Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

I didn’t intend to write a post because i’ve been taking a sabbatical to catch up on some things. But i just received the book, “Reimagining Church” by Frank Viola. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Frank Viola, he’s the author of the controversial book, “Pagan Christianity“. I loved Pagan Christianity. There were things that i disagreed about in Pagan Christianity, but it is a revolutionary book. It stretched my mind, and it exposed the traditions of the Church that cause roadblocks.

Here is the website to purchase Reimagining Church. I have not read the book yet, but when i do, i’ll be sure to post my review.

I read the book, “Tithing in the Age of Grace” by Joel Parker. Most of the book was filled with the scriptures that dealt with tithing, but did not include as much application as much as other tithing books i have read. In one of the sections a scripture passage covers 10 pages of the 117 page book. It is also written in large print with the border taking up much of the room. Suffice it to say, for those of you who enjoy reading shorter books, this is the one for you. I read through it pretty quickly.

I’ll get right into this review with a quote from the book,

“He [Abraham] tells the king of Sodom ‘I will not take anything that is yours‘ demonstrating that what he gave to Melchizedek didn’t actually belong to him.”

Most people use Abraham’s example as proof text for tithing, but Abraham did not gather any increase from the spoils of war, because he gave it all away. He also acknowledged that it was the king of Sodom’s stuff anyway. Abraham said, i will not take anything that is YOURS.

“Now look closely at Malachi 3:5b. Who does it say ‘the Lord will come near for judgment’? It says ‘Those who exploit wage earners, and widows, and the fatherless, and those who turn away an alien (or stranger)’. Did you see what I saw? Who is noticeably missing from Malachi 3:5 that is otherwise included in Deuteronomy 14:29 and Deuteronomy 26:12,13?
That’s right! The Levites are missing. They are not in the list of people being exploited.

What was actually happening in Malachi 3 is that the Levites/religious leaders were exploiting the poor. These leaders were in charge of distributing the food that came in from tithing. Does this sound familiar to the operations we see today in the Church? Is there no wonder why Barna’s tithing study points out that many people are diverting more of their funds to charitable organizations rather than the church?

Maybe the lack of funds for the church today is a passive way of us telling our leaders that they are not doing their job. Their job isn’t to make me comfortable, or to have great coffee for me, or to build internal church programs that only help the ones inside, or to have an exercise room for me, or to have a great sound system for me, or to have a great preacher and worship team to help my experience. Outside of taking care of our ministers needs, it seems that everything we’ve done inside the church is extremely self serving. Why should I be convicted about serving the desires of my family, and in the mean time be justified over giving back to myself at Church? Instead we staple God’s tag onto the internal dreams of our church, and in the same sentence rip out the “American dream” out of the hearts of families. Is there a difference between the church’s dream and my own? There is none, besides the fact that we’ve sanctified the one dream and made the other unholy.

Anyway, there was more in this book than what I’ve quoted above. Most of the other stuff i have already been mentioned. I would give Tithing in the Age of Grace 3 out of 5 stars. It’s not that it’s got the wrong view or bad content, it just that there’s really not much new content in there. I really don’t enjoy a book loaded with arguments that are speculative, and there was a lot of that. For instance Parker points out that Jesus never asked for money even though he had plenty of chances. Yeah, Parker is right, and no I’m not against speculation, but with a book that had very little deep discussion on the issue, speculation is not a weapon he should be using.

Has anyone read Tithing in Age of Grace? If so what are your thoughts? If not, what’s your input about this discussion?

I was going through my bookshelf the other day and reorganizing some things and i noticed this book. I knew i had read it but found out i haven’t written a review yet about it. It’s been a while so hopefully my memory isn’t too blank. I purchased the book because the title intrigued me, “Tithing and Still Broke”. Niral Russell Burnett is the author and basically spins the idea of the book off of people’s doubts about tithing’s financial return. Of course most of us are familiar with the Malachi 3 statement, “I will open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing so that you will not have room enough to receive it.”

