Sunday, March 20, 2011

This is for my Brother-in-law - I'm ashamed of you...

BELOW IS FROM HERE


Originally Posted by authentic View Post
....And you have all the right to do that. The problem with how modern day churches teach the tithe, is that they misinterpret Malachi chapter 3 to guilt-ride the parishoners to give 10%. Here are some fun facts for you to research....

1. The Book of Malachi was written to the priests. So lets, for the sake of arguement, assume that Malachi should be translated to the NT church, then the Priests/Pastors are infact "cursed with a curse" for not paying tithes from thier increase.

2. According to the Law of Moses, absolutely NO Modern day church tithes in the correct manner. The books of Deuteronomy, Numbers, and Leviticus outlines what an acceptable tithe is (Wine, Oil, Oxen, Heffers,....etc). Never does it say money. Therefore, if you want to go by the letter of the law, you can tithe 10% of your paycheck until Jesus comes back, you are doing it wrong anyways. In addition to that, the tithe was supposed to be given to the Levitical Priests. Where are the Levitical Priests now?

3. Why is there only one tithe administered in the church. Again if we are going by the letter of the Mosaic Law, there should be at least 2 different tithes. *An annual tithe for the maintenance for the Levites, *A second tithe brought to Jeruselem for the Lord's feasts.

4. Most churches (and correctly so) espouse the belief that the OT law, which includes the Law of Moses has been done away with by Jesus' death on the cross. Thus there is no need to observe the feast days, the dietary law, the law of circumsion, the law of unclean people, observing the sabbath...etc. But then all of a sudden they find it convenient to cherry pick ONE of those ordinances and bind thier congregants by it? Doesn't make sense at all. If tithing is so important for both OT and NT observers, then what about all of the other laws in the OT? Are they not as important? Food for thought...

-Again, if folks want to give 10%, 20%, 50%, and you feel lead to do it; well fine, that is the liberty you have in Christ. But for churches to imply that a Christian is somehow being disobedient, cursed, or wicked for not giving 10% to the church is a clear bastardization of God's Word. We are commanded to give to help the local church function, ABSOLUTELY! Does the term "give" defined exclusively by the word "tithe"? Absolutely not.

-One more fine note. I wonder why so many churches are so bent towards preaching of the tithe, when a good portion of the NT commands believers to give to the poor? How come this isn't preached and emphasized on a more consistant basis?