freeatlast
12-11-2007, 02:56 PM
Here's an interesting read by a former UPCI Bible school teacher.
What think ye???? To many baptism threads going..less get something else to chew on.
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The Doctrine that Corrupts Utterly
Obligatory Levitical Tithing to support Christian Ministry is the single doctrine with the greatest potential to corrupt Christian Doctrine, the Christian Minister and the Christian Church.
1. It corrupts doctrine utterly because it has no New Testament basis whatsoever.
Ministers patch together a chain of Old Testament scriptures some related, some unrelated to Levitical tithing but none of which have anything whatsoever to do with New Testament giving or finances. These are then used together with a giant “leap of faith” to prove that all Christians should give 10% of their incomes to support the ministry.
2. It corrupts utterly because ministers teach this to new converts who are unsophisticated in Biblical understanding and adopt the practice without question.
Most new converts are eager to learn and eager to do the right thing, and few will question what a minister tells them. All giving is blest of God if it is willingly given. Ministers teach that God will bless those who tithe the New Testament ministry which isn’t said in scripture.
3. It corrupts utterly because it supplants giving through grace as prompted by the Holy Spirit.
Tithing to the New Testament Ministry is neither taught nor commanded in the
New Testament and to teach it as a law to be observed is to deny grace to the same degree that circumcision denied grace. Gal. 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace. A minister who preaches grace on every point about salvation, etc., but preaches obligatory levitical tithing to the ministry is a legalist and is not truly a preacher of grace. He talks grace from one side of his mouth and law from the other.
4. It corrupts ministers by creating avarice.
Greed quickly manifests itself when every potential new person is regarded as adding his 10% increase to the minister’s income. Few men if any can resist the temptation to get more and spend more when one may make up the difference by just increasing the numbers of converts or by Jawboning and instilling in the convert the concept that salvation is paid for by “financial cooperation” with “God’s plan.”
5. It corrupts ministers by fostering indolence.
Hardly any minister can resist the temptation to consider his job a sinecure* by using most of his time for leisure activities, travel, visiting, sports and giving the bare minimum to Christian ministry.
6. It corrupts ministers by encouraging them into extravagance.
When one receives 10% of everyone else’s income rather then a fixed salary he may quickly adjust his spending upwards to equal the income.
7. It corrupts reporting by stifling transparency.
Those who may spend all the tithes rarely if ever are willing to have the spending clearly accounted for. One minister said, “The saints have no right to know how the tithes are spent.”
8. It corrupts giving by transforming Spirit-inspired giving into compulsory paying.
For most families once ten percent of the income is “paid” there is little opportunity left to “give” from the heart as the Spirit leads to the causes God wishes to support.
9. It corrupts doctrine by establishing legalism.
Compulsory and Obligatory Levitical tithing to the ministry has less scriptural support for Christians than the doctrine of circumcision which the Apostles vehemently opposed.
10. It corrupts pulpit ministry by replacing Spirit-inspired preaching with jawboning to pay tithes.
Any shortages in support can quickly be blamed upon unfaithfulness and then haranging the saints about tithing becomes the remedy.
11. It corrupts ministers by establishing ministerial judgmentalism of laymen.
Ministers who are to “feed the flock of God” begin to divide them into two classes, those who deserve to be fed and those who don’t.
12. It corrupts Christian equality by establishing a hierarchy in the Body of Christ.
Heb 7:7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. Clearly it is less important people who pay tithes to more important people. The payers are the lesser, the receivers are the better.
13. It corrupts church government by making ministers “Lords over God’s heritage.”
Ministers have been commonly known to terrorize the entire church with cajoling and threats in regard to non-payment of Levitical Tithes.
14. It corrupts the priesthood of all believers by establishing a “clergy-class.”
Since the receivers are in a class by themselves, the “clergy-class,” the remainder of all the people is in the “non-clergy-class.”
15. It corrupts fairness by causing pastors to reduce all evaluation to a “single-issue”.
The many points of good in men are usually overlooked when the minister determines they do not pay tithes. Good men have been separated from the body of Christ by ministers who find them guilty of one point. Some men are prevented by the Holy Spirit from giving to an unworthy cause. These men are then judged to be faithless.
16. It corrupts giving by turning giving into taxation.
Giving comes from a willing heart but tithing is demanded regardless of whether it is willingly paid or not. Nothing given without willingness is accepted by God. But tithing is accepted by the Minister, regardless.