Before i read this book, i remember using this exact phrase as a pundit to get my point across. Many people were tithing, but they were still broke. Supposedly, if that’s the case, God is either punishing you for that one Sunday you missed five years ago, or your faith is not strong enough, or your heart is not right. Although you have been faithfully giving the tithe, one of these three issues is what is keeping you from God blessing you right?

I write a lot of comments on other blogs that talk about tithing. I try to add my 2 cents, but the one type of blogs that i do not add comments on are the personal testimonies. I’m sure many of you have heard testimonies that portray a couple that gives their $127.67 tithe check to the church and then God doubles or even gives them 10x the amount to the exact penny. Some things to note on those people. One, that only happens once. Two, for some reason it doesn’t happen to everyone. Three, it never happened to me.

I have no doubts that God purposefully blessed them with that exact amount, but i have no doubts that it wasn’t because they obeyed the tithe. Why? Because those situations happen to those people who give freewill offerings as well. I forget to mention above, but the reason why i do not comment on the testimony blogs is because the ability to convince them that their blessing didn’t come from an old testament law is similar to convincing you that you are not real. That tithing testimony is so real to them, that scripture will not convince them otherwise.

You see, God blesses the faith and the sacrifice. He does not bless us on our performance. Let me ask this? What do you think God would bless more - A person who makes a decision to pay a bill of $200 to get out of debt, or a person who gives $200 to his church? What is the greater spiritual need? Who determines that the building fund is a greater need than someone paying off debt? I don’t know? You tell me. I’m sure the question follows, “Well why can’t we do both- Pay off some of the debt and give some to the church”? I’m not saying he can’t. My point is that God does not judge man on how much he gives, he judges man on how good of a steward he is.

Giving can be part of stewardship, but for illustration sake let’s refer to the master who left 3 of his stewards some talents. Two out of Three had taken the talents and invested it, and had more in the end. The third one actually gave 100% of his talents back to his master, but was still considered a bad steward.

I appreciate Niral Burnett’s challenge to bring more faith and sacrifice into tithing, but tithing + faith is not the only equation to God’s blessing. Yes, i do think finances can be a blessing for those of you who think money is a curse. I don’t know about you but i appreciate material things. They are not a curse until they become an idol. An idol is not exactly something you bow down to. It can be a material possession that God’s Spirit asks you to give up but you hold onto.

First, I think people are tithing and still broke because they lack the financial discipline to say “no” to their idols. Second, i think people are tithing and still broke because they put themselves under the requirement of a law that had been fulfilled. I think people are tithing and still broke simply because they can’t afford to tithe.

I just finished the book, “Tithing: Low-Realm, Obsolete & Defunct” by Matthew E. Narramore. Overall this was a good and informative book. After you’ve read so many books and heard so many sermons on tithing that you hear so much of the same expository notes. But there were some new insights in this book, as well as some old insights that were said well.

What Narramore says about tithing, in that it is low realm obsolete and defunct is in principle saying what pro tithers themselves have been saying but not admitting. What do i mean tithers “say” that tithing is low realm? Well, considering they claim that tithing is for new believers to start at, then i would assume that their opinion is that tithing is low realm for a majority of people. If a majority of people cannot be governed by a tithe, then why make it a stepping stone into the financial courts of stewardship? When tithing was introduced to Israel in the law it wasn’t introduced as a beginner’s course.

So enough about Israel and the law. What About Abraham? Here’s are some things about what Narramore had to say:

“Consider Abraham’s relationship with God compared to our relationship with God through Christ:

• Abraham had not been baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit
• Abraham had not been born again and spiritually re-created with God’s own divine nature in him.
• Abraham was not a son of God with the same standing as Jesus Christ in God’s family.
• Abraham was not the temple of God. God did not dwell in him.
• Abraham id not have the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead him.
• Abraham did not have access to all authority in heaven and earth through the name of Jesus”

Narramore had mentioned more than this, but i thought these were the strongest points. I enjoyed the overall tone of Narramore’s book. It really focused on Spirit-led giving. I guess first of all it broke down tithing and then topped it off in the end with how Spirit-led giving should replace these low-realm, obsolete, and defunct standards of giving.

