By Pastor Ferdinand Nmeka
Social media has become a battleground for religious debates, with one of the most contentious issues being the practice of tithing. Misinformation and attacks on the church have proliferated online, often fuelled by those who misunderstand or intentionally misrepresent biblical teachings.
Ironically, some religious leaders have joined the chorus of critics, undermining the very institution they are meant to uphold. Instead of clarifying misconceptions and guiding their congregations, they have chosen to sow discord and confusion.
Devout members of the church understand the spiritual significance of tithing and willingly contribute to the support of their faith and church. They do not complain. Unfortunately, there are those who actively oppose the teachings of the church and the scriptures, seeking to mislead and deceive the vulnerable and drag them to their uncertain destination.
This write-up is purely to put the records straight for the interest of millions of people who are deceived by this misinformation. Some of them and some pastors have postulated that
1) Tithe payment is a scam
2) Jesus never received or encouraged any to pay tithe
3) Tithe has been abolished
4) That the Bible empowers them to eat and drink liquor with their tithes
5) Pastors should work and not depend on tithes, etc
This write-up is meant to correct these views once and for all so that those being deceived and those sitting on the fence will have a solid anchor.
It is obvious that the majority of those kicking against tithe payment have never paid tithe before or have been paying grudgingly. Moreover, what is the percentage of tithe payers in every church? I think most of the people raising dusts about tithes and offerings are totally ignorant of church finances. Quite well, there are mega churches who make millions in offerings and tithes, but have we considered the expenses of such churches? No church leader can afford to buy a private jet or live in luxury on church tithes and offerings. Even if they do, they are very few in numbers.
Furthermore, many are simply driven by envy against some successful churches. What is the percentage of the successful pastors that are attracting envy? Honestly, they may not be up to one percent. I can conveniently say for sure that those successful pastors are not surviving on the church tithes and offerings. Most of them are into other businesses that have made them rich. In every profession, there are always those who are richer than others. It is so among the pastoral communities. I do not think those using private jets, for example, may have bought such luxuries with tithes and offerings.
A tithe payer who knows the enormous benefits inherent in tithe payments can not be among these crowd throwing stones against the church. The so-called men of God who are against tithe payment know who they are working for and how they are getting the money to run their ministries or churches.
WHAT IS TITHE?
Tithe simply means paying one tenth of every believer’s income to God through the church
WHY PAY TITHE:
I. God commanded it
II. Giving God a part of what he gave us
III. That there will be meat in the house of God
IV. That the church can grow
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PAYING TITHE
a. Open heaven
b. Outpouring of blessings
c. Abundance, so you will not have enough room to contain it
d. So that devourers can be rebuked
WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO DO NOT PAY TITHE
a. Closed heaven
b. Things will be tight
c. Unnecessary expenditure
d. Disobedience to God’s instruction
e. God tags such believer a robber
TESTIMONIES OF THOSE WHO PAY THEIR TITHE FAITHFULLY
a. Many have been lifted from nobody to somebody
b. Many businesses that would have closed down under heavy spiritual attacks survive easily after tithe was paid on the businesses
c. Sicknesses that came upon the tithers could not resist healing prayers
LET’S NOW ADDRESS SOME OF THE MISCONCEPTIONS
1. Tithe can not be a scam because the word of God, both in the New and Old Testaments encourage the congregants to pay their tithes. Read Leviticus 27:30, Malachi 3:10, Hebrews 7:8. Tithe payment is made in the church to God. The Men of God receive it on behalf of God Almighty. Any child of God paying tithe must understand that God is the receiver of his/her tithe and not man. Any man who operates in the office of a pastor receives it for God. Tithe payment will not profit you if you think you are paying it to the church or the pastor.
2. Some who said Jesus never received or encouraged any to pay tithe are ignorant of the scriptures. Please carefully read Matthew 23:23 and Hebrews 7:8 -10.
Matt.23.23 – “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone”.
Heb.7-10: “And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him”.
It is only the gentile churches that argue about tithe payment because it is not in their DNA to pay tithe. A typical Jewish man cannot be reminded to pay his tithe because it is in his nature and upbringing to pay one tenth of all his income to God. This attests to the fact that the richest race on earth is the Jewish race because they always honour God with their tithes.
