Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

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

How many of you have been out to see the documentary on intelligent design by Ben Stein? I went to see it last week. It was very practical and i enjoyed it. Anyways, that’s not the point of the post here. The point i want to bring here is how the Church amid their tithing rants, and obligatory giving has expelled grace giving. They allow no opportunity for the children of God to use any discernment or spiritual intelligence when it’s time to give. Instead, many pastors preach on Sunday morning, that 10% of your overall income belongs to this organization. No discernment allowed. No Spirit guidance. No and’s, if’s, or but’s about it.

The children of God who are reborn in his Spirit are not allowed to exercise the gift of giving. Churches say that we are allowed to practice Spirit-led giving with offerings, but first we must meet the tithing obligation. Is there any spiritual gift like the gift of giving where we have a minimum requirement before the Spiritual gift takes effect?

Many pastors think that if we were left up to grace giving without a standard to uphold, then everyone would would stop giving. This is not just a judgment on human kind, it is also a judgment on the Spirit of God. Isn’t the Spirit capable of calling and equipping people to perform ministry? There is no command to feed a certain amount of poor people. Also there is no command to witness to a certain amount of unsaved. Neither of these endeavors have ceased just because there is no minimum requirement that we had to meet.

From a science and evolution/creation standpoint it takes an insurmountable amount of faith for scientists to take their reasoning and allow an intelligent being to initiate creation. In the same light it takes faith on behalf of churches and pastors to allow the Holy Spirit to direct people in giving rather than rely on a law that enables a predictable amount of income each week. With grace giving, the amount is unpredictable, and it shows how tithing has been the security blanket for church budgets and pastoral salaries for ages.

Grace giving has been expelled because it makes pastoral salaries, and church budgets nervous. Pastors, if you truly want your congregation to be led by the Spirit, then let’s begin with your pocket book. Church accountant, . . . same thing.