My Thoughts On The Matter It is a shame - and an embarrassment to Christianity - that we have to hear stories like this one. I want to say to every Church leader: tithes may be a prerequisite for overwhelming divine blessings, but it is not intended to be a prerequisite for receiving ministry or support from any true Christian leader or Christian organization. It is not our job to enforce the principle of tithing by making it an eligibility factor. God has his own process for addressing a non-tither; and that process does not need our help. He retains for Himself the role of responding to the tither so we can keep our focus on ministry. Any shortfall from cheerful or free will giving, should be billed to God who will either provide or advise our more efficacious stewardship of gifts received. We must trust that process so as not to corrupt our ministry efforts. I want to say to parishioners: if you are constantly sowing into a church that classifies your individual significance based on your giving record, you are trying to grow spiritually in corrupt soil. It is an absolute truth that you MUST give according to the principles of God; but never tolerate ANY minister or church (where you worship regularly) withholding reasonable ministry because of your giving. That would not be a church, but a club! That does not mean you should EXPECT a church to foot your bill, but rather that the church should NEVER refuse you ANY reasonable ministry over money. And, I will say one last thing on the subject. There was one time in the bible when God asked the people to prepare HIM a place (tabernacle) and instructed that it be financed from offerings (not tithes). He stated the purpose was so HE might have a physical address on earth where He could dwell (tabernacle) with His people while they were in transit to the promised land. The next house of God, The TEMPLE in Jerusalem, was not the idea of God, but of a man that loved God. God said, I didnt ask for a house; but He accepted the House, filled it with his presence and sealed it with a covenant based on a commitment to right relationship and the fact that they did not use HIS money (the tithe) to finance it. God doesnt accept everybodys desire to build Him a cathedral; especially if their vision requires HIS money (tithe), and its acquisition and upkeep serve as a distraction or hinderance to real ministry. And, any church that needs to use TITHES to build, probably shouldnt be building. Furthermore, if people have to be taxed beyond the reasonable giving to which God has attached a promise of blessing, the expectation of member participation is ungodly IF it crosses the threshold from request to demand. I dont mean to offend anyone, but it is time that the church stop shooting itself in the foot. The bible says that our feet must be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace and how precious are the feet of them that bring good news. People who need God and desire truth should be glad to see us coming, or grateful that we didnt allow their initial expression to cancel our proclamation of the great gospel. We are limping because of a self-inflicted injury; and when we get some reasonable healing, we unfortunately turn around and injury ourselves again. Lets get this right. Erwin Scofield. #scofieldministries #oyiscoach
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:41:34 +0000
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