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Giving to God
by Jerry Ousley You knew it would just be a matter of time before this "preacher" would address tithes and offerings. Most people associate being a minister with taking up a collection. You might have heard this story before but I'm going to ask you to humor me and listen to it again. It's been told that a passenger ship was sinking. There weren't enough life boats to go around and the crew knew that their impending fate could quickly raise a panic that would make things even worse. Among the passengers was a minister. The captain quickly told his crew to get this man and have him do something religious to calm the situation. When they found him and asked that he to do something religious to take the minds of the people away from their peril, he immediately proceeded to take up an offering. I don't know why this is such a hot topic. The principle of giving is really very simple. Some people believe in tithing while others don't. The facts are these: In the Old Testament tithing was taught amongst the nation of Israel. The first recorded incident of tithing actually took place before the nation of Israel even existed. Abram had gathered a group of men together to deliver his nephew Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who had been taken captive by a confederacy of nations. You can read about this in Genesis 14. God granted victory to Abram and they came away not only with the people, but also much spoil. The leaders of these two legendary ungodly cities offered the spoil to Abram. However he refused it because he was afraid that it would be said that they had made him rich. A gentleman by the name of Melchizedek showed up. He was a priest of God. Abram had the people give a tenth (or tithe) of it to this man. Later, when the Nation of Israel was established, God chose to maintain and support the priests of Israel through the tithe system. The people were to reserve 10% of their income as well as the firstborn of their flocks, for God. This was a great system and I for one wish our government would do away with our current complex tax system and adopt the tithe system. To me, this would solve a lot of problems and for the most part, there would be plenty to support those government programs that are needed. However, very little is said about tithing in the New Testament. It is referred to but is not specifically instructed by the early leaders of the Church. Giving was taught and encouraged but not necessarily the tithe system of the Jews. Now I'm not going to take one side or the other on this issue. I believe that we each need to let God show us His will and plan for ourselves. I know that God blesses us for our faithfulness. But if we aren't careful we'll be giving to God only for what we can get back from Him. That makes me to wonder if giving in this manner really benefits anyone except the receiver. I'm going to say this about it: We need to be obedient to what God is speaking in our hearts. He may be telling some that they are to give ten percent. He may tell others that they are to give twenty percent. Still, He may be instructing yet others to give only five percent. Only you and God know your heart. I've heard of ministers telling people that they were out of the will of God and in sin because of their giving or lack of it. I know it takes money to run a church. I know that people have to see the vision and be committed to it in order to see it through. But I also wonder why there are so many rich pastors and poor people in the congregation. I heard on the radio that the average pastor's salary including benefits is around $80,000.00 per year. I guess I'm not average. I don't make that much working. I may never see $80,000.00 a year. But I'll tell you this, I never will if I have to beg, accuse and border on stealing it from people. We need to be obedient to God concerning our giving but when it becomes more important in the Church than our number one job of winning souls then something is mighty wrong. I might not have full pockets, but I sleep real good at night. Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |