Institutionalized
Giving (Tithe)
Well,
praise Jesus today, everyone. I wanted to speak a bit today about
institutionalized giving. It's the idea that you need to pay an organization or
a club of other men 10% of your income as the Bible speaks of. Now the
Christians use one particular verse over and over again to justify the biblical
concept of tithing, and they make people feel very guilty for not paying their
10% of their income to an organization. They do this even to the extent that
they will say you cannot pick the group of people that you want to give to. It
can't be your mom, it can't be your dad, it can't be your brother. It has to be
an institutionalized, legitimate organization in their eyes. It has to be a
501c3 church, a legitimate club. So I want to bring out three main points that
will help expose what is going on around the deceptions of this whole
institutionalized giving and this whole guilt tithe that is happening in
church. Because there's a lot of Christians that really mean good. They really
do want to see the blessings of God. They really do want God's blessings to be
poured out in their life. They want to give, but Satan is fleecing the flock,
and he is using a lot of Christians' good attitudes to get their money and use
their money for evil. And that is what I want to expose today. I don't want to
discourage anyone from giving, but I do want people to see the truth that if
they are part of this institutionalized guilt giving of tithe, your arm is
being twisted and you're being manipulated by Satan. So here are three really
good points that I want you to take into consideration. These points aren't in
any specific order. They're just three points regarding this institutionalized
giving.
Point
number one, the verse that we find that the churches are always quoting is Malachi
chapter 3, somewhere around verse 8-12. And keep in mind that this verse is Old
Testament. And almost 100%, if not 100% of the Christian organizations that are
promoting this idea that tithe is biblical and that you need to give your 10%,
these exact same Christians say they support the New Covenant and that they are
not Old Testament Christians. They are not under the law of Moses. They like to
say that they are once saved, always saved, we're not saved by works of the law
such as the Old Testament. But then when it comes down to tithing in
particular, they pull out this one commandment from the Old Testament, not the
New, and then they make their congregation feel guilty as if they're going to
hell if they're not keeping this one particular Old Testament law out of
Malachi. So obviously guys, that is hypocrisy. So that's point number one. I
want to read this verse to you because it is true that God will bless us if we
tithe, but the way the Christian church, the institutionalized guilt givers and
guilt receivers are asking for this is out of manipulation from Satan. So let's
read it.
This is
the verse that they use to make you feel guilty. This is found in the Old
Testament prophet Malachi chapter 3. I'm starting in verse eight. It says,
“Will a
man rob God?
Yet you
have robbed Me!”
The
churches love this because they want you to think that you're robbing them if
you're not giving to them on a weekly basis your 10%.
“But you
say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes
and offerings.
You are
cursed with a curse.”
That's
also what they want you to think. You're cursed, brother, if you're not paying
your tithe to our church.
“For you
have robbed Me,
Even this
whole nation.
Bring all
the tithes into the storehouse,
That there
may be food in My house,
And try Me
now in this,”
Says the
Lord of hosts,
“If I will
not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour
out for you such blessing
That there
will not be room enough to receive it.”
So you can just see how these manipulators
fleece the flock with this verse. So if you're not paying tithe, they say
you're robbing God. If you don't know how you're robbing God, it's obviously
because you're not paying your tithe. If you're not going above and beyond 10%
and doing your offerings, you're also robbing God. So not only do we want you
giving 10% of your income, we want you giving maybe $1000 every other week just
to support the pastor because he deserves it. So they make you feel super
guilty if you're not, but look, if you are paying your tithe and giving
offerings, then God will bless you. He will give you everything that you need.
So you can
see it's extremely manipulative. Obviously God wants us to give us, you know,
he wants our whole heart and he will bless us if we are giving our whole heart
to him. But clearly the Christian church is making people feel guilty and
they've institutionalized this Bible verse out of complete hypocrisy because
this is Old Testament, which they say they don't believe in. They say they're a
new covenant and anything of the Old Testament law is a work of the law for you
to try to do. So clearly point number one exposes the Christian hypocrisy.
So if this
wasn't enough, if this first point is not enough, that it's hypocritical, that
brings me to my second point, which is that Jesus Himself specifically talked
about the hypocrisy of tithing institutionally. And I want to read for you
specifically what Jesus said, because it is exactly what the Christian churches
do today to fleece their flock. And it's so ridiculous that it's hard to
understand why anyone in church doesn't see the plain truth right in front of
their nose when Jesus says it loud and clear. He obviously speaks against this
institutionalized guilt kind of tithe and giving. But I want to read to you
what Jesus says. This is found in Mark chapter 7, and I'm going to read you
starting in verse 6.
6He
answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it
is written:
‘This
people honors Me with their lips,
But their
heart is far from Me.
7And in
vain they worship Me,
Teaching
as doctrines the commandments of men.’