Another portion of Narramore’s book says this,

“Sons of God have the nature of their Father. They also share his objectives. They live to accomplish his desires, not something separate of their own. That is why they don’t need laws, rules, and principles of giving. They don’t need a standard of 10 percent because they have already committed 100 Percent. . . They aren’t locked into a mindless routine like tithing because they have the Spirit of God in them who is greater and wiser than any generic system of giving. . . Children and servants cannot live like sons. . . [servants] they have to be told what to do. They have to be regulated and monitored by others. They must have laws to direct them and punishments to reprove them. They must have rewards to motivate them. They haven’t internalized the family objective so they have to be treated as hirelings.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14)

That was said so well, so what more could I add? Matthew Narramore truly understands the spiritual implications of tithing. Once the spiritual deficiencies of tithing have been enlightened in someone’s eyes, there is no turning back to tithing. You received the same feeling when you converted to Christ. It was almost a feeling of, “Oh! Now i see!” Once you get that revelation in your mind, there is no possible way you can reject it. You also begin to wonder how you never saw this before. Here’s another excerpt to explain it more:

“Sons of God have the same relationship to the Father that Jesus has. Since tithing is not part of Jesus’ relationship, now that he has been resurrected, it is not part of their relationship. Since they are one with Jesus, they don’t tithe to him either. They are joint owners of all things together with Christ by their spiritual union. Tithing was ordained for a different kind of relationship with God-not for sons.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:7)

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; (Romans 8:17)

I have one more quote that i will put here but i want to emphasize that we are joint owners, and we have the same spiritual union with God as Jesus His Son. So how does profound relationship with God effect our giving to Him? I believe our giving should reflect the same way that Jesus Christ gave of himself. Here’s the last quote:

“Christians will be immature as long as they are kept under laws. Following laws will keep them from learning how to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. In order for them to grow up, someone must take away the carnal things they rely on to direct their lives.”

How can tithing be carnal and immature? Simply because our giving is not governed by the Holy Spirit. Instead it is regulated by the standards of mankind.

Think of tithing as a security blanket for the one giving the tithe and the one receiving the tithe. First, as the one giving the tithe, it is easy to appease the conscience once you’ve reached the mark that your peers are all shooting for as well. Second, for the receiver, it is more comfortable to rely on a consistent amount of income. You don’t have to worry about the Spirit calling people to give elsewhere. All you have have to do is make sure they understand that tithing is a minimum requirement and there you have a stable offering to budget from. After all who really lives by faith anyways?

So the book is called, “Tithing: Low Realm, Obsolete, & Defunct”. You can purchase it at the website here. What are your thoughts on Matthew E. Narramore’s book?

Man, i’ve been so busy lately. Finally I feel like i have a moment to write about the chapter on tithing in Pagan Christianity by George Barna & Frank Viola. I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. If i had the time, i would have read it from front cover to back cover in one sitting- all 275 pages. There are many people out there that are against tithing, but not as many understand the spiritual, as well as functional discrepancies that tithing creates within the church. Frank Viola understands the discrepancies and portrays them in this book very well.

The whole theme of Pagan Christianity is an exploration of the roots of our church practices. Frank Viola goes through a whole list of things, and of course the topic of tithing was the most exciting for me to read. Let’s just get to the meat. Viola says,

“Under the Old Testament system, tithing was good news to the poor. However, in our day, mandatory tithing equals oppression to the poor. Not a few poor Christians have been thrown into deeper poverty because they have felt obligated to give beyond their means.”

The church has not only wrongfully integrated the tithe into the Church system today, but they’ve taken away the power to its most essential blessing- to take care of the poor. First, the Church budget and its wants are put in position above the needs of the poor. Second, we require the poor to contribute 10% of the little money that they have, which worsens their situation. Let’s face it, i know God is all powerful, but he hasn’t promised a never ending supply of oil and flour to the poor, because he’s given us a responsibility to care for them ourselves.

