A woman posted on Twitter that she pays the church 10% of her income. And several people went off on her. They shared several reasons why she shouldn’t be paying tithes at church. It’s clear the tithe debate still rages among Christians. After reading the Twitter comments from those for and against tithing, a question came to mind. Is it okay to criticize believers who pay tithes? I share my thought on that topic and more.
Let’s get into it.
Table of Contents
- Listen to Podcast
- Non-Tithers Should Mind Their Business
- Maybe There’s a Better Way to Tithe
- Nigeria’s Prosperity Gospel Causes Division
- Many Believers Won’t Accept the Truth About Tithes
- The Pharisee Spirit Can Turn People Away from Truth
- The Tithe Isn’t a Magic Bullet
- Break Free From the Tithe Deception
Listen to Podcast
Please Note: The following post is an edited version of The Tithing Hoax podcast transcript.
Non-Tithers Should Mind Their Business
Okay, let’s get into today’s podcast. A woman who tithes to her church caused a firestorm on Twitter. Now, this is about a Nigerian lady. And she posted something in response to the people who criticized her for paying tithes.
She said, “I work for my money. I get paid. I decided to remove 10% for God and spend 90%, right? And then she says, “How come the logical conclusion of why I am poor is not what I do with the remaining 90% but the 10% that I gave?”
So, I will deal with the first part of her comment. And basically, what she’s saying is, look, y’all need to mind your business. I work for this money. I made this money. And I can do with it what I want to. So, if I want to give 10% of my hard-earned money to the church, that’s my business. Why are you concerned about it? Mind your business. I handle mine. You handle yours.
Maybe There’s a Better Way to Tithe
Okay. So that’s an interesting point. So, that’s something I’m going to come back to. But I want also to share some of the remarks from people who responded to her comments. For instance, one person said, “Well, why give 10% to the church when you can use the 10% to take a homeless child off the street?”
Okay. That’s what one person said.
Another person said, “By giving to God, you mean you give it to the pastor.”
Okay. And another person says, “Yeah, but does the 10% end up where God wants it to be, or does it end up helping ‘the men of God’ live a more luxurious lifestyle? Does that 10% have to go into a church pocket before it counts as a tithe?”
Okay, those were comments from people who were critical of her paying tithes. So, she raises an interesting point. And the critics raised some interesting points too. So, let me share what I think about this situation with this woman paying her tithes to the church.
Nigeria’s Prosperity Gospel Causes Division
We also have to keep things in context because this lady is Nigerian, and I think she lives in Nigeria. I don’t know that for sure. But I think it’s safe to presume she’s in Nigeria. And in Nigeria, the prosperity gospel is widespread. I mean, it is off the chain in Nigeria.
At this point, the prosperity gospel may be more widespread and mainstream than in the United States. Prosperity gospel preachers are exploiting many Nigerians. So, a lot of Nigerians are very outspoken about the topic of tithing.
So, that’s a little background to put all this discussion in context before I go further. So here are my thoughts about the situation.
Number one, it is her money. And she has the right to do what she wants with the money. If she wants to give 10% of her income to the church, that is her business.
Now let me say this. I don’t know anything about this woman. I don’t know what church she belongs to. I don’t even know if she follows a gospel preacher in Nigeria. But in all fairness, I will say it’s possible she belongs to a church that may be doing the right thing with the tithes and offerings.
Let’s keep it real. Every pastor or preacher is not low down. Every pastor, preacher, or church is not exploiting its members. Every pastor or church does not use the tithes and offerings in ways they should not.
Some pastors and churches are accountable to their members. They are transparent. Some churches and pastors use the money for various forms of outreach to help those in need. So, let’s not paint all pastors or churches with a broad brush and say they are scamming their congregations.
Now on The Tithing Hoax platform, we highlight preachers who steal tithes and offerings from their congregations. But everybody’s not exploiting believers. So, let’s be objective and balanced in our views before going in on people who pay tithes.
If a tither belongs to a church doing the right thing with the money, I can understand why they support their church. So, we must remember that we don’t know what type of church this woman belongs to and what this church is doing with the money. Let’s not assume she’s being exploited.
Okay. So that’s one thing I want to say about this situation.
Many Believers Won’t Accept the Truth About Tithes
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to share that with other people who don’t know what you know. Okay. And we’re here to speak the truth and to share the truth. Absolutely. But you must also remember that some people will reject the truth about tithes.
It doesn’t matter how many Bible verses you share with tithers. You give them every biblical fact about why they aren’t required to tithe, but they still won’t accept the truth.
I don’t care what you say. You can talk to them until you’re blue, and they will not receive the truth.
Look at Yeshua Hamashiach (aka Jesus the Christ) and how he prepared his disciples for ministry. The Parable of the Sower deals with spreading the gospel (Matthew 13). The seed in the parable is the word of God. Some seeds fall on rocky ground. Some seeds fall on fertile soil, and so forth, and so on.
So, the different soil types refer to the different types of people and their ability to receive the word. And then they’ll accept the truth for a while and revert to their old practices. For example, they’ll return to tithing because it’s what they’ve been taught all their life.
Some believers will reject it. The truth is they don’t have to pay tithes. This is good news. But it doesn’t mean people will receive the information even if it’s good news.
It doesn’t make sense to reject good news. But it happens. What did Yeshua tell his disciples, “I love — you go from door to door, if people don’t want to hear it, shake dust the dust off your feet and keep it pushing (Matthew 10:14). And that’s all you can do.
When you recognize somebody who resists the truth about tithes, it doesn’t make sense to go back and forth with them. Don’t cast your pearls to swine (Matthew 7:6).
Many people don’t have money problems. They have a wisdom problem.
R. RENEE
The Pharisee Spirit Can Turn People Away from Truth
Talk about the truth in love and wisdom. Like the book of Ecclesiastes says, “there’s a time and season for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1).” There’s a time and season for sharing the truth.
Let’s keep it real. Sometimes, when people get a hold of some truth, they want to scream it off the rooftop. They want to get into everybody’s face. Sometimes that approach can turn off the people you’re trying to reach.
You turn them away if you’re unaware of how you approach tithers. And you can also come across as being very critical and even judgmental. Yes. And that’s not how you want to be. You can end up doing more harm than good. You risk turning people away instead of attracting them to the truth.
The Tithe Isn’t a Magic Bullet
She said, “Don’t assume I’m poor because I give 10% to the church, and I keep the 90%.” She said that tithers who are broke don’t know what to do with the 90% that they have left.
I’m not down with the tithing doctrine, but let’s keep it 100. Sometimes, people are tithing because they’re under the influence of the prosperity gospel. They think tithing will get them to a place of financial prosperity. They believe tithing will get them out of poverty or debt.
And they’re wondering, why am I tithing and still broke? Because the bottom line is you don’t know how to manage money. Tithing is not going to help you. If you do not change your mindset, develop wisdom in managing money, or become a good steward of money, no amount of tithing will help you.
I heard this one preacher say people don’t have money problems, they have a “wisdom problem.” Many people are broke. I don’t care how much money you have. Many people are broke because they don’t know what to do with what they have. Unfortunately, some people in the body of Christ think all they have to do is pay tithes, and everything will work out. No. If you do not have the following:
• Good financial stewardship
• Poor spending habits
• Save money
• Invest money
• Financial literacy
• Money mastery
Some believers think tithing is a magic bullet to solve their money problems. Sometimes improving your financial situation requires a better education or a high-demand, marketable skill. This could double, triple, or even quadruple your current income.
There are things practical things believers can do to improve their financial situations. Often, churchgoers don’t get useful financial guidance or strategies. They’re not equipped with the practical knowledge to improve their economic condition. Instead, they rely on paying tithes as the magic solution. And it’s not!
Some people don’t tithe, and guess what? They’re broke, busted, and disgusted, too. So, we can’t always blame a person’s financial lack on them giving 10% of their income to a church.
Break Free From the Tithe Deception
If you want to discover more tithe facts, I encourage you to get a copy of The Tithing Hoax. This book provides in-depth information on how to give the RIGHT way. It also offers helpful tips based on Scripture.
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Thanks for reading, and be blessed!
