Are you robbing God if you don't tithe?

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings." Malachi 3:8

Is tithing for Christians? Is your pastor a Levitical Priest? Are you robbing God if He has already given you everything? Resources: https://96tolife.blogspot.com/search?q=Tithing&m=1 https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/tithe.htm

We First Give God

"Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

You know what's coming when you see a message titled, "Giving to God First." The subject matter is made all the more clear when the synopsis of the message reads, "But in this lesson, [Pastor] will explain why some modern-day Christians would rather not talk about it at all as he explains the importance of putting God first with what we give." Yes, the message is about tithing. But, I don't want to talk about tithing as much as something else. I have a confession to make. God is not first in my life. I admit it. He is not. Let me explain what I mean by that. When I hear someone say God is first in their life, I automatically hear that there are things that are second, third, fourth, and so on in their life. God doesn't have a ranking in my life or rank highest in a list of priorities. To say so makes it seem like your "eating the frog" when it comes to God. In other words, you are getting the most difficult thing out the way first in order to move on with the rest of your day and life. For me, God is my life. As my friend said, "I don't make time for God. I take God into my time." The Apostle Paul, when speaking to the people in Athens, said, "For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring (Acts 17:28).'" Paul uses the language of the Greeks to convey a message about God that implies God is a living God who goes with us wherever we go. After all, if God lives inside each believer through faith in Jesus Christ and we are His temple, this makes perfect sense. When the pastor opened up his teaching on giving to God first, he used Proverbs 3:9-10. He emphasized the part about firstfruits equating it to the first ten percent (tithe) of your produce. It has been my experience that the focus on giving your "firstfruits," or tithes, has been twofold. First, there is this idea that you are giving to God "through" the church. Secondly, and most importantly, is the idea that people are giving in this manner because they believe God is going to bless them by throwing "open the floodgates of Heaven (Malachi 3:10)" and overwhelming them with blessings. My point is that there is this idea that a person must give to God first in order to be blessed because the person is not already blessed. It is a type of sacrifice performed for God in order to appease Him so He will give you something you don't possess.

What is the truth about God's blessings when it comes to being a Christian? "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3)..." Christians have been given every "spiritual blessing." That is important to understand. It says spiritual blessing and not physical blessing. If I took a poll of all those who gave to God first with their money, I wonder how many would say they did so in order to get physical blessings? Now, they may not state it that way, but that is what it basically is. Most of us do not have every physical blessing life has to offer. But, it is as if people are purchasing blessings from God like He is a heavenly Amazon store. It is sad to think that so many Christians who have been given everything, live as if they have nothing at all. They are looking to get from God, through their giving, that which He has not promised to give them and missing out entirely on what He has freely given to them as an inheritance of their faith in Jesus Christ. The question needs to be asked, "Do you want to pay God to bless your flesh or rest in the spiritual blessings you have already?" Jesus Christ said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20)." What is it we are trying to do when we are looking to have our flesh blessed by giving to God first if not to store up treasures on earth?  The treasures in heaven we are to store up are not the heavenly versions of physical blessings we can get here on earth. The spiritual blessings we have been given are found in having the desires of our heart for unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning, and purpose to life met by God through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We, in turn, do not give to God first in order to receive blessings of our flesh through acquiring treasures on earth. Rather, we now take God with us into the world as we look to give to it those things God has given to us and is producing through us. There is nothing to give to God first. But, we first give God to those who have nothing. This is the treasure we store up in heaven; those lost souls who have experienced the love of God He is producing through us and who have come to faith in Jesus Christ because of it.

Taste the Rainbow

"And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people." 2 Corinthians 8:1-4

