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.”
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