Tithe-vs-Paying Your Bills

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by onefaith2

When did it say there was no more use of the tithe? Sure we don't read about it until Hebrews 7. Does that mean it ended? When did it start back up? Why is God still blessing the 10%? There are a lot of questions we just don't have answers for. We do know the strife in the new Testament was over circumcision, not tithing and eating of foods. We also know that the early church still attended feasts and Peter was rebuked for it.

The issue isn't that we don't have answers for financial practices in the NT church... the issue is that few are willing to do the tedious research into the topic. Tithing wasn't practiced by the NT church. Historians have verified and settled that one. "Tithing" wasn't recommended until the 6th century and it wasn't even instituted by church council until the 8th century. Those are historical facts. Many times we assume that we don't have the answers when in truth, we just don't know the answers. Please note: the custom of "tithing" was instituted when massive building programs were being engaged by the Roman Catholic church. We don't see "tithing" anywhere until around this time.

Interestingly, the silence regarding tithing in disputes in the NT also testify against it's existance in the NT body. Gentiles made issue of circumcision being forced on them. No doubt, Gentiles who had never practiced "tithing" would have inquired about it at some point. None of the Apostles addressed the issue to Gentiles in the Epistles. So, we're left to agree with the historians, tithing didn't exist in the NT church. Generous free will offerings and COMMUNITY BODY LIFE existed within the church. Please understand... they centered their lives around one another. The shared ALL THINGS and they provided generous offerings to assist the poor, widows, and the saints in struggling regions. They met in homes and not massive church buildings. They had very little overhead. No need for a salary for elders... in fact, most took a vow of poverty and the body provided for them with necessities and items as needed. Today ministers feel entitled to a "salary" and benefits. They are often quite wealthy in some churches compared to the average member. Most have misconceptions about the first century church. For example I know a minister who preached about the altars and pulpit of the church in Corinth! LOL The church in Corinth didn't have a building! They were a network of gatherings in various homes throughout the city. He talked about how the letters of I and II Corinthians was read from the pulpit and all kinds of junk. Not so. The letters were copied and circulated throughout the home based groups gathering in Corinth. So, while many might wonder how the church could survive without tithing... they are obviously failing to see or don't know of the "community body life" of the NT church in Apostolic times.

To be honest I haven't studied recently on how the tithe was distributed in the Old Testament. I've always understood that it was for the Levites, of course you may be more well versed on it that I am. However I do believe its important to not muzzle the ox as Paul said and of course that could be done with freewill offerings but some freewill offerings got people in trouble in the New Testament (Ananias and Sapphira) because they committed to more than they wanted to give.

I've seen pastors muzzled by both tithes and freewill offerings. That isn't an issue. If a man of God is a servant and anointed... the saints will care for him. The example of Ananias and Saphira are excellent examples of how serious the free will offerings were in the Apostolic church. If one committed to so much.... they were cursed if they failed to hold their commitment as holy.

Why is it between God and the pastor? To whom much is given, much is required. The pastor has to look out for your souls. He will be answering for a whole lot more than you and I as he has to give an account. That would include how he used our money.

I think you should also research how the first century church was structured. You might be shocked. Each home based gathering didn't have a "pastor" or "elder". They had "elders" or "pastors". Typically the spiritually mature saints "pastored" the flock in their gatherings. It wasn't seen as an "office" like we see it today. It was a ministry of the body to the body.

Your pastor is supposed to flow under the annointing of the royal priesthood and the order of Melchisedek as he serves the people as serving Jesus. There many times the pastor is the voice of the Lord for the flock, just like Paul and Peter was.

Oh boy.... you need to do some serious research on the history of church finances and church leadership in the first and second centuries. A great book that chronicles some of this history with plenty of footnotes for personal research is a book titled, Pagan Christianity. It traces the pagan and unbiblical roots of what most of us assume is normative church. Everything from tithing, to steeples, to pulpits, to the "sermon" (which is also unbiblical in the way it's performed today). It's absolutely faciniating and eye opening. But I warn you. Once you know the history and have done personal research... you'll never see "church" the same way again. You might even become greatly disturbed over the overrall condition of the church in this modern era. It's a lot worse than one might think.