"What do Skittles have to do with tithes?" That was the caption underneath a video about tithing. In the video, a pastor was using Skittles candies to illustrate his belief about tithing. He had purchased some Skittles and gave a bag to his grandchild. While his grandchild was sleeping, the pastor opened the bag of Skittles he had given to him and started to eat them. The grandchild would wake up and say, "Papi, don't eat up all my Skittles, I want some for tomorrow." This went on a few times when the pastor replied, "I bought you the Skittles. So, technically, they are my Skittles and not your Skittles. And if I eat up all your Skittles, I can buy some more Skittles tomorrow." Without missing a beat he turned to the congregation and said, "Many of us don't get it as well. Because many of us tell God the same thing when it gets close to offering time if we remain then. We tell God, 'Don't eat up all my Skittles God, I want some for tomorrow." He went on to say there are 61 individual Skittles in a particular bag. "That means what God asks of us, the ten percent, is [6 Skittles] and He leaves us with [the remaining 55] Skittles." He ends his illustration by saying, "If you would trust God with the Skittles He asks for, He will [opening up an enormous bag of Skittles and emptying the contents into a small cup, overwhelming the cup and pouring Skittles all over the table and on to the floor] open up the windows of Heaven, [He] will pour you out a blessing that you will not have room enough to receive (see Malachi 3:10)." Of course, this generated a lot of discussion under the video, much of it in agreement with the pastor. I offered my rebuttal of the video, saying that we aren't under the Law, how we can't tithe anyway and aren't commanded to do so. This led to a small dispute between me and other Christians about tithing. However, all that aside, there was something peculiar about some of the responses in favor of tithing. One commenter wrote, "Where do you think money to help pay bills for the poor comes from, keep utilities on in the church, pay for funerals of families that didn't bother to have insurance? Programs that benefits the members and the community?" (sic) Another commenter said, "It's a little funny to me that the people that don't wanna give find every excuse not to give." Then there was this, "Now when one doesn't (tithe), pls believe God has a way of getting it! So give willingly, or you'll give it when something in the house or something dealing with your vehicle breaks down!!! #Bet" (sic). What is peculiar is the motivation behind why people want to give. Look at the list put out; paying the bills of the poor, their funeral expenses, helping keep the lights on in the church, funding community outreach, assuming those that don't "tithe" don't give, and that God is going to inflict suffering in your life to make you give up your money.

The question that needs to be asked of these "tithing" supporters is, "If you didn't believe God commanded you to tithe, would you be motivated to give at all?" Unbelievers give their money to the organizations and charities they support. They don't believe in God at all, yet are motivated to give. What this makes me think is that there is no heart change in these people. When your heart is into something, you will find a way to financially support it as well as giving your time and energy to it. Furthermore, if you are giving because you are afraid that something terrible is going to happen to you if you don't is a form of extortion. It is as if God is a heavenly mob boss that demands His protection money or else He will send His goons over to harm you, your loved ones, or your property. 1 John 4:18 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." If you are afraid of God, you aren't being loved by Him, and you are motivated by the wrong emotion. Your motivation is self-preservation not the well-being of others or your church, no matter what you say to mask it. In his second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul applauded them for their willingness to give. In 2 Corinthians 8, he specifically says, "they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own ..." For him to point to the fact that they gave what they were able, beyond their ability and entirely on their own, shows that they were motivated by love and a changed heart not in response to a command that made them do it. Also, they did not give out of fear that God was going to punish them either. In fact, Paul says that they gave despite being in poverty. Based on the earlier comment about God "getting" His money, you would be tempted to believe that their poverty was a punishment of God for not giving. Instead, out of their heartfelt desire to give, they gave in spite of their poverty. This falls right in line with what many say is the way Christians are to give. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul wrote, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." A cheerful giver is a person that gives what they can and does so from the heart. There is no percentage required and no threat of punishment for not giving. Even if you cannot give that is okay. God will get His work accomplished. When you have the means, you can give later. A person who is motivated to give out of compulsion is someone who is forced to give regardless of how they feel about it. That is not a description of someone operating out of love, but out of fear. Skittles has a tagline that says, "Taste the Rainbow." It is referring to the variety of colors and flavors of their candies. While Christians like this pastor and his supporters are busy trying to "taste the rainbow" of God's blessings through their giving performance, they are missing out on a relationship with the God who made Skittles. They want God's blessing more than God Himself and may experience neither.

$65,000,000 Jet

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves." 2 Peter 2:1

Recently, I was involved in a brief discussion with another Christian regarding a pastor who was seeking to purchase a $65,000,000 jet for his ministry. Without prompting, the gentleman I was talking with started to defend this pastor's desire to purchase this jet. He said, "He needs the jet to do ministry because the commercial airlines can't accommodate his schedule." I could see where this discussion was headed; it would turn into a debate about prosperity teachers, Christians being rich or poor, believing God for things, etc. It would have been a fruitless discussion. However, before it went that route I said, "I could care less about his desire for a plane or what the justification is for needing it is. My problem is that the pastor is a false teacher and shame on his congregation for supporting him." I was adamant about saying this because another Christian was listening to us and I didn't want them to be swayed into listening to this pastor and be led astray. We were abruptly interrupted and so the conversation had to end. However, I came back later to the Christian that was listening and gave them the evidence regarding why I made such a bold statement about this pastor.

