given to you. A good
measure, pressed down,
shaken together and
running over, will be poured
into your lap. For with the
measure you use, it will be
measured to you.” (Luke
6:38). Therefore, don’t use
the measure of a delimited
tithe.
The truth is that pastors have
little faith in Christians. We
are convinced they would
never give out of their own
volition. So we lay down the
Law of Moses and threaten
those who disobey with the
disdain of heaven. Thereby,
we nullify the faith of our
parishioners by making them
give out of compulsion. But
our God is a God of free will.
That was the error of Moses.
He was convinced the
Israelites were a wicked
people. So he thought it
would be unwise to tell them
God is against divorce
because they would still not
be able to obey. Moses
decided the best he could do
was to limit the propensity to
divorce by regulating it and
by laying down certain
procedures that must be
followed before a man could
divorce his wife. In the
process, he ended up by
legitimising divorce and,
thereby, misrepresenting
God.
Jesus was quick to correct
this error. He says to the
Jews: “Moses permitted you
to divorce your wives
because your hearts were
hard. But it was not this way
from the beginning. I tell you
that anyone who divorces
his wife, except for marital
unfaithfulness, and marries
another woman commits
adultery; and whoever
marries her who is divorced
commits adultery.” (Matthew
19:8-9). Therefore, don’t
accept the indictment of
money-grubbing pastors
that you won’t give unless
cajoled, and then would only
give a tithe.
Self-serving theology
Bolaji Ogundimu was
distraught. She asked her
good friend for financial
assistance and she refused
even though she had the
money. She told Bolaji the
money with her was
earmarked for her tithe. God
forbid her tithe should be
used to help someone in
need. According to the
brainwashing she had
received, her tithe must only
be handed over to her
pastor; otherwise it would
be nullified. Little did she
know that her pastor, in his
greed for her money, had
made her into a bad
Samaritan.
Pastors who insist you must
bring your tithe to their
churches are only interested
in your money. Never believe
any man who preaches
anything beneficial to him
directly or indirectly. If he
preaches the righteousness
of giving, listen to him only
up to that point where he
tells you to bring the money
to him or to his church.
If he is really interested in
teaching the way of
righteousness, he should
encourage you to give the
money to other institutions
apart from the one he is
involved in. Let him tell you
to give the money to the
orphanage, and his message
is thereby purified. But once
he passes the basket round
after such a message, his
motives immediately become
suspect.
Don’t fall for the trick where
a special guest to your
church is the one
encouraging you to give to
your church. It is also
conventional for him to say it
is necessary for you to
“bless” your pastor. This is a
game of deception played by
pastors. I ask people to give
to you when I come to your
church, and you tell people to
give to me when you come
to mine.
Looking unto Jesus
Jesus must, in all cases, be
our example. When he
preached the gospel to the
chief young ruler, he said to
him: “If you want to be
perfect, go, sell what you
have and give to the
poor.” (Matthew 19:21). He
did not tell him to bring the
money to him or to his
church. Why must the
money only be brought to
the pastor or to his church?
The righteousness is not tied
to the church but to the
giver. The righteousness is
not sown in the church but
in the believer’s heart.
There is no spiritual benefit
in receiving money. But
there is great benefit in
giving to others. Irrespective
of the amount, the money
we give can never make a
real difference in the true
lives of the recipients.
However, when we give, it
makes a difference in our
lives. Giving may not change
the receiver, but it often
changes the giver because it
works on our heart. The
foundation of giving is love,
compassion, mercy and
faith. Therefore, giving
produces in us the fruit of
righteousness which is
pleasant to God.
Don’t believe the lie of
pastors that by giving to
your church you are giving
to God. The kingdom of God
has nothing to do with
pastors or with local
churches. Jesus told the
Samaritan woman: “Believe
me, the hour is coming when
you will neither on this
mountain, nor in Jerusalem,
worship the Father.” (John
4:21). The hour has already
come. God is not
worshipped in local
churches. He is worshipped
in our heart-of-hearts. The
true church of Christ is not a
building but a people.
Cathedral Builders
Tithes are often used to build
the kingdoms of pastors as
opposed to the kingdom of
God. They are used to
finance the pastor’s
sometimes lavish lifestyle; to
build huge mausoleums to
the pastor’s glory; to buy
airplanes which most
church-members cannot fly
in; establish schools and
universities which poor
church-members cannot
afford; or establish banks
which only benefit the rich.
But the kingdom of God is
about giving to the poor, the
widows, the orphans and
the stranger. These are the
true representatives of God.
Jesus says: “I tell you the
truth, whatever you did for
one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for
me.” (Matthew 25:40). In the
churches, pastors are not the
least but the greatest.