What think ye???? To many baptism threads going..less get something else to chew on.
__________________________________________________ ___________
The Doctrine that Corrupts Utterly
Obligatory Levitical Tithing to support Christian Ministry is the single doctrine with the greatest potential to corrupt Christian Doctrine, the Christian Minister and the Christian Church.
1. It corrupts doctrine utterly because it has no New Testament basis whatsoever.
Ministers patch together a chain of Old Testament scriptures some related, some unrelated to Levitical tithing but none of which have anything whatsoever to do with New Testament giving or finances. These are then used together with a giant “leap of faith” to prove that all Christians should give 10% of their incomes to support the ministry.
2. It corrupts utterly because ministers teach this to new converts who are unsophisticated in Biblical understanding and adopt the practice without question.
Most new converts are eager to learn and eager to do the right thing, and few will question what a minister tells them. All giving is blest of God if it is willingly given. Ministers teach that God will bless those who tithe the New Testament ministry which isn’t said in scripture.
3. It corrupts utterly because it supplants giving through grace as prompted by the Holy Spirit.
Tithing to the New Testament Ministry is neither taught nor commanded in the
New Testament and to teach it as a law to be observed is to deny grace to the same degree that circumcision denied grace. Gal. 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye are fallen from grace. A minister who preaches grace on every point about salvation, etc., but preaches obligatory levitical tithing to the ministry is a legalist and is not truly a preacher of grace. He talks grace from one side of his mouth and law from the other.
4. It corrupts ministers by creating avarice.
Greed quickly manifests itself when every potential new person is regarded as adding his 10% increase to the minister’s income. Few men if any can resist the temptation to get more and spend more when one may make up the difference by just increasing the numbers of converts or by Jawboning and instilling in the convert the concept that salvation is paid for by “financial cooperation” with “God’s plan.”
5. It corrupts ministers by fostering indolence.
Hardly any minister can resist the temptation to consider his job a sinecure* by using most of his time for leisure activities, travel, visiting, sports and giving the bare minimum to Christian ministry.
6. It corrupts ministers by encouraging them into extravagance.
When one receives 10% of everyone else’s income rather then a fixed salary he may quickly adjust his spending upwards to equal the income.
7. It corrupts reporting by stifling transparency.
Those who may spend all the tithes rarely if ever are willing to have the spending clearly accounted for. One minister said, “The saints have no right to know how the tithes are spent.”
8. It corrupts giving by transforming Spirit-inspired giving into compulsory paying.
For most families once ten percent of the income is “paid” there is little opportunity left to “give” from the heart as the Spirit leads to the causes God wishes to support.
9. It corrupts doctrine by establishing legalism.
Compulsory and Obligatory Levitical tithing to the ministry has less scriptural support for Christians than the doctrine of circumcision which the Apostles vehemently opposed.
10. It corrupts pulpit ministry by replacing Spirit-inspired preaching with jawboning to pay tithes.
Any shortages in support can quickly be blamed upon unfaithfulness and then haranging the saints about tithing becomes the remedy.
11. It corrupts ministers by establishing ministerial judgmentalism of laymen.
Ministers who are to “feed the flock of God” begin to divide them into two classes, those who deserve to be fed and those who don’t.
12. It corrupts Christian equality by establishing a hierarchy in the Body of Christ.
Heb 7:7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. Clearly it is less important people who pay tithes to more important people. The payers are the lesser, the receivers are the better.
13. It corrupts church government by making ministers “Lords over God’s heritage.”
Ministers have been commonly known to terrorize the entire church with cajoling and threats in regard to non-payment of Levitical Tithes.
14. It corrupts the priesthood of all believers by establishing a “clergy-class.”
Since the receivers are in a class by themselves, the “clergy-class,” the remainder of all the people is in the “non-clergy-class.”
15. It corrupts fairness by causing pastors to reduce all evaluation to a “single-issue”.
The many points of good in men are usually overlooked when the minister determines they do not pay tithes. Good men have been separated from the body of Christ by ministers who find them guilty of one point. Some men are prevented by the Holy Spirit from giving to an unworthy cause. These men are then judged to be faithless.
16. It corrupts giving by turning giving into taxation.
Giving comes from a willing heart but tithing is demanded regardless of whether it is willingly paid or not. Nothing given without willingness is accepted by God. But tithing is accepted by the Minister, regardless.