The Christian and the Tithe
Christian Tithing is an oxymoron. Christians need not tithe. I receive quite a bit of flack from not a few Christians who aver that my position is wrong. However, the position I have taken is Biblical regarding New Testament teaching.
St. Paul teaches Christians that they are to give not from a sense of compulsion but from their conscience. Christians are not to give at the directive of the church; they are to give at the direction coming from their heart. In many instances, this type of giving goes above and beyond the tithe as stipulated in the Old Testament. Christians, as Martin Luther has stated, are to be free. The Christian has a freedom that the Old Testament fathers did not have. The law of the Christian is the teaching of Jesus, the Christ.
It is true that Jesus said He did not come to abolish the Law. He did come to fulfill the Law. Even so, Christ changed aspects of that Law, which is one reason why the Jews of His day desired Him to be crucified.
St. Paul received what He taught from Jesus, not from himself. Christians need not tithe as did the Jews. In fact, it is an insult to Christ to teach that Christians should tithe. You will notice that churches which emphasize the tithe do not emphasize any other aspect of Old Testament teaching. You should also be aware that most of these churches construct lavish buildings and have state of the art music systems, etc. Do these churches not forget that the Holy Spirit resides in man and not in a building built by the hands of man? These churches use false giving (the tithe) to acquire worldly goods. If they compel the tithe, should not the majority of that money go to the poor in their respective communities? Yes, it should, but only token funds go to the poor. The majority of the money is used for bootless purposes, buildings etc. This is wrong!
Tithing was not taught by Christ through St. Paul. The tithe was not taught by any of Christ’s Apostles. We can infer from this that Christ did not make mention of the tithe. What Christ did make mention of was Love. I have said many times that if Love is taught in the church, then the tithe is not necessary. The problem is, all too often church leaders forget about love and center their “teaching” only on monetary “giving”. To get the money many churches implement the false teaching of the tithe. Ask any minister of the Gospel why he/she teaches to tithe when Christ, St. Paul, and the Apostles did not teach it. Some will threaten and say that if you do not tithe you will go to hell. But think about it. How can you go to hell if you do not do what Christ did not mention as necessary? Christians are to love and give from the heart. A Christian is to determine what he/she can give. This 10% off the top of one’s income is an egregiously false teaching for the Christian.
Wake up you Christians. Don’t be a doormat! Claim your God given right to be free in your worship of Christ. If you love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself, the Holy Spirit resides in you. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, give what you will, not what someone else tells you to give. This is the teaching of Christ, and there is not one minister, not even the Pope, who can say that what I have just written is false, if he/she be true to the teaching of Christ.
In Christ,
Dr. Ronald Coleman, DD, ThD.
(Check out Living Spirit Ministries International, http://www.livingspirit.us , for more information concerning the tithe and other aspects of Christian teaching.)
posted by R Coleman at 8:09 AM
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