I let them listen to a couple of audio recordings of this pastor. First, he talked about what he would do to attendees of his church who didn't tithe. He said, "...but, if they were non-tithers, the bar would lock up (preventing entrance into the church), the red and blue lights would start going, the siren would go off and a voice would go throughout the entire dome, 'Crook, crook, crook, crook!' Security would go and apprehend them. Once we got them all together we would line them up in the front and pass out oozies by the ushers... and point our oozies right at all those non-tithing members, because we want God to come to church, and at the count of three Jesus' we'd shoot them all dead! I would certainly try it." Secondly, and even worse, is that this pastor denied the deity of Christ. He said, "...and somebody said, "Well, Jesus came as God!" You know the Bible says God never sleeps nor slumbers and yet in the book of Mark we see Jesus asleep in the back of the boat. You all please listen to me. This ain't no heresy. I'm not some false prophet. I'm just reading this thing [out of the Bible]. I'm just telling you all these fantasy preachers have been preaching all of this stuff for all these years and we bought the package!" 

Who cares about a jet when the man using it denies the deity of Jesus Christ, denigrates those who do teach His deity and suggests taking the lives of those who don't give to his church? Despite what he says, he is a false prophet and false teacher just like the scripture says. He is the real "fantasy preacher." We need to keep our eyes open and know the truth so we can spot these people and those who support them. Because, ultimately, it isn't the pastor who is the problem it is those who sit under his teaching. "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3)." The time has come when people gather teachers around them to say what their itching ears want to hear! 

Playing God's Lottery

A lottery is defined as "a means of raising money by selling numbered tickets and giving prizes to the holders of numbers drawn at random." If somebody told you that they spent 10% of their income on lottery tickets, how would you react? Most likely you would be shocked and tell them that is probably not the best use of their finances nor the best way in which to make more money. Perhaps you would encourage them to save that money and seek a financial counselor of some sort. The chances of that person winning the lottery are slim; 1 in 175 million by some calculations. Yet, in general, this is the same sort of belief system or philosophy we bring into our Christian life in many ways. We call it tithing. Now, I am all in favor of tithing; biblical tithing. Biblical tithing is giving a tenth of your produce, not your income, to the Levitical Priesthood. Not only does the Levitical Priesthood, at this time in history, not exist, most people don't produce anything to give to it if it did. Besides, Christians are not Jews under the Mosaic Law. However, what is taught in most churches regarding tithing and what many Christians believe it to be is not much different than playing a lottery. People who play the lottery are basically giving a portion of their income in order to receive back a fortune in return. Within the Church, Malachi 3:10 is often cited as a proof text for this teaching. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." I have heard Christians say that their local church is the "storehouse" of God, which is not supported by this text at all. But, the lure of this teaching is that the Lord will "open the floodgates of heaven" and bless you beyond your wildest imagination if you only give your money. I call this playing God's lottery.

Usually, the only one getting blessed is the pastor and the church. They raise money by selling the congregation on the fact that you are giving "through" them to God. And God will in turn bless you by opening those floodgates. There will always be a handful of people that will give a testimony of a turnaround in their life based on their supposed tithing. However, I know from experience that their are many more people that end up in financial ruin because they have "tithed" and didn't get God's blessings as promised. There is nothing wrong with giving to your church, just don't call it a tithe. Furthermore, if you are giving in order to be blessed by God it not only shows that you probably don't understand the blessings you already have in Christ, but that you are only looking to have your flesh blessed. The Bible says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1;3)" and "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3)." If you already have every spiritual, not physical, blessing and everything you need for a godly life, what else do you need? What do you hope to get from God through your "tithe"\ that you don't already possess? Jesus said, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they (Matthew 6:26)?" As born again Christians we are much more valuable than the birds. In fact, we are so valuable that God indwells each of us through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We give of our time, talent and treasure, not to have our flesh blessed in return. We give because we have already been spiritually blessed and want to share that blessing with those around us and with those that proclaim this message of salvation we have embraced through faith in Jesus Christ. That is something worthy of giving 100%!

Understanding the Tithe

Beginning with the historical foundations of society and government, Pastor Aaron Budjen presents a series of broadcasts explaining the purpose of the tithe in Israel. Expanding from the historical foundation, Aaron explains why the tithe has no application in the Church today. He addresses the two most popular passages in Scriptures that are referred to when people teach tithing, Malachi 3 and Hebrews 7. He ends the almost 4 hours of teaching on this subject with an explanation of how we are to give in light of the New Covenant that is in effect.

Understanding the Tithe