TITHING INSIGHTS  (Is Tithing For Today?)
(What you won't hear in some churches about tithing)

By: Norm Rasmussen

Part 1:

Imagine this if you can. You are visiting a church - maybe even a mega church. The Sunday morning offering is about to be taken, and you prepare yourself to hear: "How if I'm robbing God, the devourer will get me, if I don't put my 10% in the offering plate when it goes past." Like many times previous, you might be greatly tempted to get up and walk out immediately upon hearing such "comforting" words.

The Senior Pastor stands behind the pulpit, waiting for the deacons to position themselves with offering plates in hand. Then you hear the Pastor say, "Before we take our Sunday morning offering, I want to share something with you that we need to be reminded of from time to time."

He continues: "Do you know that if you never put one penny in this offering plate that goes by you this morning, you will still get to heaven, if you are trusting Jesus Christ to save you of your sins?"

He pauses momentarily, then continues. "Furthermore . . . do you know that if you do not put one penny in this offering plate the rest of your life . . . you still would go to heaven, as long as you are trusting Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation?"

"Let me say this as well. On the other hand, if you could afford it, and put one million dollars in this offering plate as it goes past . . . do you know that a million dollars will not grant you entry into heaven?"

"Furthermore . . . if you put a million dollars in the offering plate every week the rest of your life, if you could afford it -- do you know even that would not grant you entry into heaven either?"

"Whether you give money or don't give money has absolutely nothing to do with you getting into heaven after you die. Now isn't that good news?!"

The entire congregation sits there stunned - shocked. What is wrong with this Pastor? Is he crazy or what?

"Let me share another precious truth with you about money that we don't often realize," he continues. "Do you know that if you do not give God a penny the rest of your life, He will not love you any less?"

"By the same token, do you know that if you put a million dollars in the offering plate every week, or give it to an outreach ministry, God would not love you any more for it? God the Father loves everyone equally the same, sinner-to-saint, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross -- period. His love for each of us is equal whether we give money or don't give money. Now isn't that incredible?!"

You are waiting for the deacons and the elders to begin walking out the back of the church by this time, dragging the Pastor behind them by the hair, but maybe they are in such shock like everyone else that they can't move.

"Now . . . before we end it there . . . and I'm thrown out of here as the greatest heretic that ever lived . . . let me also remind you of some other truths regarding money. The eternal spiritual law of sowing and reaping is not nullified by what I have just shared with you. Second Corinthians 9:6 means exactly what it says: 'But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.'

"If all you want to do is get to heaven and never give a penny to the work of the Lord from this day forward, don't be wining and crying when God generously rewards those who did give while they were here on earth as Christians. What we sow here in this life will be rewarded in the next life. What we withhold in this life will be withheld from us in the next life. Contrary to what you may think, you will not find in scripture that everyone receives the same reward in heaven. First Corinthians 3:14-15 is our assurance of this fact."

"I want to say something about 2 Corinthians 9:7 as well. Let me read it first: 'So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.'

"My question to you is . . . does it imply from this passage that God doesn't love an uncheerful giver? Not at all. I told you, God loves everyone equally the same, whether they give money or don't give money. What then, is the Holy Spirit trying to communicate to us here in this scripture passage? He's trying to communicate at least these three important insights:

1) God is not normally going to tell you how much money you should give. It's up to you what you want to give.  (Please read Part 2 of this writing for a qualification of this statement). 

2) If we are expected to give money, for any reasons, bitterness will begin to grow in our hearts. Bitterness will rob us of joy very quickly. When we are depleted of joy, our faith and trust in God dwindles. Lack of joy can affect our prayer lives, and our desire to be used of God to avail ourselves to minister to others can diminish quickly.

3) People who preach Malachi 3:8-11 and fail to understand that a person doesn't have to pay God a tithe to get to heaven will be dumping a spirit of "necessity" upon their hearers. Remember . . . John 10:10 warns us "that Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy" our joy. Being manipulated to give money or service unto the Lord out of "necessity" is Satan's tool to steal, kill, and destroy your intimacy and joy with the Lord.

"And above all else, keep this always in mind. Salvation (forgiveness of your sins and entry into heaven upon death) is TOTALLY free. You can't earn it; you and I don't deserve it, but it's available to one and all totally free of charge. All one has to do is ask for it, and keep on trusting for it.

"It doesn't require 10% of your paycheck to get . . . and it doesn't require 10%, 20% or 1% of your paycheck to keep.

