Tithing Remarks

From Cherry Brandstater:

Since tithing was given as a law to Israel it certainly predated "the church." It was never given as a way to sustain "the church." There is no template for tithing in the early church. Nothing suggests that such a formula persisted into the Christian community. Instead, there was a much more inclusive and personal mechanism developed whereby members of the church had an accoutability to each other. They no longer saw their belongings as their own but pooled their resources so that all were cared for equitably.

It was much like the difference in the Sabbath given to Israel and the Sabbatismos (Heb 4) given to The Church. For Israel it was one in seven. In The Church it was "today" - seven out of seven. Every day was now a day of rest from our works toward salvation.

With respect to tithing Israel was required to tithe one in ten. In Christianity - why just one in ten? We are redeemed. We are sons and daughters in the kingdom. We no longer owe a tax - we own the business along with our older brother, Jesus. It's not one in ten as if we owed a tax. It's everything we have, everything we own, all that we are. We are joint heirs of the kingdom. We jointly own the kingdom with Christ. Everything we own is His already and everything He owns He has already given to us in the Son.

We need a renewing of the mind. We need to come up higher and give up the slave mentality of taxpayers. Jesus opened a way into the Holy of Holies by which we may come into the immediate presence of the Father and join in His councils. Until we see that one in seven and one in ten respresents the mindset of a slave we have not yet grasped the height, depth and beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

From Hazel Holland:

Amen! A number of years ago I chose "releasingcaptives" as my email address because I believe God wants to release His captive children from the mindset of slavery.

As long as we continue to keep one day in seven and give one tenth of our income to God, we still have the mindset of a slave child.

We still haven't fully understood that as God's sons and daughters we may daily enter into the "rest" that He has already provided! The only thing left for us to do is to enjoy sweet fellowship with Him through the Spirit. Then from this position of "resting" in His grace, He will show us the "work" that He has prepared in advance for us to do. But this "work" is not like what we are used to performing under the Old Covenant...

Since we have been bought with a price, everything that we own and have are already His. And we have everything when we have Christ!

Could it be that God's Spirit is confronting us with the truth that since Jesus already fulfilled the Old Covenant law, including the law of "tithing", we may now freely give of ourselves to others as we are led by the Spirit to give?

...I believe the story of the widow's mite is an example of how God desires that we give everything to Him in the new covenant reality.

From Ramone Romero:

Yes, the widow's mite is a picture of God's economy -- He doesn't want an amount of money or even money at all: He wants our hearts! God can take one penny given in faith & love and do more with that than a billion dollars given without them. God's economy is in faith & heart. These are the "currency" of the Kingdom, and are the means by which He wants us to live and spread the word of His good news.

"Posting Bail"

By Ramone Romero - March 8th, 2011

Many pastors use Malachi 3:8-10 to say that we are "robbing God" if we are not tithing & giving offerings to the church. This immediately places us under guilt and accusation (and under the law) because we are told that we have not paid God, but we *should have* been paying Him all along, so in fact we have been *robbing* Him.

Our giving then is not only obligatory, but more than that it is giving to basically pay a debt that we are supposed to have been *neglecting* up to now. For the Christian, tithing is then indirectly presented as a way we are supposed to pay God back for what He has done for us.

And further, particularly in charismatic churches, if we have problems or sicknesses or financial difficulties (etc.), then it is because we have not been paying tithe. We are in prison, so to speak, and have not been paying God the money to stay out of prison.

This picture illustrates how using Malachi 3:8-10 today to teach Christian tithing is no different that traditional pagan religions. Tithe had a purpose under the Old Covenant law--to shadow and point to the coming Messiah, and also to teach the people the strictness of the law (i.e., to reveal sin). These purposes have been fulfilled in Christ. So to teach now--even indirectly--in the age of the New Covenant that God needs to be paid off with "tithe" so we can stay out of "being cursed" (in jail) proclaims that God is pagan and demands to be approached as such.

"Not Included!"

Read the writing on the batteries

By Ramone Romero - February 10, 2010

Recently as I was taking a bath, God began speaking to me about the "power source" of most churches not being included in the New Covenant. We know that the gospel speaks of the freedom of the Spirit and about giving love freely. However we wonder how in the world this good news will be "financed", and have felt like it was a sort of "batteries not included" situation. The way that the church did it in the book of Acts doesn't seem secure enough or safe enough for us. So we've reached back to the Old Covenant to find the "tithe" batteries so that we can power our churches and keep them running.

For a Spirit-led study on the subject of "tithing" in Christianity, please read my spiritual mum's booklet at this blog: Transformed By Truth

When I showed this picture to Hazel, she had this to say:

While looking at your picture right now I'm getting that many church leaders see the tithe as their life insurance policy that everyone in the church must get plugged into, just in case depending on the promises of God in the new covenant gospel doesn't pan out materially speaking... Without the "tithe power" church leaders are afraid that they will cease to function as a church. They're afraid they will have to close the doors, and that their material livelihoods, and their lavish lifestyles will be at stake...

The "sheep" are the "tithe power" that pay for the shepherds lavish lifestyles, and keep the church life going. Those "batteries" are constantly needing to be replaced and recharged... so low in some churches that they can no longer function as they did before and are having to close down shop and lay-off workers.

