Comments on: Confessions Of A Die-Hard Tither

By: Thomas Christian

Thomas Christian — Sun, 15 May 2011 16:44:30 +0000

John – thanks for your [I consider it to be teaching] on the NT Christian’s obligation to tithe. Having been raised in an extremely legalistic setting – I’ve always wanted to honor the Lord with my finances – yet viewed the tithe as “protection money” against the devourer- and yes, I’ve “given to get” in the past. In spite of this, I’ve experienced seasons of tremendous blessing as well as seasons of leanness – which has been the case for the past five years. During this time we’ve given as we’ve been able – but not an obligatory 10% -and not to the local church. During this time, we’ve also been building a new business and we’ve seen the Lord provide for us supernaturally time after time – this would confuse me because I felt guilty and thought we were “under the curse” – why would God move in our lives and bless us anyway? We’re now starting to prosper again as in the past – I can’t wait to sow seed as the Spirit directs with the heart motive of honoring the Lord and wanting to be a blessing to others – not out of religious obligation… The law came through Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ… I’ve also enjoyed your teaching on the Coming Judgment of Islam – thanks!!!

By: Stoked Faith

Stoked Faith — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:08:35 +0000

Here’s my Experience:
I have mixed feelings about both viewpoints presented above (John and Kyle) HOWEVER, I can tell you this with absolute certainty, and personal proof that when I did not tithe, my finances were miserable. When I did start to tithe, I began giving 10% of my gross and it truly feels like the blessings FLOOD my life from miraculous sources and I have above and beyond what I need.

By: KB

KB — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:04:04 +0000

I’d like to add my two cents worth. Firstly thanks to the writer for posting the original article it really sums up what people go through in trying to understand and do the right thing regarding their faith! We went through similar teaching and process, and after much prayer, decided to tithe to our local church. For a while we experienced amazing blessing. In retrospect, the blessing subsided at the point our tithe became ‘habit’ and something that was not motivated by a heart response to the Holy Spirit’s leading on what/how much to give. We include in that, as Verna, our time, talents, love, and money, all of which are of equal importance to God. A few years later we were extremely poor while my husband was a student, most weeks buying food was hard, or impossible. Did we ‘tithe’ – no, we could hardly meet all our bills, would it have blessed God’s heart to go into debt? We sincerely doubt it! We served in our local church, and God still supplied our needs both through our church family and by some miracles I still marvel over! Since then we have had a depth of teaching, emphasis on Giving, that has totally changed the way we see tithing. It’s not been easier than tithing, sometimes God has required a significant amount that has been sacrificial, to bless someone or a situation which would have gone unnoticed by our church. Church leaders rolling out Mal 3 verses are only telling a small part of the truth. In addition to Malachi, Abraham’s ‘tithe’, have a look at Deut 12:5-19 and 22-27, Deut 14:28-29, Deut 16:12-13 et al!! Investigate the scriptures for yourself. The tithe issue is summed up in the New Testament by 2 Cor 9:7, which is what my husband and I have come to live by regarding all our giving. I hope this post helps someone.

By: Enoch

Enoch — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:55:23 +0000

I tithed for over thirty one years. In Feb of 2005 I had left a church looking for another. After two week of praying and studying my bible, I realized that I had not tithed. Therefore I immediately went to Hebrews seventh chapter and read about Abram giving Melchizedek ten percent of somebody else property. (Gen 14:1-24) It was not his own. Plus (Gen 13:2) clearly says that Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold. Abram did not give Melchizedek ten percent of his own cattle, silver and gold. Then I began to wonder how did I miss this. I had been lied to, and not only that I had taught that lie being a minister of the gospel. After that I began to study every verse in the bible regarding tithing from Genesis to Hebrews and realize that tithing was to Israel only and it was not money but food products and animals. Therefore I had to repent to God for lying to the body of Christ.
I have some videos on YouTube – username -”enick3″ called ” The tithe lie & The tithing confession lie”. God Bless

By: Verna

Verna — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:14:49 +0000

John,

Thank you so much for this article!! I had become a tither under the law when I first went to church because that’s what I was taught. Pay a tithe, get a blessing; don’t pay a tithe, receive a curse. I thank God that He brought me out of that bondage, and I am so pleased to see a fellow Christian using his voice to cry out in the wilderness of law. Thank you!

I can remember sitting at the kitchen table crying over how to pay the tithe and the bills and put food on the table with what we had. I couldn’t do it. Our financial situation kept getting worse and worse. I did a lot of praying and came across Paul’s words you’ve mentioned. Through the ministering of the Holy Spirit, the lightbulb went off. My finances were indeed cursed; not because I wasn’t paying tithe, but because I was paying it. I was living under the law, and was therefore living under the curse of the law. When I quit tithing, our finances straightened out, and we began to prosper. From then on, I didn’t give out of trying to get blessed or because I was following a commandment, I gave out of wanting to help others in need. I still do.

Do I give all the time? No. I give as the Lord leads, and here’s the kicker, it’s not to a church, and it’s not always money. Sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s service, sometimes it’s money, or sometimes it’s a shoulder to cry on, and sometimes it can be as simple as holding a door open for someone. Tithing has become so legalistic that Christians today don’t get that tithing was never about money, but has always been about love.

Cain and Abel’s offerings weren’t money, and Cain was punished because he gave out of a wrong motive. God straight out told the Jewish people that the sacrifice He required wasn’t tithing but was “helping the widows and orphans which is your reasonable service”. He didn’t mean it as a command. He meant it to show them that when you love, you can’t help but help others, and, thereby, you worship God with your love. It means that since God loved me first, I love Him with all my heart mind and soul and love my neighbor as myself. I give out of a heart of love in meeting a need in someone else’s life through personal giving to or contact with an individual, not as a command to fill church coffers.

I was blown away when I did some digging on how our church spent the tithes and offerings it received. I found out that the church I was attending would only help someone who asked for it only once in a year time period. If the person in need asked for help before that year was up, they would be turned away. That’s only one instance. There were many others. Please know I’m not church bashing, nor am I saying that all churches are this way. There are churches out there that do it right. However, I encourage you to dig deep into where the money is going. When you find out, you may understand that helping the woman at the side of the road with a blown tire or giving a meal to the man diving in the dumpster may be a much better use of your money. Giving to get a blessing is selfish, giving because you have to is useless, giving to help others in their need is Christ, love in action.