"While we're on the subject of money, allow me to share a few other thoughts. Young people, listen up now. What I'm about to share with you will probably never get taught in High School or College. The "devourer" spoken of in Malachi 3:11 has several names you probably are very familiar with. His most popular name is "Charge it." His appearance is plastic, and he fits nicely in a man's wallet or a woman's purse. What he likes to do is get you so far into debt that you are "sowing interest abundantly" to your credit card holder instead of the Kingdom of God.

"Kids -- young adults . . . many people can't give 10% of their income to the work of the Lord if they wanted to, simply because they can't afford to. They were never taught by their parents or teachers to learn the most important thing about money: STAY OUT OF DEBT, AND LEARN HOW TO TAKE YOUR MONEY AND MAKE MONEY. If you don't have cash to pay for what you want, work hard and save up enough until you can pay cash for it. Secondly, learn how to invest your money early in life that will GROW interest for you to sow abundantly into the Kingdom of God, not for the kingdom of the "devourer."

"Saying it another way . . . become your OWN bank. Pay yourself interest instead of paying everyone else interest.

"Investing is not the "world's" idea. It's GOD'S idea. Investing for eternity is not the world's idea. It's God's idea. Investing at a young age in good investments down here on earth will make it so much easier to have money to invest for eternity when the offering plate goes past. Remember that young people; you can't give something you don't have.

"Before we take the offering, I want to say one last thing. People who have never been taught to save their money and invest it at a young age into good investments have the most difficult time receiving what I've just shared with you here this morning. People caught up in debt are more prone to believe the lie that everyone gets the same reward in heaven no matter what they did on earth.

"Matthew Chapter 25 gives us so much insight into faithfulness. God wants us to realize that if we are faithful and wise with our money here on earth, we can be trusted with greater rewards in heaven.

"Finally . . . remember this: We've all heard that we can't take our worldly wealth to the grave. That's not true either. We can have our money buried in our casket if we want. But, what good would it do, right? [All cemetery groundskeepers - nod your heads in the affirmative]. On the other hand, If we want to keep our earthly wealth continuing to work on our behalf after dying, then we need to have a will or trust made out, leaving our wealth to the charity of our choice that will use it wisely to help win lost souls to Jesus Christ.

"Thank you for letting me share that . . . and now we can go ahead and take the offering."

Part 2:

So ... is tithing Biblical or not?  Tithing ... as in giving to God 10% of our income?  Was tithing done away with in the New Covenant or not?  I personally believe the answer to this question is found in the Book of Proverbs.

Most Christians I've met tend to believe that the Book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom that applies to ALL times, including myself.  God's wisdom is either God's wisdom, or it is not God's wisdom.  Does the changing from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant cancel out the wisdom of God in what is most important to God and what isn't?  I don't see that it does. 

Specifically ... did God desire to be honored just during Old Covenant times when the Book of Proverbs was written, or does He desire to be honored for all times and through all eternity?  Obviously Satan and a third of the fallen angels neglected to honor God fully, and we know where that got them!  To assume that God no longer desires to be honored once the New Covenant was implemented is about as unwise as believing the world is still flat.

If we're on the same page about the vital importance of always honoring God - forever - then perhaps we can appreciate the wisdom of Proverbs 3:9-10:

Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.  (NKJV)

God has always, and will always be, interested in knowing what is first place in our hearts.  That is why God has always been interested in our firstfruits.  He wants to see what is first in our hearts.  Him, or anything else?

If you will do a study in the Old Testament on firstfruits, and keep an open mind, you'll come to the sobering conclusion that God desires we put Him first before anything else.  God is constantly testing His people on this issue.  Why?  Because if Satan and a third of the angels that fell from heaven lost sight of the importance of honoring God, how much more can we easily lose sight of the importance of honoring God? 

It is easy to honor God with our lips: it is a bit more difficult to honor God with our money, isn't it, especially when we are short of it?  When we don't seem to have all the money we would like to have, our human nature is to tell ourselves that we'll give to God when He starts giving us more.  I hope you can receive this: that can be a huge trap of Satan!   It is a rationalization that can keep the blessing of God from fully coming upon our lives!   Meaning - one may never see the day where they can "afford" to sow firstfruits into His Kingdom work.

Some people will tell you that you need to start giving 10% of your income to God immediately; no matter how far you are in debt, or simply don't have any income coming in.   When I first got saved, I was so far in debt that I just didn't have the faith to trust God to meet my financial needs by giving Him 10% of my income.   Upon inquiring of God what I was to do, I felt that God started me out at a level of faith I was able to handle.  How much faith was that?  I gave God a dollar a month!  That then grew to a dollar a week.  Over time, it kept steadily climbing.  Eventually my wife and I were able to give God a full 10% and even more at times.  I'm not saying this is right for anyone else; I'm just saying this is the way I believe God dealt with us on.  God isn't after our money!  He wants to teach us the wisdom of honoring Him, and the wisdom of honoring Him with our firstfruits ... not our "left-over fruits."  In searching out the Old Covenant, firstfruits always was synonymous with the first, best 10th of whatever a person possessed.  Why would the New Covenant change God's thinking on the matter? 

