I asked the Lord about a certain church which had a great beginning but no longer exists. Why, I wondered, didn't everyone see more signs and wonders during the lifetime of that particular church? I was given three reasons:
1. LACK OF LOVE Surprising, because this church felt like my “other family”. There were lots of smiles and sweet greetings. We were knit together in true friendship.
But the real litmus test of love is how it responds to difference of opinion. One missionary family was sent out from this church to a Caribbean Island with the assurance their needs would be faithfully met. The missionary met another minister whose views differed slightly from the pastor’s. The pastor ordered the missionary to stop associating with this man, but he could not do it, because the missionary felt that God had brought them together for fellowship. The pastor announced to the church that there was to be no fellowship and relationship with the missionary. Our telegram warned this family of the pastor’s intentions before his letter could reach them.
As our church grew, a wall went up between the “inner circle leadership” and the pew saints. The people were expected to do things which worked a hardship on their families, such as participate in a 24-hour prayer chain. But the church was way too small to shoulder that perpetual burden. Ordinary members had no say about beginning this program. It was a concession the pastor made to one young, zealous elder.
The parishioners (many were jobless and struggling) were warned about financial responsibility and "not mooching off the saints". One couple walked out of that meeting in protest, right after those words were preached. People's giving began to be recorded, though all offerings were taken "anonymously" in a box near the front door. People who paid “tithes” and offerings in cash instead of checks were sometimes suspected of not giving at all!
One brother hired a crew of painters from the church and defrauded them on their wages. Instead of repenting of the rift he’d caused in the congregation, the problem was quietly covered up. But sin, like yeast, only multiplies when it is buried (Gal.5:9). Repentance is the only remedy. These days it's the victims who are urged to repent for getting upset at the offender! Those who are sinned against are told to "just let it go". But true reconciliation can’t occur when the offender refuses to apologize. Compassion is called for, but those who defraud their brothers and sisters are warned by the Word of God (I Thes.4:6).
Faith is a must for miracles. But faith works by love (Gal.5:6). Love is defined by how it behaves, not by how it smiles. Love does no ill to its neighbor (Rom.13:10).
2. LOOKING UNTO MEN RATHER THAN GOD Everybody loved the pastor and hung onto his every word. Whenever any of the young believers needed counsel, “our spiritual daddy” was always there. The next best thing to Jesus, we felt.
The difference can easily be blurred by hero worship. A subtle power struggle began after "Brother Bill", the elder, came along (the one who was later sent off as a missionary). Bill had a happy-go-lucky personality. His heart was as humble as a little child. Bill got his family a Christmas tree, although the pastor didn't believe in Christmas (both of their homes were on the church property). Bill kept a little hideaway TV in his trailer, too (another no-no). The young people looked up to him. The pastor cooled toward him.
It's easy to think that miracles MUST happen in your midst because your pastor or elders are deeply spiritual. We young people went out street preaching with the pastor one day. He preached his heart out while we sang choruses. We prayed for a crippled-up man but nothing happened. I felt so let down afterwards, but knew it wasn't due to any lack of zeal on the pastor's part.
How very human, to put your faith and trust in personalities you can see, but God is a jealous God Who will not tolerate any rivals (Exodus 34:14).
3. BURYING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TITHE At first glance it seems like the Tithe would have little to do with God’s willingness to bestow miracles. But perhaps "bondage" is the key link between the two concepts. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor.3:17). Healing brings freedom (Luke 13:12). When you bind any type of religious sacrifice upon the congregation, New Creatures set free by Christ are brought back under servitude. This can lead to falling from grace (Gal.5:4). That means you look unto your own works to maintain a right relationship with God rather than the finished work of Christ on the Cross.
When church leaders enforce tithing, they bind people’s finances to an ongoing debt, even though Christians are to "owe no man anything but to love one another"(Rom.13:8). Some think it does no harm to reimpose just one tiny little law. But the Law of Moses is a package deal. Preachers can't just pick and choose the ones they like and reject the rest as being made obsolete by the New Covenant. The tithe was for Israel only and given by Moses from Mount Sinai (Leviticus 27:30-34). It takes only ONE link to bring bondage! Though the tithe be just one ordinance of hundreds which constitute the Law of Moses, it binds the believer to the rest of the big iron mass of the Law behind him, so that he is no longer truly free. Being under the Law brings a curse, not deliverance and healing (Gal.3:10-13).
"But it's only ten per cent!" some will object. Why make such a big fuss about it anyway? Well, part of the issue has to do with what people do with what they know. God can have compassion on the ignorant (Heb.5:2), but those who KNOW that they are in error and do it anyway are in hot water with God! The man who “knew not” was beaten with few stripes (Luke 12:48), but his ignorance still cost him! And the one who DELIBERATELY did wrong got a far worse whipping than he did!