So these
people teach it's a doctrine to tithe, but it's actually a commandment of men,
not a commandment of God. So then Jesus says,
8For
laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing
of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9He said
to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep
your tradition. 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He
who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man
says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me
is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), 12then you no longer let him do anything
for his father or his mother, 13making the word of God of no effect through
your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
So do you
see what Jesus is pointing out here? The Christian church, they say, any extra
money you have, you need to give it as tithes and offerings to the church. So
you might say to your own parents, “You know, I know that you need money to pay
your electrical bill. I know you need money to take out your trash, but I can't
give that to you because my church wants my 10% and I don't have any money to
help you take out the trash or to help you with your medical bills. I can't
help you with that, mother and father, because any extra money I have needs to
go to my church to pay tithe and my offerings”. So you make the natural laws of
God of helping your parents and your family of no effect by the traditions of
men, of giving tithes and offerings to the church. So Jesus spoke specifically
about this hypocrisy and the Pharisees were doing this all the time. In fact,
they would make people feel guilty if they were helping their own parents
because you're not helping out the church. That money that you're getting a
little bit extra should be Corban. You should be giving it as tithe and
offering. You shouldn't be helping your natural neighbor or your natural
children. You shouldn't be helping your blood. You shouldn't be giving to
people that you just think need money out of love. Oh, no, no. You need to be
giving institutionally out of guilt. That is, I mean, if that doesn't get your
attention, I'm not totally sure what will because this rebuke was specifically
to the religious order and the Christians today are doing ironically the exact
same thing. So ridiculously identical that it should just make you scratch your
head. How Christians don't see this? How do they feel so compelled to tithe
these organizations and not be helping out their family when Jesus Himself
clearly speaks about this whole Corban and when He clearly rebukes the
Pharisees for this? I'm not sure how deceived they are, although I am because I
was in their position at once. People get very deceived by listening to people
and not to Jesus.
So guys, this brings me to the third point. One
more thing before we get to the third point, though, about Jesus rebuking the
Pharisees. You can also see His rebuke specifically against the institutionalized
tithes and offerings in Matthew chapter 23. Jesus speaks quite specifically and
directly to this topic of tithing to institutions. Jesus says, Matthew 23, I'm
going to start in 23. He says,
23“Woe to
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and
cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy
and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
24Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
So Jesus
goes on and on about this sort of hypocrisy. Now there are some people that
say, well, I'm already paying my parents way. You know, I'm giving enough to
them so I think that I can pay my tithe. Man, you need to be warned where
you're giving your money because these church organizations are robbing you. They
will rob you and make you feel guilty. I would pray and just ask the Lord where
you need to give your money because the Lord has put people in each of our
lives that are naturally in our life and the people that want to take your
money, these institutions are not part of the natural laws that God set up. Unatural
laws are these institutions and these governing authorities that say you need
to put your family underneath our teachers and our leaders and we will control
your household and we will control your money. But the very natural laws are
the natural laws of love that God put in families, Loving your wife, loving
your children, taking care of things around the house. So this is the third
point in regards to this whole deception around institutionalized giving. The
third point is it's against natural laws of love to support an unnatural law of
institutionalized giving.
So clearly
the people that are naturally in your life are the ones that were born of your
own blood. So Jesus calls us to love our own family, to love our own wives, to
love our neighbor as ourselves. But he's never said go out and find an
institutionalized religion and make sure you join the club and pay enough money
to keep your membership up. That's not natural, guys. So I hope that these
three points can open someone's eyes to the truth. Maybe you're wondering how
you should spend your money, how you should give and maybe you've been made to
feel very guilty by the devil for not giving to an institutionalized religion. So
don't let Satan try to manipulate your finances or your readiness to serve God
outside of the institution. I want to just encourage you to give where you felt
led out of love, not out of manipulation or guilt.
In the
world everyone tries to make you feel guilty or pressured. That is what
business people do all the time, salesmen all the time, they try to make you
feel guilty or pressured and that's the same thing the false institutionalized
church has been doing for years. Don't fall into their prey, don't be
manipulated by them any longer. Give as the Lord gives you and of course He
will pour out His blessings on you as the prophet Malachi says. But don't let
that verse be a form of manipulation any longer by these false
institutionalized religions.
So that's
all I have today guys. I want to pray for those of you that want to hear from
the Lord and want to be led by Him, that want to be set free from false guilt,
false religion and the bonds of the world.
“Lord Jesus I pray for your true church, for
those sons and daughters of your kingdom that want to be guided in their
finances and in their hearts and just in their lives in general to go the right
way. I pray that they will not be distracted by false religion or the lies of
Satan or those that want to steal their money in order to control their life. I
pray they can give their hearts and their minds and their souls fully to you
Lord Jesus that they be led in righteousness and that they would take back what
is rightfully yours or rightfully theirs that you have given them so that they
can use these things that you have given them for your kingdom purpose and no
longer for the purpose of the devil. I pray you unshackle people and set them
free in your name that they can be free to serve you as your bond servants
living for you Lord Jesus all the days of their life. So I pray for my brothers
and sisters that are part of the true church. I pray in your name Lord Jesus. Amen.”