"Do I steadily move toward honoring the Lord with 10% of my gross income, or net income?"  I've been there.  I asked that question numerous times when I first got saved.  What an unwise question (though important question, I realize) to ask from God's perspective, yet a wonderful question the devil would like to see us get hung up on.   The question God would ask us regarding this is:  "Which option honors me the most?"  Meaning -- can a person honor God too much?

Let's not fool ourselves, okay?  Either the New Covenant canceled out the wisdom contained in the Book of Proverbs or it didn't. I would be labeled one of the world's most deceived Christian writers to say that I believe the New Covenant canceled out all of the wisdom contained in the Book of Proverbs, and rightly so.

Under New Covenant grace, my wife and I do not have to give 10% of our income nor 1% of our income to God (God's Kingdom of God work) because it is "expected" of us.  We do so because we simply want to prove ourselves to God that we desire to be as serious about honoring Him for the advancement of His Kingdom in the lives of others as we know how to be.  Money is probably the greatest test in seeing just how serious we truly are in desiring to honor God.  Our time we give God runs a close second.

I want to emphasize a point I believe is so important about honoring the Lord with a portion of our money.  The money we give to the Lord should somehow be helping to advance the Kingdom of God on earth.  Advancing the "kingdom" involves the saving of lost souls, and the nurturing and discipling of those souls once they become saved ... with the longer range goal of those you are discipling will eventually duplicate the very same thing YOU are doing.

There is so much more that can be said about this wisdom of honoring God.  However ... I feel to mention a book that I would recommend every Christian read, that does the best job of helping one understand the importance of honoring God ... to understand how to receive God's maximized blessings upon their life.

The book is titled:  From Dream To Destiny.  It is written by a Pastor Robert Morris.  The ISBN is:  0-8307-3674-3  You can probably get it from your local Christian bookstore, or call:  1-800-4-GOSPEL.  You can also go to the website:  www.regalbooks.com   (The book also addresses many other important aspects of our relationship with God and how we can position ourselves to have maximized blessing from Him in this life, and for certain ... eternity.) 

Not steadily moving forward in honoring God with our first-fruits is one of the most unwise things we could ever do, in my opinion, and I would not be stating my opinion if I didn't believe it was backed up by the Holy Spirit.  Conversely, honoring God with our first-fruits truly IS one of the wisest things we could ever do.   It can be the difference between God placing His blessing upon your life, or remove His blessing to one degree or another.  God's blessing upon our life does not necessarily imply that it will come in dollar signs either.  Having a fruitful ministry is a blessing from God that cannot be measured in this life.  Only eternity will prove out what the greatest wealth really is.  I believe being used of God to help win lost souls, and to help other believers grow in their relationship with the Lord into maturity is the greatest wealth we have in this life.    Neither pursuit costs a dime, when done the way followers of Jesus Christ did back in the Bible times, did it?

Now ... as I draw this to a close, I will end with this.  Any local church that will not accept me for who I am, even to the point of recognizing the giftings the Holy Spirit has given me to help advance the Kingdom of God ... yet examine how much money I am giving to that fellowship ... I will most likely give none to that fellowship.  Let me say this another way.  If money is tied to my being used of God in a local fellowship, I most likely will not give a dime to that fellowship.  Why?  Because Satan has so connected money to those who get to serve in some form of leadership in the local fellowship and those who don't ... I believe it is a perversion to God in the highest form!

Here's the kind of local church I'll give my money to.  It's a church where leadership is not concerned at all with who gives what amount of money.  It's a church that would treat me exactly the same as if I never give one dime to that local church. 

Here's the wisest statement I've ever heard when it comes to giving money in Christianity.  "Remove the money motive, and you'll soon find out who is truly called of God to do what in any capacity of ministry." 

Is it wrong for a Pastor to receive a salary from the fellowship he is sheparding?  Not at all.  It's very New Testament - New Covenant.  But if that Pastor is using fear of any kind; guilt of any kind; coercion of any kind regarding those under his care in giving ... in my firm estimation he is out of balance, and where there is an out of balance when it comes to money ... Satan gains advantage very quickly.