When some ignorantly insist that Jesus never collected tithe nor offerings, I laugh in Greek because such people can not explain why Judas was the one carrying the bag of the ministry of Jesus.
John 12.4-6. “Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein”.
So, what were they putting in the bag, if not tithe and offerings? Jesus did not need to say much about tithes and offerings in the New Testament because such was normal and proper among the Jews.
Those who claim that tithe has been abolished should understand that tithe payment preceded the law of Moses. It is one of the fixed laws of creation. Take a look at the 10 commandments. Nothing was said about tithe. So, tithe was never part of the law received by Moses but was a regular instruction given to the children of Israel.
Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek before the law was given to Moses.
Gen.14.18 – “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all”.
Jacob in Gen. 28:20-22 made a vow to pay tithe to God before the law came
“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee”.
Who taught Jacob to pay tithe, if not God? It is wrong to assume that the law of tithing was abolished by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some quote Deut. 14:22-29 as a license to eat and spend their tithes the way they like, including using it to drink alcohol. These are chronic and incurable selfish beings who pretend to be speaking for God and the gullible masses. In all the places that tithe is mentioned in the Bible, the only one that appeals to their soul is this one. God can not contradict himself, and He is not an author of confusion.
Abraham paid tithe to the priest of the most high. Jacob vowed to pay tithe, and when God reminded him to go back to Bethel, God was simply reminding him to go and redeem his vow. Why did he not drink alcohol with it and tell God he has paid his tithe?
This particular scripture (Deut. 14:22-29) is simply quoted out of context as a result of mischief and or ignorance. The instruction, I believe, was given to the children of Israel for a particular reason that was not disclosed and can never be a standard for the administration of tithe. The scripture was clear in Malachi 3:10 on the reason for tithing.
Mal.3.10 – “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it”.
WHAT IS TITHE USED FOR IN THE CHURCH?
a. Paying the salaries of all church workers: Many churches in Nigeria employ workers more than some state governments.
b. Maintaining the daily expenses of the church e,g. electricity bills, refuse disposal, fuelling of generator and church vehicles, etc
c. Printing of posters and flyers
d. Paying of rent
e. Church building projects
f. Helping the poor in the church: g. Most churches are involved in charity works; they give out palliatives more than the government
g. Missionary works e.g evangelism,
h. Paying for TV and Radio messages
One of the reasons why the gospel of Jesus has survived all attacks and all odds till this day is because of tithes and offerings. (Zechariah 1:17)
I will advise those who are envious of pastors collecting tithes and offerings to apply for employment in the vineyard of the Almighty. God is merciful and will consider calling them into His vineyard. (Anyone who answers imaginary calls because of money will jump out of the ship of the church in total frustration).
The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Such people are warmly welcomed and those who think they are working for God and are speaking against tithes and offerings should continue. Any pastor who does not believe in tithes and offerings may be under the payroll of satanists or they know where they are getting their money from.
Finally, those who maintain that pastors should be working and pastoring at the same time do not understand what it takes to be called a shepherd. Pastors are shepherds who watch over the flock both spiritually and physically. It may not be easy to combine the two. Some say Apostle Paul was making tents, but they forgot that Apostle Paul was an evangelist, not a shepherd. Every shepherd is always available for his flock. God bless everyone of us who see the truth in this write-up and keep it.
I dedicate this write up to millions of pastors, church leaders and general overseers who are being maligned, insulted and ridiculed by the ignorant social media bloggers who do not know that any attack against the church is an affront against God and the gospel.
To the church leaders who are dying due to sicknesses and diseases because of lack of money for proper medical care. To millions of church leaders who cannot afford to give their children proper education because of paucity of funds.
To those who, together with their families, have been subjected to compulsory fasting and prayers not for the love of it but to make ends meet. To those living at the mercies of affluent church members who give them used and problematic cars, who have suffered repairing those cars with little or nothing. I pray for them that our rewards may not only come in heaven but also here on earth.
NB: Pastor Ferdinand Nmeka
+2348056338658
General Overseer,
Divine Result Evangelical Church,
137, Babs Animashau Road, off Bode Thomas street,
Surulere, Lagos
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/divineresultassembly
Instagram: @divineresultassembly1
Whatsapp: +2348056338658
X : @DREC
