Tithe Stewardship & Church Tithing

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 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?