This next quote from Pagan Christianity talks about clergy salaries and raises a very good point. I had never thought about this until it was mentioned here,

“A further peril of the paid pastorate is that it produces clergy who feel “stuck” in the pastorate because they believe they lack employable skills. . . All of the schooling and training had been dedicated to studying and preaching the Bible. While these skills are noteworthy, they are of limited appeal in the secular job market. The major hurdle they now face is forging a new career to support their families.”

Guaranteed, steady salaries that employ full time pastors can create many stumbling blocks. The above mentioned is one of them. Some things to think about. One, should pastors be a full time staff member, so that when the time comes to leave the ministry, that they can provide for their family with some experience in practical skills? Two, does their steady income and lack of practical skills keep them locked in the ministry regardless if God is calling them out? What if ministers are asked to step out because of sin, or whatever else? Then what? Tell me what you think?

I had recently written a blog post about a book by Bill Clinton called “Giving”. It interested me to write about this again because of the tax returns that had surfaced showing the giving records of the Clinton’s. It somewhat amazed me that his giving had been below the tithe. I don’t understand a person who writes a disciplined book about giving but is sitting on 99 million after only giving 10 million. Some who don’t know, Bill Clinton grossed 109,175,175, and gave 10,256,741, which is just below the 10% mark. You know what another amazing thing is his book income was, $29,580,525!

How can you only give 10 million back when you claim to write an authoritative book about giving? The people that were fooled into buying his book are . . . well. . . just a bunch of suckers. Hey, i’m not a supporter of the tithe minimum when it comes to giving, nor am i a person to talk about how much you are suppose to give, but if you are going to teach others on how to give please, oh please do not rest your fat behind on 99 million and write a book that makes you look like a sacrificing philanthropist.

Here’s a website that displays the statistics of Clintons taxes

I have already done an introduction to Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola & George Barna, so now i want to get into a little more of the book. besides the one chapter on tithing & clergy salaries, the book is not about stewardship, but i do think the book overall has made an important impact on my thoughts about the Church that i feel the need to write about it.

Without reading far into the book you get the notion that Barna and Viola are into the house church/organic church movement. What would anyone have against a biblically pure organic, home Church? One of the statements that caught my attention in the book was this,

“The Christianity that conquered the Roman Empire was essentially a home-centered movement.”

It strikes me because we think that the bigger our footprint on creating religious real estate, than the bigger influence we will have in our society. History disproves this theory. The first century Christians turned the world upside down without the organizational and structural presence that we hold on dear today (Acts 17:6). Essentially what Frank Viola and George Barna are saying is, we don’t need this stuff like we think we do. Most of us think what would we do without a church building? The same goes for tithing. What would we ever do if everyone just gave as they felt led? We think everything would just fall apart.

Pagan Christianity basically takes everything we practiced about Church and throws it all away. It is very radical indeed. I think that we need something radical anyways. If you were smart you would keep your mind open to radical thoughts. When Jesus entered this earth, he was very radical. He took everything that the Jews knew about God and his laws and threw them out the door. This upset many people. The Jews had every reason to say, “but we’ve been doing it this way for 2,000 years. This man (Jesus) is a heretic.”

Put away the fancy clothes, the pews, the pulpit, the altar calls, the hymn books, the praise and worship team, the ushers, the 1-2-3 or 4 man pastoral show, the hype, the buildings, the fancy architecture, the high overhead, the order of the service, the outlined sermon, the religious heirarchy, the ordination & seminary requirements, the choir, tithing & clergy salaries. Put away all of that because it is not a biblical requirement. What do you have in Church beyond all of that? You have Church at the very roots of what God wanted it to be about. . . -Him.

One last quote from the book,

“Granted, Christ may be able to express Himself through one or two members of the church-usually the pastor and the music leader. But this is a very limited expression. “

You see what happens is we go to church, get comfortable, and we become spectators. Everyone does not have an opportunity to use their gifts and talents in the body. We are practically shut up. What Pagan Christianity is saying is that Christ is only expressed through the pastor or music leader when we come together, and this is not how God intended the Church body to function. Romans 12:6 says, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them” Also in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” And in 1 Peter 4:11, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.” Lastly in 1 Corinthians 14 we can see that God set up an order in the Church for prophesying and teaching.

Typically on Sunday’s when we come together, there’s only 1 or 2 people sharing, admonishing, or teaching. I think we all need an opportunity to share. Not just 1 or 2. The way our Church is structurally set up today does not stimulate growth and participation. Actually it prohibits it. This is the heart of what Frank Viola is getting at in Pagan Christianity.

What do you think about the house church/organic church movement? Do you think there are some positives? Do you think there are some negatives?

Ever since i had picked up the book, “Pagan Christianity” and read the first few pages i eagerly waited to write about it. Pagan Christianity is one of only a few books that i have read in my life that has profoundly changed me in the way i think about Church. I am not that type of person that is easily persuaded or misled easily. I go about things with an open mind but am very, very skeptical and idealistic when it comes to revolutionized thinking about the operation of the body of Christ. I also consider myself a creative individual but at the same time methodical. I say all that about myself because i think there’s a lot to say about the book that will strike its readers at the core of their creativeness, methodology, skepticism, and ideology. Pagan Christianity is not a book for the weak or closed minded. Pagan Christianity is not for the careless or complacent person either. This book will offend everyone in some way, but with the truth presented so well by Frank Viola & George Barna you are left with no choice but to put away your offenses and eagerly read on.

For those who do not know what Pagan Christianity is about, here is an excerpt on the back cover that should give you a preface “Most of what present-day Christians do in church each Sunday is rooted, not in the new testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles.”

There are 12 topics discussed in this book

1. Have We Really Benn Doing It by the Book?
2. The Church Building
3. The Order of Worship
4. The Sermon
5. Sunday Morning Costumes
6. Ministers of Music
7. Tithing and Clergy Salaries
8. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
9. Christian Education
10. Reapproaching the New Testament
11. A Second Glance at the Savior

Consider these chapters the main categories because inside each of these chapters are even more specific sub topics.

What Frank Viola and George Barna must have done is somehow wipe their memory of anything they can remember about the event we call “Church”. As they do that, they present historical facts and scripture to present the idea that we are pagan Christians. All our traditions, rituals, habits, things that seem so normal have now been researched to show their roots in historical pagan culture.

As i was reading this book my mind was turning the whole time, “what’s wrong with that practice?. . . How can we do without that?” But then i started thinking, “Well, why can’t we do without it?. . . there’s no reason that we must have it. . .Then why do i feel so tied to it?” Looking back I found myself defending and rationalizing our common traditions in the Church, but before long i began to ask myself why am i defending a practice that is not set in stone in the bible? Offended people are really just shocked people that have no real argument to stand with their feelings. Making a decision based on our offenses is probably the most blind sided thing that we can do, and i didn’t want to do that, so i read on with an open mind.

Pagan Christianity is the type of book that some would call, “throwing the baby out with the bath water”. Frank Viola & George Barna wipe the slate clean of what we understood to be the formula we call the Church event. You are left standing there just shocked, confused, and perplexed as everything you witnessed, and saw as Church is thrown out completely; and all that is left is an empty tub of just bare bone fellowship, and communion of a body of believers.

This book had an experience on me that i cannot express in enough words on this blog. I will bring more in the next few days because this was just my introduction to Pagan Christianity. I will probably write my thoughts about the chapters in the next post, but plan on writing a different post just on tithing and the clergy salary. I would urge everyone to read this book. This is the book that people will love or they will hate. But i guarantee you cannot put this book down after reading and not somehow be shaken up by its pages. P.S. By the way if you purchase the book make sure you buy the revised and updated version.

Have any of you read Pagan Christianity? Has it impacted you at all? Or do you think it is not worth reading at all?