2 Corinthians 8

¹² For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man has, and not according to what he has not.

2 Corinthians 9

⁷Every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver.

Acts 15

28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

Gal.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 continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
11 ......no man is justified by the law inthe sight of God....for the just shall live by faith.

SCALAWAGGERS

servants of the Lord?

“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” - Jesus Matt.7:15:

Preaching that Robs God’s People of Peace

part one

by Patricia Backora

Outrageous abuse

Shocking blog posts on the Internet testify to the outrageous psychological abuse being perpetrated on the Body of Christ today.  Young married couples struggling with bills and the soaring cost of living are being pressured to pay “tithes” to preachers who live much more luxuriously than they do.  Some people go to bed worried that they will lose their salvation “because they’re stealing God’s tithe in order to eat.”

Guilt, depression, anxiety and tears

God’s people have been traumatized by guilt pressure preaching to the point of sleeplessness, depression, anxiety and tears.  Many have been so badly wounded they run away from the condemnation spewing forth from the pulpit…just to keep sane.  Pharisaical preachers have ruled the flock of God with force, and driven them away from a Jesus Who is markedly different from that gentle Chief Shepherd of the sheep who said: Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt.12:29-30). 

Legalistic preachers truly think the yoke Jesus has put on Christians isn’t heavy enough so they increase the burden they must bear by preaching “saved by grace, kept by works.” People get so depressed and fear-ridden they sadly turn their backs on the institutional church. The tragedy is that the real Jesus is often forsaken along with the harsh, slave-driver image of Him pushed from the pulpits of so many “radical” churches. A fatal contradiction is being pushed from the pulpit:

“God will curse you and send you to hell if you withhold your tithe!” greedy preachers thunder from their powerful pulpits. “If you love money more than you love Jesus, you’re no disciple of His!  So pay up!”  Guilt and shame are appealed to here, and the believer’s love for Jesus is questioned.  Keeping back money badly needed to feed children or keep a roof over their head is construed as “defrauding God” because it isn’t put into the church treasury instead.

Not ONE Scripture in the entire Bible supports tithing on wages, or on non-agricultural items. Tithing, along with all other laws written in Leviticus, the Book of the Law, was given BY MOSES FROM MOUNT SINAI TO ISRAEL ONLY! (Lev.27:30-34). The burden of the tithe was put only on the land, not on poor wage earners.  

Apostle never taught tithing

Paul never taught tithing to the churches of Jesus Christ, only cheerful giving OUT OF WHAT YOU HAVE, not out of what you can’t afford (2 Cor. 8:11-12; 9:7). The Church Council of Acts Chapter 15 didn’t order converted Gentiles to start tithing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit to add NO GREATER burden than four lifestyle restrictions listed (Acts 15:28). If the earliest churches did not have to keep tithing (and other laws), what right does any man have to reimpose this law on the Body of Christ?

Priests do not tithe

Old Covenant priests took tithes from the Levites, but they themselves did not tithe.  We are Christ’s New Covenant Priests (I Pet.2:5,9).  Anyone who extorts tithes of anything from Christian believers is a fraud and putting extra burdens on Christ’s priesthood - all believers.  Christians are the sheep of God’s pasture.  Sheep don’t bear burdens.  Donkeys do.  Church tithing was not legislated until the sixth century A.D., when the Catholic Church put it into force. 

Curse of the law

Whoever brings himself back under the Law doesn’t get blessed for it.  Instead they come under the Curse of the Law (Gal.3:10). The Bible does not promise prosperity to those who donate money to the rich. Instead, it promises a worsening of poverty as the reward of such a gift.

1. How much LOVE do rich preachers show when they condemn poor families for spending their “tithe” to take their children to the dentist?

2. How much genuine JOY do you see on a stern Pharisee’s face as he tells you God will send you to hell for “withholding His tithe”?  Rather, such preachers steal the joy of the assurance of salvation out of Christians’ hearts.

3. How much PEACE is in the church when the preacher fries his congregation in hell for failure to “win more souls” (increase church membership)?

4. How LONGSUFFERING is the covetous preacher when a big recession strikes and he starts hearing more clinks than rustles in the offering plate?

5. How much GENTLENESS does the preacher show when you tell him you just gave the church your last five “by faith” only to discover your car was almost out of gas and could you please borrow it back till payday?

6. How much GOODNESS does the preacher show when he hears bad news about several bad tithe checks bouncing?

7. How much MEEKNESS does a preacher show when he boasts that if you don’t pay the kind of offerings he demands and do enough work for the church, you’ll end up being his shoeshine boy in heaven?

8. How much TEMPERANCE does a “prosperity” preacher show when his second (or third) wife gains two pounds and he feels like he needs a “fresher image to enhance his ministry”?

9. If that preacher didn’t grow any temperance in his life, chances are you won’t see much FAITHFULNESS on his tree  either, just wife number four on his arm.

 The Law of God is simply:

“Give only what you can afford to give, give only what you can gladly give and not one cent more”. This is the law of God. It is written within the pages of the Holy Bible.