This week at X1 I had the joy/challenge of speaking, or NOT, speaking on tithing to our people. The reason it is a challenge is twofold really, I feel.
Firstly, you are entering into a great emotionally charged/ 'do not invade' space of the western believer's psyche. This is one of those 'do not go there' areas of our walk. The personal area where it is hard to determine how a church leadership displays any God-given authority.
Secondly, as I mentioned to the people of X1 on Sunday, it is a definite Spiritual Warfare battleground because we are confronting a very significant idol in the Western world. As a preacher and leader entering into this territory it is a case of 'get locked and loaded,' put on that 'heavenly armor' and get ready for some attack. As I suggested to the congregation it is akin to confronting biblically people from my home country of Zimbabwe about Ancestral Worship (African Traditional Religion) and declaring that these idols are to be knocked off their perches by the only true, living God. Some of you may know how that goes - speaking about money here is engaging in similar combat but the enemy here appears to wear far more inconspicuous clothing and one wonders where he is actively gunning people down.
My preaching was out of Joshua 21 continuing on in our series in Joshua - 'Living Life without the Fear.' Here we see the Levites given their cities out of the inheritance of their fellow Israelites and the obvious point is that without the God-honoring, other-centered obedience of the Israelites there would be no Levite cities to speak of.
Without them giving 48 of their cities and giving of their grain, livestock and income there would be no places of Spiritual input and direction within the nation of Israel. These Levite cities were the Spiritual Communities offering TRUTH, JUSTICE & MERCY within the Israelite community - which like any other human society (as seen by the tragic and dreadful Cumbria shootings of last week) was/is fragile and fractured and prone to soul-atrophying, rebel-making distance from God.
We too as God's people have the great joy and privilege (According to Paul in II Cor. 8 & 9) to give generously as tasters of God's grace in Christ to the building of Levite cities within our own fractured and fragile communities. And nowhere is it meant to be 10% - the NT makes absolutely no obligation along the lines of a percentile of your income it is purely as an overflow of being transformed by the grace of God and wanting true 'equality' for all people and 'investing' in such through their local 'home of spiritual sustenance' and hub for God's mission - the local Church.
I can only hope the people of X1 will arise to give much to see X1 truly be a Spiritual Community offering refuge, hope and direction to the community in Watford. It should not be my compulsion but a resposiveness to their tasting of the abundant, lavish grace of God.
Blessings
SLJ
3 comments:
An excellent post.
It's encouraging to me to see others teaching the truth on the subject of giving vs tithing.
Keep up the good work, and may God Bless you always.
Simon so refreshing to hear clear truth on the subject of giving. And will God not pour out His blessing in abundance in response as we give to Him?
PMW
I is great to hear someone teaching the truth about grace giving, as you have. I would encourage you to have the front of your website speak accurately regarding specifics about Old Testament tithing. I quote from your site:
"Giving
It is an integral part of our lives to honour God by acknowledging that all that exists is His. This is powerfully demonstrated by giving over the 'first-fruits' of our income joyously as an act of worship in a money hungry society.
In the Old Testament of the Bible it was a law to give 10% of all. As a church we now see it as a principle of Grace: Give freely as you have received- It's worship!
We trust that you will have a transformed attitude towards what you think is yours and acknowledge that it all belongs to God. Display your faith through tithes and offerings and know the blessings that will come from the Lord:"
The truth, however, is that the tithe under the Law of Moses was not for all. The tithe was never money and only food. See http://www.tithing-russkelly.com for proof. Since money was not legal tender for the Law of Moses tithe, the consequence was that tradesman (carpenters, tent maker, etc) and the poor were not required to tithe. You cannot tithe the tenth of the herd that goes underneath the shepard's rod, if you don't make your living herding!
The reason I am making an issue about this is that some churches manipulate people to believe that all must tithe, regardless how poor. For the benefit of those members of your congregation who will someday move on, it is best to forewarn them.
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