It's one thing to teach a corrupt doctrine because you genuinely believe it to be true, it's another thing to KNOW it ain’t so! Sincere preaching of error is still error. But the deliberate promotion of false doctrine is far worse. That is hiding the key of knowledge which could open the door to spiritual liberty for a believer in Christ! Cherry-picking and distorting Scripture for personal gain is an ugly, inexcusable sin in the sight of God!
If you withhold precious truth which could set God's people free, you're no better than the believer who refuses to tell sinners about Jesus! The believer who fails to witness might be scared some tattooed biker will beat him up. But the seminary-educated preacher who deliberately distorts the real truth about Biblical tithing does it either to avoid offending someone, or for filthy lucre’s sake.
It may bother a preacher’s conscience less to take ten per cent from Christians than it would to take twenty or thirty per cent. More than one type of tithe was taken in ancient Israel, even though tithes were levied only on agricultural produce (Deut.12:17; 14:22; Neh.10:37). Biblical scholars disagree on some details, but there were actually three tithes paid by herdsmen and farmers in ancient Israel: One tenth of all the agricultural produce of Israel (the Levitical Tithe) was given to the Levites (Num.18:21). Out of the remaining 90% of the crop, still another tithe (the Festival Tithe) was set aside to be eaten by the worshippers themselves at at annual festivals in Jerusalem (Deut.14:22-27). And a special tithe (the Poor Tithe) was taken every third year to feed hungry orphans, Levites and widows (Deut.14:28-29). Opinions range from between nineteen and twenty-three per cent as that part of a farmer's entire crop that was set aside as tithes. So why don't preachers ask for nineteen or twenty per cent instead of just ten per cent of churchgoers' income? Because it would empty the pews in a hurry, that's why!
Money taken by deceit is fraud. Theft is theft, regardless of the amount. The prophet Elisha's servant Gehazi could boast that he touched neither the glory nor the gold after God healed a Syrian army captain afflicted with leprosy. But Gehazi did touch the silver! Silver is worth much less than gold.
Naaman travels to Israel to get help. He reluctantly follows some strange instructions from Elisha and is healed of his leprosy. In gratitude, Naaman offers Elisha a juicy reward: a huge amount of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothes.
But Elisha turns the reward down (how many preachers would do that today)? He will accept neither the glory nor the gold for the great thing God has done.
But Gehazi, Elisha's cunning servant, has other plans. Surely God wouldn't mind if he took just a little…and his evil deed could be covered up. So Gehazi runs after Naaman as he starts on his trip home. Gehazi tells him something's just come up. Two sons of the prophets have just arrived on Elisha's doorstep and they sure could use a talent of silver and two changes of garments.
Naaman is surprised, but feels like he's getting off easy nonetheless. Go ahead, he says, and take two talents of silver. Gehazi stashes the loot away where Elisha won’t discover it. And even if he did, so what? It's only a tiny fraction of what the Syrian owned.
Just take a tiny fraction, even if God didn't command that it be taken. What harm could possibly come of it? Aren't ministers of deceit still doing that today? Well, Elisha couldn't be bought. He had principles. God told him all about it. Not only did greedy Gehazi end up with a little of the Syrian's loot, but a lot of that same sickness the Syrian had been healed of.
Naaman’s joy and gratitude toward God must have been boundless, but ever after questions must have nagged at the back of his mind: Just why had Elisha firmly refused any material reward, only to do such a sudden about-face? Had Elijah’s God been unable to foresee the arrival of two needy visitors? Had God been forced to go back on His Word and depend on Naaman’s resources to meet their needs, because He had no other options? Were there, after all, limits on the power of the God of Israel, just like the gods of the Syrians? Or was this change of heart really Elisha’s idea, and a mere resort to situational ethics? Did the Word of the Almighty change like the wind? Because of greedy Gehazi, Elisha’s testimony could have been unjustly tarnished. Worse yet, the perfection of God's ways might have been diminished in the eyes of the Syrians.
The apostle Paul didn’t compromise God’s truth. Boldly Paul says in Acts 20:27: For I have not shunned (avoided) to declare unto you ALL the counsel of God (not just Paul’s favorite parts). I’m not saying honesty will automatically result in miracles, but think about it. Would the Spirit have moved in power during Paul’s ministry if he had withheld liberating truths from the saints to free up more funds?
Author Resource:-
Patricia Backora has written many articles on issues dealing with controversial areas and problems in the church. Patricia relies solely on the Word of God to be the final authority in matters of faith and practice.
http://kingdomage.tripod.comhttp://banpreachergreed.tripod.com
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