There once was a church that was very healthy. They were growing and making disciples. The people were living in Christian community with one another, bearing each others' burdens, rejoicing with those who rejoiced and mourning with those who mourned.
They went on mission trips, both local and foreign. Things were going gangbuster. But there was only one problem.
90% of the church members were committing murder. Each week.
The pastor saw this. However, murder was a topic that made people uncomfortable. He had been told that if he preached too much about murder, people would leave the church. He didn't want to be known as the leader of a church that "only cared about getting people to stop murdering." So, instead of preaching about murder from the pulpit, he avoided talking about it, keeping the murderers in his church happy and coming back each Sunday.
Now, obviously, this story is not true. I made it up. There is NO WAY that 90% of the people in a church could take a command of Scripture such as "You shall not commit murder" and ignore it. There is no way on earth that 90% of people who have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, been baptized into new life, are living in dynamic relationship with Him, could take something in the Bible and ignore it. Right?
Wrong. There is a command in Scripture that 90% of church members are ignoring. Day in and day out. Week in and week out.
It is the command to tithe.
I've heard all the reason why people don't tithe. I really have. Many are legitimate. There are churches that misuse funds.
But that doesn't change the fact that God commands it. This is a glaring issue facing the church- bigger than abortion, bigger than homosexuality, bigger than the rise of radical Islam, bigger than just about anything. It is probably the largest area of disobedience to the Bible found in the church today.
Why am I writing about this? The entire purpose of this blog is to challenge Christians to go deeper, to surrender more to Jesus, to risk more, to walk more closely with Jesus, to take Scripture more seriously- in other words, to step up their game. Tithing is a sacrifice. It really is. It is taking a tenth of what you earn and placing it in the hands of God, trusting that He will use it better than you.
It is a realization that God owns 100% of all of your money, and only wants 10% of it. He could legitimately demand 100% and would be stealing from no one. It is a realization that He is the Provider, not the employer. It is a realization that we need far less to live on than what we actually think.
It is a letting go of the idol of materialism and recognizing the sovereign power of the one true God. It is a cessation of stealing what is rightfully God's (yes, stealing- see Malachi 3 if you don't believe me) to fund an affluent lifestyle. It is moving yourself from tight-fisted to generous.
It is being faithful to Scripture. Isn't that what a Christian desires to be?
Tithing is not a money issue. It's a heart issue. You don't tithe because a church needs it or because a ministry needs it or because you are made to feel guilty.
You tithe because it belongs to God. You tithe because your money isn't yours anyway. You are a manager of God's resources, and because they are His, you send them where He sees fit. Right now, 90% of Christians are guilty of stealing and mismanaging the Lord's property. Plain and simple. If 90% of church members were murdering or committing adultery or stealing or abusing children, we wouldn't put up with it. So why do we put up with Christians who steal what is rightfully God's?
They went on mission trips, both local and foreign. Things were going gangbuster. But there was only one problem.
90% of the church members were committing murder. Each week.
The pastor saw this. However, murder was a topic that made people uncomfortable. He had been told that if he preached too much about murder, people would leave the church. He didn't want to be known as the leader of a church that "only cared about getting people to stop murdering." So, instead of preaching about murder from the pulpit, he avoided talking about it, keeping the murderers in his church happy and coming back each Sunday.
Now, obviously, this story is not true. I made it up. There is NO WAY that 90% of the people in a church could take a command of Scripture such as "You shall not commit murder" and ignore it. There is no way on earth that 90% of people who have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, been baptized into new life, are living in dynamic relationship with Him, could take something in the Bible and ignore it. Right?
Wrong. There is a command in Scripture that 90% of church members are ignoring. Day in and day out. Week in and week out.
It is the command to tithe.
I've heard all the reason why people don't tithe. I really have. Many are legitimate. There are churches that misuse funds.
But that doesn't change the fact that God commands it. This is a glaring issue facing the church- bigger than abortion, bigger than homosexuality, bigger than the rise of radical Islam, bigger than just about anything. It is probably the largest area of disobedience to the Bible found in the church today.
Why am I writing about this? The entire purpose of this blog is to challenge Christians to go deeper, to surrender more to Jesus, to risk more, to walk more closely with Jesus, to take Scripture more seriously- in other words, to step up their game. Tithing is a sacrifice. It really is. It is taking a tenth of what you earn and placing it in the hands of God, trusting that He will use it better than you.
It is a realization that God owns 100% of all of your money, and only wants 10% of it. He could legitimately demand 100% and would be stealing from no one. It is a realization that He is the Provider, not the employer. It is a realization that we need far less to live on than what we actually think.
It is a letting go of the idol of materialism and recognizing the sovereign power of the one true God. It is a cessation of stealing what is rightfully God's (yes, stealing- see Malachi 3 if you don't believe me) to fund an affluent lifestyle. It is moving yourself from tight-fisted to generous.
It is being faithful to Scripture. Isn't that what a Christian desires to be?
Tithing is not a money issue. It's a heart issue. You don't tithe because a church needs it or because a ministry needs it or because you are made to feel guilty.
You tithe because it belongs to God. You tithe because your money isn't yours anyway. You are a manager of God's resources, and because they are His, you send them where He sees fit. Right now, 90% of Christians are guilty of stealing and mismanaging the Lord's property. Plain and simple. If 90% of church members were murdering or committing adultery or stealing or abusing children, we wouldn't put up with it. So why do we put up with Christians who steal what is rightfully God's?
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