Flip-side of Tithing the Pastor is not Talking about!
Not surprisingly, the promotion of tithing as a religious obligation has continued to generate off-the-cuff assertions by some pastors and apostles that are anything but accurate from a Biblical perspective.
It is concerning that one highly respected church leader — with large followership, stated that Christians who fail to pay tithes will not get to heaven. Another seeking to spiritualize tithing claims it was revealed to Abraham by the spirit hence the natural man cannot receive it. Taken within the context of 1 Corinthians 2:14, the preacher implies that believers who do not pay tithes are canal Christians — they are not spiritual enough to discern spiritual things.
With legalistic intent, these preachers seek to associate tithing with the spiritual status of their congregants — something they must do to obtain God’s favor and blessings here on earth and to enter heaven. They have thus ignored the death of Christ on the cross for sinners. Ephesians 2:8 says “By grace, you are saved through faith, it is not of yourself; not by works lest any man should boast, It is the gift of God.”
Basically, two classes of people were involved with tithing in the Old Testament — the giver and the beneficiary. There was the storehouse where all tithes were deposited — where they were accessed by the Levites, the widows, strangers, and the poor. God’s specific command to the Israelites was, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house.” (Malachi 3:10). Food for needy Levites, the widows, and the poor.
Modern proponents of tithing are quick in urging their congregants to pay tithes, but little is said about what is done with the tithes. Tithing was both a religious and social obligation under the law in Israel. The grace of giving, not tithing is taught and emphasized in the New Testament.
Even so, our purpose here is not to query the veracity or otherwise of tithing. The topic of tithing and giving has been exhaustively dealt with in a previous article. (See “Understanding the Book of Malachi, Tithing, and Giving.” Medium Nov. 3, 2020). What we seek to do here is to underscore the significance of giving in modern New Testament churches, citing practical examples of how giving in churches is used in catering to the needs of modern “Levites, widows and the poor” in society.
We are using the case of shared responsibility between churches, religious organizations, and governments in the United States in taking care of the sick, and the poor in American society.
Many of our African church leaders, especially in Nigeria take their cues from the U.S. building mega-churches and riding luxurious cars and personal jets. They are prone to modeling their lifestyle after successful pastors and churches in the United States.
We are saying here that they should also copy the American charitable giving to the poor — the underprivileged in Nigeria where over 80% of the population falls in that category. It is the reason churches are exempt from paying taxes to the government.
Jesus told the Pharisees and religious leaders of his day, that it was alright for them to tithe — as commanded in their law — but they should “not neglect the more important matters of justice, mercy, and faithfulness” (Mattew 23:23).
Let’s see what churches and charitable organizations are doing in America:
In an article in Medium titled “Is Religion the Problem or the Solution?” Dan Foster takes surveys of people’s general disenchantment with institutional churches in the West. Dan Foster is a well-known blogger deconstructionist on a mission — encouraging Christians to leave their churches.
He believes that institutionalized denominational churches are doing more damage to the spiritual well-being of their congregants than good. His online Backyard Church is now a thriving platform for Christians and writers who are done with institutional churches and now relate to one another serving the Lord without institutional encumbrances.
Notwithstanding his radical dispositions, Dan Foster has many good things to say about the Church in America. His surveys brought into focus the amazing contributions of American churches and other religious organizations to charitable humanitarian ministries in the United States.
According to Philanthropy Roundtable, 73% of all charitable giving in the U.S. comes from explicitly religious organizations. It is shown that of America’s top 50 charities, 40 percent are faith-based. This is what Dan Foster said about them:
If those organizations were to disappear overnight, the USA could face a humanitarian crisis that neither the government nor the private sector would be able to cope with. They are doing the government a favor by taking care of the needs of the poor, the sick, the homeless, and the otherwise marginalized citizens. Whether you like it or not religious charities contribute a heck of a lot to society.
Here are what they do:
Local church congregations, aided by umbrella groups like Catholic charities are the largest provider of day-to-day help for resettling refugees and asylum seekers arriving in the USA.
Research shows that the bulk of volunteers mentoring prisoners and their families both while they are incarcerated and after they are released are Christians.
Religious hospitals care for 1 out of every 5 US hospital patients. Catholic institutions account for 16 percent of all hospital beds, and additional large healthcare systems are run by Adventists, Baptists, Methodists, Jews, and other faith groups.
Faith-based organizations are at the forefront of both care and recovery for the homeless. A 2017 study found that 58 percent of the emergency shelter beds in 11 surveyed cities are maintained by religious providers — who also delivered many of the addictions, heath-care education, and job services needed to help the homeless regain their independence.
Local congregations in the USA provide upwards of 130,000 alcohol-recovery programs.
Local congregations in the USA provide upwards of 120,000 programs that assist the unemployed.
Local congregations in the USA provide upwards of 26000 programs to help people living with HIV/AIDS — one ministry for every 46 people infected with the virus.
Churches recruit a large portion of the volunteers needed to operate organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Meals on wheels, and America’s thousands of food pantries and feeding programs. They include Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the Red Cross, and other volunteer-dependent charities.
Moreover, the churches reach out beyond the borders of America giving to Missions in Africa. Medical Missions in Africa are funded by Western churches. Church hospitals in East Africa historically drew funding from US denominations.
But the pandemic is taking its toll on funding Church hospitals in East Africa. In a recent publication, Christianity Today raises the question of who will pay Africa’s Medical Bill? This is because Mission hospitals are all struggling with paying staff salaries. They are owing months of unpaid wages.
Not only do people of faith run charitable organizations they also give to them. “ln fact both are more likely to give, more likely to give more generously, and more likely to volunteer their time.” Writes Dan Foster.
Christians not only give to their own Charities they are also more likely to give to secular causes as well. Churches do organize community events to attract and are attended by non-members of their churches.
Certainly doing church is not seen as another “stomach infrastructure.” Jesus spent his earthly ministry in the service of humanity and trained his disciples to be servant leaders.
Where are African, nay Nigerian Churches in all of this? Are we serving the same God as the American Christians? Why is it that all we hear about Nigerian churches is tithing and offering plus opposition to attempts by the government to regulate church finances?
We see stadium-like church buildings, the aircraft of Nigeria’s mega-church founders, and ensuing family business ventures; we see churches founding poorly staffed, and ill-equipped universities turning out half-baked and ill-prepared graduates to face modern-day realities; We see poverty, the homeless, and the sick dying unattended. Where do we go from here?
Now is time to rethink our mission as a subset of the Great Commission — reframing our minds and restructuring our systems to be the light the church was created to be — pointing the way to Christ’s kingdom.
Let me end by saying we see also a small cloud like a hand — indicative of the coming rains: We see Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere of Omega Power Ministry Port Harcourt taking on, accommodating, resettling, and equipping for a better life, the entire family of one of the latest Christian martyrs in Nigeria, Deborah Samuel who was killed and burnt by violent Muslim bigots in Sokoto.
Kudos to Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere. This is the caliber of men and women deserving of honor and celebration in our land.