Since many church leaders can no longer hear God's voice in these matters, they use their own voice (as the voice of God) to spiritually abuse the sheep that are under their care, fleecing them, even sacrificing some for their own selfish means. Many have not been a shepherd to the sheep under their care, but have behaved more like a ravenous wolf, devouring the weak sheep so that they can no longer walk, but have to be carried.

The sheep are being made weak by not being taught how to discern God's heart for themselves through the power of the Spirit, but are always having to depend upon someone else (a leader or anointed person) telling them what to do, and what to think, and how much to give. Pretty much like our government's welfare system. It's a "Big Brother will take care of you if you do what I say" kind of thing, instead of teaching people to rely on God's Word for themselves, and letting them know that they can each hear God's voice for themselves and don't need to come to another "anointed" leader to be told what to do in these matters.

In fact, it's God’s heart that many churches do close their doors because they are a great hindrance to the work of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. They are not plugged into God's power source, the Holy Spirit of Truth, but are relying on themselves for power. Man's power supply quickly runs low, but God's doesn't. Moreover, since the church building isn't the church, but believers in the body of Christ are, God is preparing the hearts of more and more believers to start more and more house churches. I believe that these little "islands of power" will replace more and more of the organized churches that have become dead wood, because they have fallen away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

I believe that even the bad economy is working to God's advantage to achieve His ultimate purposes in releasing His children from spiritual bondage to man-made doctrines and traditions in many churches. Although much has been hidden up until now, God is bringing everything out into the light... everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Only our sure foundation, Jesus Christ, will remain. As long as we are found in Him, and plugged into Him through His Spirit, we will remain also.

I was surprised to read Hazel's reply because the "dead wood" thing she said explains why I was impressed to make the church building wooden!

The "storm" with lightning striking is God's discipline coming to "knock out" the ungodly power source. His storm is not meant to hit us, but rather our dependence on flesh and the old covenant.

But, the more we try to 'protect' this power source, the more we ourselves risk getting struck by lightning! He wants to knock out the false power source, not us, and replace it with Him Himself -- the Holy Spirit of freedom and life! He's calling us to willingly repent and so detach ourselves from flesh, old covenant and feeding off the lives of our spiritual children, otherwise He will have to "strike us" (or flatten us) in order to fix things.

I need to pray:

Lord, You know all things and You know our hearts. Often we know we're stretching things when we try to find "tithe" in the New Covenant. But then we go further in to convince ourselves, and we want the congregation to be convinced, too. God, so often we've quieted that little voice in our heads that said, "Hey, this doesn't quite fit the context"... and that little voice was You, Lord.

Forgive us, Father, in Jesus' name. Forgive us for trying to extract support from the sheep when You meant them to give willingly. Forgive us also because when we have reached back to the Law for the support of its tithe command, we cut out "the poor" that You meant to benefit from tithing in ancient Israel, and we said tithe was meant to support our church institution instead of being given to the needy (ancient Israel was commanded to give a significant portion of it directly to the needy).

Forgive us, Father, because when we preach to people about "giving", it only rarely if ever means "giving to the needy". The whole topic of "giving" in church is reserved almost exclusively for giving "to the church"--to the building, pastors, leaders and ministry projects.

Lord, please enable Your children to see the truth and to take the daring leap of faith to allow Your people to provide for leaders and ministries freely without being under compulsion. Teach us the greater blessings in store for us when we live by the Spirit alone instead of by the letter of the Old Covenant Law. Please open our eyes and convict us, Holy Spirit, and please do so before it becomes time for You to discipline us, in Jesus' name, amen.

"Already Paid"

By Ramone Romero - February 11, 2010

All of our debts have been paid by Christ's blood at the cross. No more offerings or tithes must be made to secure His presence, His blessings, or removal of curses from us. When Jesus said, "It is finished", the "it" included tithing. Our debt is paid in full and we are no longer "robbing God". Our flesh need not be given because His flesh has fulfilled the requirements of the Law once and for all! Our only ongoing debt is to love one another as He has loved us. And now with His arm securely around us, He longs for us to walk with Him, secure in His love and favor. His Spirit (who lives in us because our bodies are His temple) will show us who needs His love today, and in what way.

"Forgotten"

By Ramone Romero - June 26, 2009

Not long ago I was watching TV and came upon a show (some kind of drama) in which a group of homeless men were having a party together, singing songs in what would otherwise be depressing circumstances. The drama seemed to be about a man doing a video documentary, who had bought drinks and food for the homeless men so that they could have the party. As I watched, I was suddenly moved deep in my heart and spirit by the sight of the homeless men enjoying the meal and singing songs.

I began to see a picture of a man sleeping on the street, forgotten. As I looked at it, wondered and focused on the picture more in my spirit (and as I began to draw it), I knew that it was Jesus.

"I was hungry... I was thirsty... I was a stranger...
I needed clothes... I was sick... I was in prison..."

Have we forgotten You, Lord? Have we rejoiced in Your salvation, Your anointing, in prosperity, in song and feast, in health and wholeness, and left You outside?