Firstfruit giving is how a person can give to the work of the Lord with joy.  Whether it's a fraction of a percentage, 10%, or higher ... anytime one's motive for giving is not to honor God because of one's love for Him ... it quickly becomes a self-serving motive, or a fear motive.  When the motive is anything other than love and honoring the Lord, it will ultimately rob us of our joy of giving to the work of the Lord.

This needs to be reinforced:  God wants us giving to Him purely because of our love and appreciation for Him for saving us, and to help advance the Kingdom of God in the lives of other people.  Not out of obligation; not out of fear, but out of love, and out of wisdom.  When we give of our financial resources to help advance the Kingdom of God in the lives of others ... truly we are laying up eternal rewards for ourselves in heaven that will last for eternity.  One cannot "honor God" in any greater measure than to truly desire to see lost souls saved. 

If the fellowship or ministry you are giving to is not diligently helping pursue in some tangible manner the work of helping win lost souls, and/or helping new Christian converts become taught the balanced Word of God with the ultimate aim of doing the same thing ... you may be sowing into "wood, hay and stubble" as 1 Corinthians 3:12 addresses.  Don't be unwise in who and what you give your finances to, for goodness sake.  None of us want to discover one day in eternity that our financial giving and time devoted to God was nothing more than building on "wood, hay and stubble" ... built on quick-sand. 

Again, 2 Corinthians 9: 6-7 reads:  But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 

The happiest Christians I know are those who give to Him because they WANT to - not because they believe that HAVE to, or are SUPPOSED to.  When we feel like we have to give, or are supposed to give, it becomes impossible to be a "cheerful giver," doesn't it? Honoring God with my finances  purely out of my love and appreciation for saving my soul, with a desire to see other lost souls saved and then discipled in the Word of God is wisdom, wisdom, wisdom.  That, my friend, is how we truly can be certain we are laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven, and for God and others ... as Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19-21 that we can and should be doing ... again, if we are wise.  We can be wise master builders like the Apostle Paul was as addressed in 1 Corinthians 3:10, or we can be unwise builders in giving our money and our time to anything that does not line up with the full counsel of God's New Testament Word. 

A person cannot buy God's love and acceptance.  All the money in the world will not buy it.  It comes through the free gift of salvation, and it comes freely by God's grace.  (I got trapped into believing I had to somehow try to "earn" God's love and acceptance.  It's one of the biggest lies Satan will try to brainwash you with). 

God's favor (or blessing), however, can be entered into in an ever increasing measure by the sowing of our time, talent/s and finances to help advance the Kingdom of God in the lives of other people. 

Satan is constantly trying to rob us of our peace and joy in our relationship with God and others, as John 10:10 speaks of.  Here is one of the ways he can do so.  If we are giving money in hopes of just to get more money back, to heap it upon our selfish, canal desires ... we'll most likely become very frustrated in our desire to honor the Lord with our finances and remain cheerful about it.  Giving to get is fine with God ... if our motive to "get" is to be even more fruitful in helping advance the Kingdom of God in the lives of others. 

God wants us to give with pure, God-honoring motives.  When you purpose to allow God to use your life the way the Apostle Paul poured out His life for the advancement of the Kingdom of God in lives of others ... you can confidently know you are giving as unto the Lord with the purest, of pure motives.   The Apostle Paul poured everything in his being - once He became a Christian - into the work of advancing the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit led him and empowered him.  You and I have every right to do the same.

In simple terms, Paul's devotion to God involved the saving of lost - deceived souls, and helping the local Church of believers nurture and teach those newly saved Christian converts the New Covenant truth of God's Word, so they in turn would one day be about doing the very same thing (Christian disciples making more Christian disciples).  If we are doing anything less than the very same thing ... somehow we have become spiritually blinded, and our relationship with God will become very, very lean and joyless.

Don't let Satan do that to you, okay?

Author's Note:  The absolute best book I have ever read about the topic of PROSPERITY is written by evangelist James Robison.  It is titled: True Prosperity.   This book is so insightful and full of wisdom -- wisdom that I've not found elsewhere.  I cannot endorse it highly enough.  God willing, we will offer it through this ministry.  Until then, you can obtain a copy at your local Christian bookstore, or order a copy online here:  TRUE PROSPERITY

If you would like to read Norm's born again testimony, you can click on this link:  http://precious-testimonies.com/BornAgain/L-N/Norm.htm

Dear Reader - are you at peace with God?  If not, you can be.  Do you know what awaits you when you die?  You can have the assurance from the Holy Spirit that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain.  Either Jesus Christ died for yours sins, or He didn't (He did!).  Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to cover your sins?  We plead with you ... please don't make such a tragic mistake.

To be at peace with God; to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity; to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help understand the importance of being reconciled to God.  What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one.  Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life.